How to monitor brand mentions on Reddit, X, and LinkedIn
A small-team setup for social listening: which keywords to track, where mentions hide, how often to check, and how to reply without sounding like a brand account.
Most mentions of a young product never tag you. Track your brand name, its common misspellings, your domain, and two or three competitor names. Check Reddit and X daily, LinkedIn and the open web less often, and sort every mention into complaint, question, praise, or buying intent before you reply. The goal is to answer the people already talking, not to count mentions.
Someone asks on Reddit whether your tool is worth it. Someone else complains on X that the export broke. A LinkedIn post recommends a competitor in a thread where your product would have fit perfectly. None of them tag you, so none of them show up in your notifications.
Social listening is the habit of finding those conversations on purpose. Enterprise tools make it look expensive and complicated. For a small product, it is a short keyword list, a few alerts, and fifteen minutes a day.
Why untagged mentions matter more than tagged ones
Tagged mentions are people talking to you. Untagged mentions are people talking about you, which is usually more honest and more useful.
- Buying questions. “Is X worth it, or is there something cheaper?” is a buyer comparing options right now. A helpful founder reply can decide it.
- Public complaints. A bug report posted on X instead of your support inbox still reaches every reader of that thread. Answering it fast turns a complaint into proof that you care.
- Praise you can reuse. Unprompted recommendations are your best testimonials. Ask before quoting them.
- Competitor threads. People asking for alternatives to a rival are often your best-fit buyers.
Build the keyword list first
A good list is short and specific. Too broad and you drown in noise; too narrow and you miss the people who misspell your name.
| Keyword type | Example |
|---|---|
| Brand name, exact | “Acme Notes”, in quotes when the name is a common word |
| Misspellings and spacing | AcmeNotes, Acme-notes, Acmenotes |
| Your domain | acmenotes.com, which catches shared links |
| Competitor names | Two or three rivals your buyers compare you with |
| Problem phrases | “alternative to Notion for students”, used sparingly |
- Keyword typeBrand name, exact
- Example“Acme Notes”, in quotes when the name is a common word
- Keyword typeMisspellings and spacing
- ExampleAcmeNotes, Acme-notes, Acmenotes
- Keyword typeYour domain
- Exampleacmenotes.com, which catches shared links
- Keyword typeCompetitor names
- ExampleTwo or three rivals your buyers compare you with
- Keyword typeProblem phrases
- Example“alternative to Notion for students”, used sparingly
Where mentions hide on each platform
Each network searches differently, so the same keyword list needs a slightly different routine on each.
- Reddit. Search posts and comments, sorted by new, and keep a saved search per keyword. Many recommendations live deep in comment threads, so comment search matters more than post titles.
- X. Use advanced search with your keywords in quotes, exclude your own handle, and sort by latest. Shared links to your domain often appear without your name.
- LinkedIn. Search posts for your brand and sort by latest. Mentions are fewer but often come from buyers with budgets, so they deserve a careful reply.
- Hacker News and the open web. Blog posts, newsletters, and HN threads move slowly but stay indexed for years. A daily or weekly check is enough.
- YouTube. Reviews and tutorials mention products in the spoken audio and description. Search titles and descriptions weekly.
Set alerts so you are not searching by hand
Manual searching works for a week, then stops happening. Set alerts once and let them come to you.
- Google Alerts covers the open web for free. It is slow and misses social posts, but it is fine for blog and news mentions.
- F5Bot emails you when keywords appear on Reddit, Hacker News, or Lobsters, with a free tier.
- A paid listening tool makes sense once you want X, LinkedIn, and YouTube in one place, plus sorting so the mentions worth answering come first.
Match the check frequency to how fast each platform moves. Reddit and X threads go cold within a day, so check them daily. LinkedIn, YouTube, and the open web can wait a few days.
Overhear: pay-per-scan listening across six sources
Overhear searches X, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, Hacker News, and the open web for your keywords, then gives every mention one label: buying intent, complaint, bug report, question, praise, or other. By default it checks X and Reddit hourly, LinkedIn every six hours, and the other sources daily, and you can scan on demand.
It runs on prepaid credits instead of a subscription. A $10 pack buys 6,000 credits, credits do not expire, and the first 1,000 are free. Its own estimate puts three brand keywords at the default cadence at about $13 a month. Each scan shows what it cost, so you can slow the cadence on quiet keywords and keep the hourly checks for the ones that matter.
Sort before you reply
Not every mention needs the same response. A quick sort keeps the important ones from sinking under the rest.
| Mention type | What to do |
|---|---|
| Buying intent | Reply the same day with a straight answer, including who the product is not for |
| Complaint or bug | Acknowledge publicly, then move the details to support |
| Question | Answer in the thread so the next reader gets it too |
| Praise | Thank them, and ask privately before quoting them anywhere |
| Competitor comparison | Join only if you can add something honest and specific |
- Mention typeBuying intent
- What to doReply the same day with a straight answer, including who the product is not for
- Mention typeComplaint or bug
- What to doAcknowledge publicly, then move the details to support
- Mention typeQuestion
- What to doAnswer in the thread so the next reader gets it too
- Mention typePraise
- What to doThank them, and ask privately before quoting them anywhere
- Mention typeCompetitor comparison
- What to doJoin only if you can add something honest and specific
Reply like a founder, not a brand account
- Say who you are. “I built this” in the first line. Communities forgive founders and bury undisclosed promotion.
- Answer the actual question. The reply should help even if nobody clicks anything.
- Respect the room. Check subreddit rules before posting a link. Some ban self-promotion entirely.
- Do not argue with criticism. Thank them, fix what is fixable, and follow up when it ships.
The Reddit guide covers how to earn trust in a subreddit before you mention a product at all, and the customer support guide covers closing the loop once a public complaint becomes a ticket.
Turn mentions into decisions once a week
Skip the mention count. It goes up and down for reasons you do not control. Instead, read the week’s mentions together and write down three things: the most repeated complaint, the words people use to describe the product, and where buyers compared you with someone else. Those notes feed your roadmap, your landing page copy, and your next post.
Frequently asked questions
What is social listening?
Social listening means tracking public conversations that mention your brand, competitors, or problem space, then acting on what you find. Monitoring collects the mentions; listening is reading them and responding.
How do I find out who is talking about my brand?
Search each platform for your brand name, misspellings, and domain, sorted by latest. Then set alerts with a free tool such as Google Alerts or F5Bot, or a paid listening tool that covers several networks at once.
Can I monitor Reddit mentions for free?
Yes. Reddit search sorted by new works by hand, and F5Bot sends free email alerts for keywords on Reddit and Hacker News.
How often should I check brand mentions?
Daily for Reddit and X, where threads go cold within a day. Every few days for LinkedIn, YouTube, and the open web.
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Sources
- Overhear pricing - credit packs, cost per scan by source, and monthly cost estimates
- F5Bot - free keyword alerts for Reddit, Hacker News, and Lobsters
- Google Alerts - free email alerts for new web pages that match a search