To monitor mentions in Hootsuite, connect the relevant social account and add its supported Mentions stream in Streams. That catches direct tags of the connected profile; finding posts that mention a brand or topic without tagging it requires a search or listening feature instead. These feeds are not interchangeable, and none should be treated as a guarantee that every public mention will appear.
Choose the Hootsuite route that matches what you need to find
| Goal | Hootsuite route | What it is for | Key constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Respond to posts that tag a connected profile | Streams Mentions feed | Direct mentions of the connected profile, subject to the network’s integration and documented exclusions. | Requires a connected account; each network offers its own stream types and limits. |
| Find X posts containing terms, including some that do not tag your profile | X Search stream | Keyword or Boolean-query discovery in Streams. | Hootsuite documents a seven-day window and a 100-post cap for this stream, and warns that X search is not exhaustive. |
| Listen to X keyword conversations in a shared work queue | Inbox search queries | Route matching X conversations into Inbox for team handling. | Setup is restricted to Advanced and Enterprise Inbox admins. |
| Research topics across configured data sources | Insights searches | Analyze selected sources, including eligible owned-account and non-owned data. | Sources must be configured; availability and authentication requirements differ by source. |
| Track broader topic trends | Social listening Quick Search or Lumen | Quick Search offers baseline listening; Lumen provides full listening. | Plan entitlements and historical windows differ; full Lumen listening is described as an Enterprise feature. |
These are product capabilities documented by Hootsuite, not independent measurements of coverage. For current plan eligibility, consult Hootsuite’s social listening overview.
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Set up direct mentions in Streams
- Connect or confirm the account. In Hootsuite, connect the relevant social profile and make sure the organization has granted the necessary access. Streams and the available stream types depend on the connected account and network integration.
- Open Streams and choose a board. Boards are containers for organizing streams. Create or open the board where you want the feed.
- Add the supported Mentions stream. Select the relevant social account and choose Mentions if the integration offers it. Hootsuite’s Streams overview explains the product’s stream model.
- Check that the feed contains the cases you expect. For example, confirm that a known direct tag appears. Treat the stream as a source-specific inbox, not a complete archive of every conversation about your organization.
On X, separate direct mentions from keyword searches
Mentions stream: posts that tag the connected profile
Hootsuite describes the X Mentions stream as showing mentions of the connected profile in posts and replies, with stated exclusions. It is the better fit for handling direct tags, not for discovering every use of a brand name. The documented limit is 800 posts. See Hootsuite’s X stream instructions for stream behavior and setup details.
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Search stream: terms and Boolean queries
An X Search stream matches configured terms or Boolean queries, so it can surface conversations that do not tag your account. Hootsuite says the stream can return posts from the past seven days, is limited to 100 posts, and is not exhaustive. Those are documented product limits and may change.
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Hootsuite’s query guidance says spaces act like AND, use OR between alternatives, and supports filters. It advises keeping a query under 500 characters, avoiding more than 10 keywords and filter operators in the stream guidance, and notes that complex queries can be limited. Start with a small set of useful variants—such as brand spelling, product name, campaign term, and hashtag—and inspect whether the results include examples you expected. Do not assume a query’s silence proves that no relevant posts exist.
There is also a dated coverage change: Hootsuite says X keyword searches in Streams stopped returning reposts beginning June 7, 2026, following an X search-index change. Do not rely on these searches to find reposts. Details are in Hootsuite’s Changes to Streams notice.
Inbox search: keyword conversations for a team queue
If the goal is to route matching X conversations into a shared response workflow, Hootsuite documents query setup in Inbox for Advanced and Enterprise Inbox admins. This is different from simply viewing a Search stream: it supports queue-based handling, and setup is limited by role and plan. Hootsuite’s instructions are in Use queries to listen to X conversations.
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Use Insights for configured source-based topic research
Insights searches operate on targeted data sources that must be added, and applicable owned accounts need authentication. Coverage depends on source type rather than a universal search of all social posts. Hootsuite’s data-source guide describes, for example, owned Facebook Page data including posts, sponsored posts, audience posts, and comments; owned Instagram Business data including posts and comments and posts tagging or mentioning the owned account; and separate coverage for non-owned and hashtag sources.
Instagram hashtag discovery in Streams is a separate feature with its own prerequisite: Hootsuite says the Instagram Business profile must be connected to a Facebook Page. See Create an Instagram stream. That requirement should not be confused with the broader source configuration used by Insights.
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Match social listening to the plan and the time window
Hootsuite describes Quick Search as baseline social-listening functionality across its customers, with historical windows that vary by named plan group. Its June 25, 2026 overview lists unlimited searches for the plan groups below, but plan names and entitlements can change.
| Hootsuite plan group in the June 25, 2026 overview | Quick Search historical data | Full Lumen listening |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Standard, Team, and Business | 7 days | Not stated for these plan groups in the overview |
| Advanced and Enterprise | 30 days | Described as an Enterprise feature |
The same overview describes unlimited searches for the named plan groups. This does not mean unlimited history or complete capture of every public post. Check the current social listening plan details before choosing a workflow.
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Inbox metrics can count messages pulled in through search queries, and Inbox analytics templates include measures such as volume, topics, response time, and resolution time, subject to role and plan access. These can help evaluate how a team handles messages it receives; they do not establish that the system found every public mention. Hootsuite documents these capabilities in Inbox metrics and Analyze your Inbox performance.
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Practical checks before relying on a mention workflow
- Use Mentions for direct tags and keyword or listening tools for discovery beyond tags.
- Confirm the account is connected and that the selected network exposes the stream or source you need.
- Test a few realistic spelling, product, campaign, or hashtag variants, then review actual returned examples.
- For X, account for the documented seven-day Search stream window, 100-post cap, non-exhaustive results, and lack of reposts in keyword searches since June 7, 2026.
- For a shared X response queue, verify both plan eligibility and the admin role requirement for Inbox query setup.
- For Insights or Instagram hashtag monitoring, verify source configuration and the relevant account prerequisites.
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