Your model is being talked about on YouTube proper now—and also you in all probability don’t know what’s being mentioned.
YouTube is the second-largest search engine, the place customers spend roughly 50 minutes day by day (and rising).
It’s additionally the 2nd most cited supply by LLMs, which means video mentions don’t simply attain human audiences—they educate AI how you can advocate your model.
YouTube creators are shaping model narratives in entrance of hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Take Canva: it picked up round 460 YouTube mentions this month (in line with the YouTube report in Ahrefs Model Radar).
Which may not sound like a lot, till you notice these 460 mentions translate to three.4 million views.
In the event you’re not monitoring your YouTube mentions, you’re leaving your popularity in another person’s palms.
YouTube mentions are any occasion the place your model title seems in a channel title, title, description, transcript, or hyperlink.
There are two distinct sorts:
Tagged mentions
Tagged mentions work like social media tags (e.g. @channelname). They hyperlink to your channel, and set off notifications in YouTube everytime you’re talked about in titles, descriptions, or feedback.
One factor to recollect about tagged mentions is that the creator has to deliberately tag you—they aren’t simply informal passing mentions.
Untagged mentions
Untagged mentions, however, are natural mentions. They don’t hyperlink again to your channel and also you received’t get notified if you land one. Untagged mentions can seem anyplace: in channel names, thumbnails, titles, descriptions, transcripts, and hyperlinks.
YouTube mentions can take the shape of:
- References to your product/service even with out utilizing the precise model title
- Comparisons or evaluations that function your model alongside others
- Informal name-drops in tutorials, vlogs, or commentary content material
You may monitor mentions in tagged posts natively inside YouTube Studio.
Simply head to “Group” within the menu on the left, and search for the “Mentions” tab on the dashboard.
However for untagged mentions, you’ll want a social media monitoring software.
Model Radar’s YouTube monitoring software does precisely this—monitoring your model throughout ~15M movies (and rising) by scanning titles, descriptions, and transcripts.
On this information, I’ll stroll you thru monitoring YouTube mentions with this software, utilizing actual examples from Ahrefs.
YouTube mentions are a number one indicator of brand name well being.
When extra creators speak about you organically, it indicators consciousness is rising round your model.
Usually that interprets as elevated search quantity, AI citations and, finally, enterprise progress.
In the event you monitor your mentions each month, you’ll be able to see if consciousness is rising or declining, discover out what’s driving spikes in dialog, and show the ROI of your brand-building with concrete information.
And there are tons extra use circumstances and advantages…
- Measure model buzz: Monitor point out quantity month-over-month to see if consciousness is accelerating or stalling. For instance, if mentions doubled after your rebrand, you realize it’s working
- Assess marketing campaign impression: Examine point out spikes to marketing campaign launch dates to show which initiatives really moved the needle—if mentions jumped 3x throughout your product launch week, that’s your proof of impression
- Benchmark in opposition to objectives: Set quarterly point out targets (e.g. 500 mentions in Q1) to carry your crew accountable and information funds selections
- Justify funding: Present stakeholders concrete proof of rising model presence (e.g. 150% YoY progress in impressions), to safe subsequent 12 months’s funds
- Establish breakout moments: Pinpoint what brought about sudden point out spikes (e.g. product launches, viral movies, PR hits) to duplicate that success once more and once more
- Forecast future visibility: Look ahead to sustained YouTube point out progress as an early indicator of rising search rankings and AI citations
The right way to monitor your YouTube mentions constantly
Add your model title and variants to Model Radar’s YouTube monitoring software, then use the report view to trace your whole YouTube mentions month-over-month.
Begin off by dropping your model title—plus any pronunciation variations—into the “Your model” subject.
Monitor model title variations
In case your model title can also be tough to pronounce, take into consideration monitoring for mentions of your model’s options, merchandise, or providers.
For instance, “Key phrase problem” and “Area ranking” are each uniquely developed Ahrefs scores, so we’d wish to take into consideration monitoring these to get a greater sense of the place our model is referenced.
