If your BrandMentions project is showing fewer mentions than expected, or no mentions at all, there are several possible explanations. Understanding these factors can help you troubleshoot the issue and optimize your project settings to capture more relevant mentions.

One of the most common reasons for low mention counts is that your keywords are too specific or narrowly defined. If you are using exact match for a very specific phrase, or if your keyword is a niche term with limited online discussion, you may naturally receive fewer mentions.

Solution: Consider broadening your keywords or using phrase match instead of exact match. Add variations of your brand name, common misspellings, or related terms that people might use when discussing your brand.

If you have set up filter keywords (required keywords), every mention must contain both your main keyword and all filter keywords to be captured. If your filter criteria are too strict, you may be excluding many relevant mentions.

Solution: Review your filter keywords and consider whether they are necessary. Remove any filter keywords that are overly restrictive or that might be excluding valuable mentions.

If you have added excluded keywords to filter out irrelevant mentions, you may have inadvertently excluded too much content. Broad excluded keywords can filter out not only irrelevant mentions but also some relevant ones.

Solution: Review your excluded keywords list and remove any terms that might be causing false negatives. Be more specific with your exclusions to avoid filtering out valuable mentions.

If certain sources are deactivated in your project settings, BrandMentions will not collect mentions from those platforms. This can significantly reduce your mention count if your audience is active on those channels.

Solution: Go to Settings > Sources and check which sources are activated. Turn on any sources where your brand is likely to be mentioned, especially social media platforms where your target audience is active.

If you have added domains or social accounts to your exclusions list, mentions from those sources will not appear in your feed. This is useful for filtering out your own content, but it can also reduce your mention count if you have excluded too many sources.

Solution: Review your exclusions list under Settings > Exclusions and remove any domains or accounts that you want to include in your monitoring.

If your brand is new, operates in a niche market, or has limited online visibility, you may naturally receive fewer mentions. Not all brands generate high volumes of online conversation, especially if they are not actively engaged in digital marketing or social media.

Solution: Focus on building your online presence through content marketing, social media engagement, and PR efforts. As your brand becomes more visible, mention volume should increase naturally.

If you have set specific language or country filters in your project settings, BrandMentions will only collect mentions that match those criteria. This can significantly reduce mention counts if your brand is discussed in multiple languages or regions.

Solution: Check your Languages & Countries settings and consider expanding them to include all languages or additional countries where your brand may be mentioned.

If you are experiencing low mention counts, follow these troubleshooting steps to identify and resolve the issue.

Go to Settings > Keywords to track and review your main keywords, filter keywords, and excluded keywords. Make sure your keywords are not too specific and that your filters are not overly restrictive.

Go to Settings > Sources and verify that all relevant sources are activated. Turn on any sources where your brand might be mentioned.

Go to Settings > Exclusions and check whether you have excluded any domains or social accounts that might be reducing your mention count. Remove any unnecessary exclusions.

Go to Settings > Languages & Countries and consider expanding your settings to include all languages or additional countries.

Try adding a broader or more common keyword to your project to see if it generates more mentions. This can help you determine whether the issue is with your keyword selection or with other project settings.

If your project is new, it may take some time to accumulate mentions. Check whether historical data extraction is available for your project, which can backfill mentions from before your project was created.

In some cases, low mention counts are completely normal and expected. Small or niche brands, B2B companies with limited consumer presence, local businesses with small geographic reach, and new brands that have not yet built awareness may all naturally have lower mention volumes.

If your brand falls into one of these categories, focus on the quality of mentions rather than quantity. Even a small number of high-quality mentions from influential sources or satisfied customers can provide valuable insights and business value.

By understanding the factors that affect mention counts and optimizing your project settings accordingly, you can ensure that you are capturing all relevant mentions of your brand and getting the most value from your BrandMentions monitoring.