The thirteen questions
What each answer contributes to a match, which inputs come from the media kit instead, and the rules that no score can override.
score = fit × fit × desire × desire × history
The three angles are multiplied, so a brand that is great on one angle and poor on another ranks below a balanced one. Fit and desire count double because they are about this pairing; history is about the record. Before any scoring, gates remove what must never be shown, and only brands holding the Lydia Brand Standard, proof they pay creators at Lydia's tier, are ranked at all.
Would this creator's content and audience genuinely carry this brand?
Would this creator plausibly say yes to this brand's terms?
What does the record say: deals, evidence, the matchmaker's judgment?
The kit is the audience record and is treated as fact: gender split, age buckets and top countries drive the audience side of fit; follower counts set the creator's tier; the kit rate prefills questions 4 and 5. The questionnaire never asks a creator to retype what the kit already knows.
| Question | Angle | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 01Content categories | Fit | The main signal: congruence between what the creator makes and what the brand sells. The heaviest fit weight in the engine. |
| 01bNiches (optional) | Fit | "Running", not "fitness": a niche pick matches the brand's own sub-niches, strengthens its category, and counts as naming it. Family and pets niches also inform the household. |
| 02Past brand partners | HistoryFit | A past deal makes that brand a warm rebook, opens its category for other brands, lifts brands sharing a specific sub-niche with a past partner, and proves a household. A deal cannot vouch for itself: the rebook only leads when the creator has an organic tie to the category. |
| 03Deliverables | Desire | Matched to what the brand's category buys; video-first categories want video. |
| 04Rates | Desire | Compared with the brand's likely budget in bands, not dollars: no penalty within 2x, and a brand paying more is never penalised. Also half of the outreach gate (USD 1,000 per reel), which never affects matching. |
| 05Floors | Desire | Caps a brand paying below the floor only when the gap is large (4x or more). Pay is negotiated; the engine does not split hairs. |
| 06Usage rights | Deal terms | Recorded for the contract; not scored today. Roadmap: match heavy-usage briefs to creators who grant them. |
| 07Usage duration | Deal terms | Same as question 6. |
| 08Exclusivity? | GateDesire | Named competitors are removed before scoring; category competitors get a strong caution. |
| 09Exclusive with | GateDesire | Same as question 8, by brand or by category ("an activewear brand"). |
| 10Never work with | Gate | Hard exclusion by name or category word (gambling, alcohol, fast fashion, ultra-processed food, energy drinks and more), applied before scoring. |
| 11Known for | Fit | The stance signal: "natural and simple" lifts organic brands and cautions energy drinks. Also adds category keywords and implies niches the creator did not click. |
| 12Products they use | Fit | Revealed preference, the strongest signal a creator can give: a used brand is floored high and overrides the hard caps. Same-category products give a smaller lift. |
| 13Wish list | Desire | A wished-for brand is lifted only once it already fits on its own merits. Wishing never creates a match; it ranks a real one higher. |
Corrections, not questions; one click each.
- Gender read: who the creator is, not who watches. A product made for the other gender is hard-capped, whatever the audience split.
- Household (baby, kids, pets): read from bio, tags, niches and past deals; gates newborn, kids' and pet brands.
No creator effort required.
- Deal history feeds history and the budget reference.
- Evidence freshness down-weights stale brands; re-checked weekly.
- The matchmaker's judgments from the training loop become bounded signals.
- Creator dossiers: researched niches, stances and household, at work before any answers.
Dating apps and adult products are never offered. A product the creator cannot use, the wrong life stage, or near-zero category overlap caps a brand hard, unless questions 2 or 12 prove otherwise. Too few genuine fits means a shorter slate with an honest note, never filler.