Synthetic Data Standard launches independent certification for synthetic research data

Synthetic Data Standard launches independent certification for synthetic research data

First field guide defines six types of synthetic data; 14-member advisory council shapes the guidelines

New York, November 4, 2026 - Synthetic Data Standard launched today with the publication of a field guide that defines six types of synthetic data used in consumer and market insights. The independent body is developing SDX-1, a third-party certification of whether a provider's methods meet a defined bar for fidelity, transparency and bias handling.

Synthetic data, meaning simulated respondents, audiences and answers generated by models rather than collected from people, is moving from experiment to everyday use in insights. The vocabulary has not kept up: the same label covers different methods, and different labels cover the same method. Insights, analytics and CX leaders deciding whether and how to use it have had no shared language for comparing what they are offered.

The Six Types of Synthetic Data: A Field Guide for Buyers of Market Research is available today at https://www.syntheticdatastandard.org. It classifies every synthetic research solution by two questions: who does it speak for, and what data drives its answers. Crossed, the questions produce six types: Digital Twin, Derived Persona, Grounded Persona, Derived Panel, Grounded Panel and Sample Boost. A Derived Persona, for example, portrays a typical customer from general sources such as social media, while a Digital Twin is modeled from one real person's own consented data and can be checked against that person.

The guide gives a definition and a worked example for each of the six types, describes the kinds of questions synthetic respondents answer reliably and the kinds they do not, and sets out six questions buyers can put to any provider, from which type is being offered to who ran the accuracy test. It draws on a mapping of 34 synthetic data solutions from 30 providers, academic research on digital twins and generative agents, and guidance from Esomar and the Insights Association.

An advisory council of 14 senior leaders from the insights industry and academia shapes the guidelines and guardrails behind the standard. Council members play no role in certifying, endorsing or evaluating individual providers, and are not involved in certification decisions or in any provider publications. The SDX-1 guidelines are expected later this year.

"Synthetic data is changing faster than the language we use for it," said Christina Habib, strategic advisor and member of the Synthetic Data Standard advisory council. "We are following those changes from the perspective of the practitioners who work with this data every day, and what we publish will be revised as the practice matures."

The council members are:

• Taylor Anderson, Senior Director, Global Insights Capabilities, Colgate-Palmolive
• Nima Gohil, Director, Market Consumer Intelligence, LVMH
• Christina Habib, strategic advisor; formerly P&G, Unilever, Merck and Booz Allen
• Gavin Johnston, Director of User Experience Research, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
• Christian Kurz, Senior Vice President, Global Streaming Research, Paramount
• Fenny Léautier, Head of Consumer Insights & Marketing Academy, Philips
• Dr Massimiliano Marinucci, Founder, NumiNate; formerly Coca-Cola and Unilever
• Rory McDonnell, VP Insights & Analytics, Global Marketing, Glanbia
• Michael Nevski, former Director, Global Insights, Visa
• Carl Persson, Vice President, Head of Global Food Insights, PepsiCo
• Prasad Polur, Partner, Suvan Ventures; formerly Unilever and Whirlpool
• Joni Salminen, Associate Professor, University of Vaasa
• Nils Stotz, Head of Product Experimentation, Zalando
• Olivier Toubia, Glaubinger Professor of Business, Columbia Business School

About Synthetic Data Standard

Synthetic Data Standard is an independent body developing a certification for synthetic data used in consumer and market insights. Its certification, SDX-1, is a third-party audit of whether a provider's methods meet a defined bar for fidelity, transparency and bias handling. Providers can register interest in the founding cohort, the first group of solutions to be audited once the guidelines are published, at https://www.syntheticdatastandard.org.

Press contact

Maya Rossi maya@syntheticdatastandard.org General inquiries: hello@syntheticdatastandard.org