It can save you these variations by hitting the “Save report” button on the principle Model Radar dashboard:
In return, you’ll get a month-to-month view of your YouTube model mentions, which you’ll be able to monitor periodically to evaluate progress or decline.
Beneath that, you’ll see an inventory of movies organically mentioning your model, ordered by “relevance”.
Outcomes which are thought of “related” are ranked primarily based on a mixture of point out frequency and view depend.
Unprompted model mentions let you know what’s working, how individuals naturally describe your model, and which use circumstances resonate a lot that creators can’t assist however share them.
And, better of all, none of it prices you a cent.
If you monitor natural model mentions, you can:
- Get unfiltered notion: Learn natural mentions to catch sincere opinions (e.g. “clunky UI” or “wonderful assist”), then deal with recurring criticisms in product updates (e.g. repair UI points) and fold reward into your advertising (e.g. homepage copy)
- Market the suitable use circumstances: Uncover new and novel methods audiences use your product, then construct campaigns round them. For instance, if creators use your challenge administration software for podcast manufacturing, create a touchdown web page focusing on that area of interest
- Form messaging: Be aware the phrases audiences use, then undertake them in your net or advert copy. As an illustration, if reviewers name you “silly easy,” swap out generic strains like “intuitive platform” for his or her actual language
- Spot content material gaps: See which subjects seem alongside your mentions, then create content material for them. For instance, if “Web optimization audits” comes up steadily, publish a how-to information on that subject
The right way to do discover natural video mentions
Discovering natural mentions is not only a case of trying to find your model title. You want to filter out companions and opponents, if you wish to see mentions which are actually natural.
Begin by including a “would not include” filter, to rule out:
- Your owned channels (e.g. Ahrefs)
- Sponsored key phrases in descriptions (e.g. #spon, #advert)
- Companion URL fragments (e.g. /associate/)
For instance, under I’ve excluded our owned YouTube channels with a channel title > doesn’t include> Ahrefs filter.
Then I’ve dominated out sure components our companions usually embrace of their video descriptions, like associate hyperlinks containing yt., or particular merchandise that we’ve been working with them to advertise like awt (i.e. Ahrefs Webmaster Instruments).
That filter takes us from 1,482 outcomes to 229 phrase of mouth mentions. However we’re not performed but.
A few of these mentions are showcasing alternate options to Ahrefs, or pitting us in opposition to our opponents.
For now, we wish to deal with UGC that’s centered round our model—not our opponents.
So, we have to add a Title > doesn’t include > partial match > [competitor name]. This leaves us with 201 mentions.
In the event you’ve adopted alongside to date, you’ll be able to proceed filtering even additional to see which movies your model is the major focus of (e.g. Title > incorporates > partial match > [brand name])
Versus the movies that point out it in passing (e.g. Title > Doesn’t include > partial match > [brand name])
This sort of evaluation can present you ways prospects really use your services and products.
For instance, the video under reveals that folks notably use our software Model Radar for AI competitor hole evaluation…
Whereas the subsequent video reveals that some customers want to see extra actionable suggestions inside the platform…
You should use these sorts of insights to form your content material, and move them over to the product crew to tell your roadmap.
As a substitute of cold-pitching influencers, begin with creators which are already discussing your model or subjects in your house.
This can show you how to monitor down high-potential companions whose audiences and area of interest naturally align together with your personal.
There are a ton of advantages to monitoring influencer mentions:
- Discover creator followers: Monitor down influencers already mentioning your model organically, then ship them early entry to options or paid partnership presents they’re prone to settle for
- Assess viewers match: Earlier than reaching out, see if their viewers match your goal market, so that you solely pitch to channels the place your product really resonates
- Prioritize high-impact creators: Type by view counts and engagement, then allocate your sponsorship funds to the highest performers
- Tailor your pitch: Pull particular quotes like “I like how [Brand] handles X,” then open your e mail with “Noticed you praised our X function in your current video—focused on test-driving the improve?”
