Inverse Cˇerenkov acceleration (ICA) is a novel approach to electron acceleration involving the interaction of laser light with a polarizable gaseous medium. This technique may achieve very high acceleration gradients and tends to be best suited for the role as an energy booster for electrons of GeV energy or higher. A generic optimization study of ICA is performed to identify the desired properties of the ideal gaseous medium, in particular a medium in which the laser light frequency is near a resonance of the medium. Several factors that can limit the effectiveness of the interaction are taken into account. It appears that acceleration gradients exceeding 1 GeV/m are possible at low gas pressures that minimize problems with electron‐beam emittance growth.