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  Article updated: September 16, 2024

About search query syntax

Listening (powered by Talkwalker) supports a wide range of search query operators to help you find the most relevant mentions for your search.

Single keyword searches match all mentions that contain the keyword. Use Boolean operators as conjunctions between keywords to combine or exclude keywords in your search, to get the most relevant results possible. If you're searching for a phrase that contains spaces, enter it in quotation marks.

Basic Boolean operators

The following table describes the most commonly used Boolean operators in Listening searches.

Basic Boolean operators
Operator Description Example
AND Searches for mentions that include both specified terms on the same page.

social AND media

Matches mentions that contain "social" and "media" on the same page. Mentions with only one of these terms are excluded.

AND NOT Searches for mentions that include one specified term and exclude the other specified term.

social AND NOT media

Matches mentions of "social", as long as "media" is not mentioned on the same page.

OR Searches for mentions that include at least one of the specified terms.

social OR media

Matches mentions that contain "social" or "media".

NOT Searches for mentions that exclude the specified term.

NOT platform

Matches mentions that do not include the word "platform".

( )
Combinations
Groups terms together so that a single operator can be applied to everything in the brackets.

(social AND media) OR (social AND network)

Matches mentions that contain "social" and "media" on the same page, or mentions that contain "social" and "network" on the same page.


" "
(Exact phrase search)
Searches for mentions that contain the term exactly as specified. If you use upper case letters in your search term, Listening matches both upper and lower case mentions of the term.

"HOOTSUITE platform"

Matches mentions that contain the phrase "HOOTSUITE platform", "Hootsuite platform", "hootsuite platform", and so on.

Upper case search Searches for mentions that contain the specified term in upper case letters only.

HOOTSUITE

Matches mentions that contain "HOOTSUITE", but not "Hootsuite", "hootsuite", and so on.

*
(Wildcard search)
Searches for mentions that contain the term, with any number of characters where the "*" appears. If you place the "*" at the end of a term, Listening finds variations of the root term.

Luxemb*

Matches mentions that contain variants of the root term (for example, Luxembourg, Luxemburg, Luxemburgish, and so on).

?
(One character wildcard search)
Searches for mentions that contain the term, with any letter where the "?" appears. Use this operator to include spelling variations of a term. Do not place the "?" at the end of the term (use the "*" operator instead).

customi?e

Matches mentions that contain any variation of the word "customize" (for example, "customize" and "customise").

" "~
(Fuzzy search)
Searches for mentions that contain the terms specified in quotes (to a maximum four words) expressed with a hyphen, space, or other special character.

“car sharing”~

Matches mentions that contain variations of the term “car sharing” (for example, carsharing, car-sharing, car sharing, and so on).

~n
(Fuzzy search)

Searches for mentions that contain words that are similar to the specified term. You can also use a number (1 or 2) after "~" to indicate the number of characters that can be different.

roam~1

Matches mentions that contain words similar to the word "roam" (for example, "road" and "room").

+" "
(Raw data search)

Searches for mentions that contain the specified term, including any special characters.

+"maître d'hôtel"

Matches mentions that contain the words "maître d'hôtel", including apostrophe and accented letters.

++" "
Exact raw data search
Searches for mentions that contain the specified term, including any special characters and upper or lower case letters.

++"Hôtel d'Orsay"

Matches mentions that contain the words "Hôtel d'Orsay", including apostrophe, accented letters, and capitalization.

\
(Quoted term search)

Searches for mentions that include quotation marks as part of a keyword or keyword phrase. Make sure you place the "\" before the quotation marks. Use this operator with the raw data search (+)or exact raw data search (++).

+"It's simply \"the best\""

Matches mentions that contain the phrase "It's simply 'the best'", where "the best" is in quotation marks.

Proximity-based Boolean operators

The following table describes Boolean operators for proximity-based searches.

Basic Boolean operators
Operator Description Example
" "~n
(Proximity search)
Searches for mentions that contain the specified terms within a set proximity to each other.

