Your Brand Is Being Discussed Right Now. Here Is How to Find Out What They Are Saying
Right now, somewhere on the internet, someone is talking about your brand. Maybe it is a glowing recommendation in a Reddit thread. Maybe it is a frustrated review on Trustpilot. Maybe it is a YouTube comment comparing you to a competitor. The point is: these conversations are happening whether you are listening or not.
Most businesses have no idea how often they are mentioned online. They check their tagged social media posts, scan their review profiles occasionally, and call it a day. But the vast majority of brand mentions happen in places where you are never notified: Reddit threads, Hacker News discussions, app store reviews, Quora answers, YouTube comments, and niche community forums.
This is the reality of unmonitored brand mentions. And it is costing you customers, insights, and reputation.
The Reality of Unmonitored Brand Mentions
Research consistently shows that over 90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. But here is the part most businesses overlook: only a tiny fraction of brand mentions happen on platforms you directly control.
Consider where your customers actually talk about products:
- Reddit has 52 million daily active users discussing products, comparing alternatives, and asking for recommendations across thousands of subreddits.
- Hacker News is where technical founders and developers share candid opinions about tools and services.
- Google Reviews, Trustpilot, G2, and Yelp host millions of reviews that influence buying decisions daily.
- App Store and Play Store reviews are often the first thing potential users see.
- YouTube comments on review videos and tutorials contain detailed feedback and questions.
- Quora answers that recommend (or warn against) products rank in Google search results for years.
- Product Hunt launches generate concentrated bursts of feedback and discussion.
If you are only monitoring your own social media profiles and direct support channels, you are seeing maybe 10% of what people say about you. The other 90% is shaping your reputation without your knowledge or input.
What Happens When You Do Not Monitor
The cost of not monitoring is not always dramatic. It is usually a slow leak of missed opportunities and unaddressed problems.
Negative Reviews Go Unanswered
A one-star review on Google or a frustrated post on Reddit does not just affect the person who wrote it. It affects every future customer who reads it. When negative feedback goes unanswered, it signals that you do not care. When you respond promptly and helpfully, it signals the opposite. But you cannot respond to what you do not know exists.
Competitor Comparisons Shape Perception
"Is ProductX better than ProductY?" threads on Reddit and Quora get thousands of views over time, especially as they rank in Google search results. If your competitors are being recommended in these threads and you are not even mentioned, you are losing customers to conversations you never saw.
Customer Problems Escalate
A customer posts about a bug on Reddit. Nobody from your team sees it. Other users pile on with similar complaints. By the time it reaches your support inbox (if it ever does), it has become a perceived widespread issue. Early detection could have turned this into a positive story: "Their team saw my post and fixed it within a day."
Market Signals Go Unnoticed
When multiple people across different communities start asking for a feature you do not offer, that is a market signal. When sentiment toward a competitor starts declining, that is an opportunity. Without monitoring, these signals pass you by.
Where Brand Discussions Actually Happen
To monitor effectively, you need to understand the landscape. Different platforms serve different purposes in the customer journey.
Discovery and Research Platforms
Reddit, Hacker News, Quora, and Product Hunt are where people go to research products before buying. Discussions here are detailed, comparative, and heavily influence purchase decisions. A positive thread on r/SaaS or a favorable Hacker News comment can drive signups for months.
Review and Reputation Platforms
Google Reviews, Trustpilot, G2, Yelp, and Amazon Reviews are the backbone of online reputation. These reviews directly appear in search results and are often the deciding factor for potential customers. Monitoring these is not optional for any business that cares about growth.
App-Specific Platforms
App Store and Play Store reviews are unique because they directly impact your app's visibility and download rate. A pattern of unanswered negative reviews drags down your rating, which reduces organic installs.
Technical and Developer Communities
GitHub, Dev.to, Hashnode, and Indie Hackers are where developers and technical founders discuss tools. If your product serves a technical audience, these communities are essential to monitor. The feedback here tends to be specific, actionable, and technically detailed.
Video and Visual Platforms
YouTube comments on review videos, tutorials, and comparison content generate ongoing discussions that influence viewers. A single popular review video can generate hundreds of brand-relevant comments over its lifetime.
How to Set Up Comprehensive Brand Tracking
Effective brand monitoring is not about checking each platform manually. That approach does not scale and guarantees you will miss things. Here is a systematic approach to getting full coverage.
Step 1: Define What to Track
Start with the obvious and expand from there:
- Your brand name (and common misspellings)
- Your product names
- Your founder or CEO names (especially for startups)
- Your domain name
- Key competitor names (to track comparison discussions)
- Industry terms combined with problem descriptions
Step 2: Prioritize Platforms by Relevance
Not every platform matters equally for every business. A B2B SaaS company should prioritize Reddit, Hacker News, G2, and Product Hunt. A consumer app should prioritize App Store reviews, Play Store reviews, YouTube, and Yelp. A local business should prioritize Google Reviews, Yelp, and Trustpilot. Start with the platforms where your audience is most active and expand from there.
Step 3: Automate With AI-Powered Monitoring
Manual checking is a losing strategy. You need automated monitoring that scans your target platforms continuously and alerts you when something needs attention. More importantly, you need AI that can distinguish between a casual mention and an urgent issue, so you are not buried in noise.
Kaulby monitors 17 platforms in a single dashboard, applying AI sentiment analysis to every mention. Each mention is categorized by type (pain point, recommendation, question, comparison) and scored by urgency. You get email alerts for high-priority mentions and daily digests that summarize everything else.
Step 4: Build a Response Workflow
Monitoring without action is just voyeurism. Establish clear workflows for different mention types:
- Negative reviews: Respond within 24 hours with empathy and a path to resolution.
- Product questions: Answer helpfully and link to relevant resources.
- Feature requests: Acknowledge and route to your product team.
- Competitor comparisons: If appropriate, engage with factual differentiators (never bash competitors).
- Solution requests: Add value first, recommend your product only when it is genuinely the best fit.
Step 5: Track Trends Over Time
Individual mentions tell you what happened today. Sentiment trends tell you whether things are getting better or worse. Track your mention volume and average sentiment weekly. Look for correlations with product launches, marketing campaigns, pricing changes, and competitor activity.
Your brand's reputation is not what you say about yourself. It is the sum of thousands of conversations happening across the internet. The only question is whether you are part of those conversations or not.
Stop leaving your reputation to chance. Start tracking your brand mentions today and take control of the conversation. With plans starting at free, there is no reason not to know what people are saying about you.