An actual study would be quite a bit more competence than most pick-up artists display, I think. Whether it would be successful (produce particularly high odds)... well, I doubt it.

Yes the competence of PUA types makes them a perfect fit for an analogy with the inefficiency of the ad tech industry. Both creepy, both not particularly good at what they do

It could be civilization-destroyingly successful if it included tapping into social media databases combined with facial recognition software and AR glasses.

People adapt faster than you can run studies large enough to be practically useful. Any strategy produced might be effective early on, but then the patterns would become evident (people do tend to gossip about their hookups) and from there they're a red flag, same as cliched pick-up lines are now.

Here's a simple example of a strategy that would be hard to obsolete: walk around campus scanning girls' faces. Cross-reference them with girls who have recently posted anything like "I'm so lonely I'll go out with the next guy who talks to me" on social media. Go talk to them.

The following exchange is interesting to read in the context of a dystopian mass surveillance society (John 4:16-19):

Jesus told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

"I have no husband," the woman replied.

Jesus said to her, "You are correct to say that you have no husband. In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully."

"Sir," the woman said, "I see that You are a prophet."