"social media"~5

Matches mentions of the phrase "social media" and mentions where "social" and "media" are separated by at most five words.

NEAR/n Searches for mentions that contain the specified term(s) within a set proximity to other specified terms. If you don't specify a number, Listening uses a default of 15. Hootsuite NEAR/5 (listening OR analytics)

Matches mentions where "Hootsuite" appears within five words of "listening" or "analytics".

ONEAR/n

 

Searches for mentions that contain the specified term(s) within a set proximity to other specified terms, in the order specified.

Hootsuite ONEAR/3 (listening OR analytics)

Matches mentions where Hootsuite appears within three words of "listening" or "analytics," and appears before those terms.

SENTENCE Searches for mentions where the specified terms appear in the same sentence. Hootsuite SENTENCE (listening OR analytics)

Matches mentions where Hootsuite appears in the same sentence as "listening" or "analytics."

OSENTENCE Searches for mentions where the specified terms appear in the same sentence, in the order specified.

Hootsuite OSENTENCE (listening OR analytics)

Matches mentions where Hootsuite appears in the same sentence as "listening" or "analytics" and appears before those terms.

FIRST/n Indicates how close to the beginning of a mention the specified term(s) must appear. You must use parentheses with the keyword(s).

FIRST/10 (Hootsuite)

Matches mentions where "Hootsuite" appears within the first ten words of the post, page, or article.

FIRST/10 (Hootsuite OR Talkwalker)

Matches mentions where either "Hootsuite" or "Talkwalker" appears within the first ten words of the post, page, or article.

Content-related Boolean operators

The following table summarizes the Boolean operators for searches based on content attributes.

Content-related Boolean operators
Operator Description Example

title:

Searches for mentions where the specified term appears in the title of an article. You can also use it with the proximity search "..."~.

title:olympics

Matches mentions where "olympics" appears in the title of an article or page.

content: Searches for mentions where the specified term appears in the body of an article.

content:olympics

Matches mentions where "olympics" appears in the body of an article or page.

contains:<type>

Matches mentions that contain the specified media type. Supported post types are:

  • audio
  • image
  • video
  • emoji
  • logo

olympics contains:emoji

Matches mentions that contain the term "olympics" and include an emoji.

posttype:<type>

Matches mentions that correspond to the specified post type only. Supported post types are:

  • text
  • image
  • video
  • audio
  • link
  • carousel
olympics posttype:image

Matches image-based mentions that contain the term "olympics".

image:object
<type>
Matches mentions that contain an image with the specified object type. For a full list of supported image objects, see the About search query syntax section.

animals image:object-cow

Matches mentions that contain the term "animals" and an image of a cow.

image:scene
<type>
Matches mentions that contain an image with the specified scene type. For a full list of supported image scenes, see the About search query syntax section.

dog image:scene-canal

Matches mentions that contain the term "dog" and an image with a canal.

content_ocr:X Matches mentions that contain the specified term in the text included in an image

content_ocr:olympics

Matches image-based mentions where the term "olympics" appears in the image.

sourcetype: Matches mentions from a specific type of media source. For full list of supported media sources, see the About search query syntax section.

olympics AND sourcetype:BLOG

Matches mentions of "olympics" that are found in blogs only.

URL-based Boolean operators

The following table summarizes the Boolean operators for searches based on specific websites.

URL-based Boolean operators
Operator Description Example
url: Matches mentions from a specific page on a site. This operator is case-sensitive, and cannot be used with wildcards (*).

url:http://hootsuite.com/whats-new

parenturl:

Matches all child mentions (comments, replies, retweets, and quote tweets) from a specific URL, as well as the original post or tweet.

This operator works for social media platforms and other media types for which Listening obtains comments on the original content (for example, forums).

