Algorithm, Search & Distribution
Seed audience
Also called: test audience, initial audience
YouTube has described this most plainly for Shorts. A new Short goes out to a small seed group first, an explore phase, and distribution only widens if that group watches and engages. Creators borrow the term for long-form too, where the mechanics are less publicly documented. The common mistake is treating the seed audience as a fixed allocation of impressions every upload receives, or as something you can stack by asking friends to watch on release. Neither the size of the group nor the way it is assembled has been published, and both plainly vary from upload to upload.