This operator is case-sensitive and must be used with the exact URL.

parenturl:https://x.com/BMW/status/1813513986047979808

Returns all child documents from this post on Twitter.

hosturl: Matches all mentions from a particular URL that can be a smaller part of a larger site.

hosturl:http://news.xbox.com/

Returns results from the news section of the xbox.com site.

domainurl: Matches all mentions from the specified domain.

domainurl:http://xbox.com/

Returns results from the entire xbox.com site.

site:

Matches mentions from a specific website. Use the site: operator with the NOT operator to exclude mentions from a specific site.

When you specify the site, you must include the top-level domain (for example, .com or .co.uk) and end with a "/". Do not include “www” before the domain name.

The site: operator searches the top level of a domain. Use the url: operator to search for mentions in a particular part of a site.

"rowing" AND site:olympics.com/ioc/

Returns articles that contain "rowing" from the olympics/com/ioc site.

inurls: Matches all mentions that have the chosen keyword anywhere in their URL or that have it in any referenced URL in the content.

inurls:hootsuite

Matches mentions that have "hootsuite" in the URL or in any referenced URL within the post or article.

Platform-related Boolean operators

The following table describes the Boolean operators you can use to find mentions from specific platforms in Listening searches.

Author-related Boolean operators

The following table describes Boolean operators you can use to narrow in on mentions that match specific author attributes.

Author-related Boolean operators
Operator Description Example

authorcountry:

Matches mentions by authors from a specific country.

olympics authorcountry:fr

Matches mentions that contain "olympics" by French authors only.

authordescription: Matches mentions by authors who include the specified descriptor in their bio.

olympics authordescription:"social media"

Matches mentions that contain "olympics" by authors who have the words "social media" in their bio.

author_id: Matches mentions from a source with a specific author ID. E.g. author_id:"ig:4024202702" will find posts from this source only. olympics author_id:ig:4024202702

Matches mentions that contain "olympics" from the specified author only.

author: Matches mentions from authors whose name include the specified term.

olympics author:sarah

Matches mentions that contain "olympics" from authors whose name includes the word "Sarah."

authorshort:

Matches mentions from a specific author handle or short name. This operator is case-sensitive and must be used with the handle or short name of the author (without the @ symbol), exactly as it appears on the social network.

This operator matches mentions from Twitter, Instagram and VKontakte.

account authorshort:hootsuite

Matches mentions from accounts with "@hootsuite" in the handle that contain the word "account."

Demographic-related Boolean operators

The following table describes Boolean operators you can use to narrow in on mentions that match specific demographic categories, such as occupation, family status, and interest.

Demographic-related Boolean operators
Operator Description Example
demographic:occupation-<type>

Matches mentions where the author is identified with a specific occupation.

For a full list of supported occupations, see the About search query syntax section.

olympics demographics:occupation-teacher

Matches mentions that contain the term "olympics" from authors who identify as teachers.

demographic:interest-<type>

Matches mentions where the author is identified with a specific interest (as part of their bio).

For a full list of supported interests, see the About search query syntax section.

festival demographics:interest-movies

Matches mentions that contain the term "festival" from authors who identify an interest in movies.

demographic:familystatus-<type>

Matches mentions where the author is identified with a specific family status (as part of their bio). Supported family status categories are:

  • single
  • married
  • parents
  • senior

festival demographics:familystatus-parent

Matches mentions that contain the term "festival" from authors who identify as a parent.

gender: Matches mentions from only female or male authors, or authors of unknown gender.

olympics gender:female

Matches mentions that contain "olympics" by authors identified as female.

Advanced Boolean operators

The following table describes advanced Boolean operators for Listening searches.

Advanced Boolean operators
Operator Description Example
lang: Matches mentions in a specific language. For a full list of language codes, see the About search query syntax section.

Hootsuite AND lang:fr

Matches mentions of "Hootsuite" that are in the French language only.

sourcecountry: Matches mentions from a specific country. . For a full list of coungry codes, see the About search query syntax section.

Hootsuite AND sourcecountry:GBR

Matches mentions of "Hootsuite" that originate from the UK.

Codes for Boolean operators

Certain Boolean operators require specific codes to narrow in on results. See the following sections for more information.

 

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