- Save time and funds: Construct a shortlist of pre-vetted creators who really align together with your model, as a substitute of cold-pitching dozens and hoping one thing sticks
The right way to discover related influencers to sponsor
Discover creators price partnering with by sorting natural mentions primarily based in your objectives, then zero in on movies and audiences that really align together with your model.
Begin with the report you’ve already configured to search out natural word-of-mouth mentions (i.e. the one which filters out your model channels and the companions you already sponsor).
The intention is to find the most seen creators, with audiences which are related to your model.
As I mentioned earlier, your YouTube mentions are sorted by “relevance”—which is a mixture of point out frequency and view depend by default.
Meaning it’s best to be capable to discover high quality influencer mentions proper off the bat.
However some nice alternatives could also be trickier to trace down.
As an illustration, you may land simply one point out in a extremely seen video that finally ends up being hyper-relevant.
That’s why it’s necessary to check out completely different sorting choices—e.g. order “By views” vs. “By relevance”.
Then, if you come throughout a creator that appears fascinating, you’ll be able to learn the transcript and watch the video to higher perceive the context of your model point out.
Right here’s an instance of what I imply.
I set the chart in Model Radar’s YouTube report back to Impressions, and located one point out that bumped up our model consciousness by 115% in a single day.
I tracked it down within the checklist view (by sorting “By views”), then clicked the transcript timecode to look at the video and perceive the point out context.
In the end, the creator briefly beneficial Ahrefs as a long-tail key phrase software for solopreneurs seeking to begin Web optimization-monetized blogs.
Understanding the context helps you get a greater concept of whether or not an influencer is price sponsoring. You may shortly assess:
- Is that this an viewers you wish to attain?
- Is the beneficial product/service worthwhile to your enterprise?
- Does the channel or video subject align together with your advertising objectives?
On this instance, the viewers in all probability isn’t proper for Ahrefs. The video primarily targets learners who usually tend to be focused on our free key phrase instruments.
Our precedence, however, is selling our extra superior instruments to mature SEOs and entrepreneurs in medium-sized to enterprise companies.
Which brings me on to the subsequent video…
Whereas it has fewer views, it options Ahrefs in workflows that enchantment to our precise audience: mature entrepreneurs in company manufacturers.
It additionally covers a subject that may be a huge product focus for us proper now: AI.
Plus the creator reveals off a use case that may very well be even higher dealt with by our new ChatGPT Web optimization software: Ahrefs MCP.
Diving even deeper, I can see the creator has ~98K subscribers, and that her channel aligns with our subject focus: Digital advertising, AI technique, skilled progress, tech & enterprise.
In order that’s an:
- Viewers match
- Product match
- Advertising/subject match
To me, this appears to be like like a a lot better partnership alternative.
If you wish to forged a good wider internet, you’ll be able to repeat this complete course of, however take away your personal model mentions from the equation, and as a substitute filter by the market/trade you’re aiming to get talked about in.
For instance, right here’s an in depth filter I constructed to search out related creators within the “AI advertising house”.
Use the filters to type by means of your mentions till you discover creators price partnering with.
Earlier than individuals open their wallets, they’re on YouTube watching evaluations and checking in case your services or products really solves their drawback.¹
These mentions reveal what attracts patrons to your model, or sends them to a competitor.
Monitoring bottom-of-funnel YouTube mentions helps you:
- Deal with frequent objections: Spot recurring issues in evaluations, then publish weblog posts, replace your FAQ web page, or ship product fixes that immediately counter them
- Double down on differentiators: When creators say one in all your options beats your opponents, highlight it in your homepage, product pages, paid adverts, and gross sales decks
- Practice your gross sales crew: Give gross sales reps responses to the precise objections, questions, and issues showing in these movies
- Mine testimonials: Discover genuine buyer tales in video mentions, then screenshot quotes on your web site, repurpose clips for social proof adverts, or construct case research round them
- Sponsor strategic comparisons: Discover creators who place you favorably in opposition to opponents, then attain out with sponsorship presents or new speaking factors to strengthen
- Right misinformation: Catch inaccurate comparisons in movies, e mail the creator with correct data, or provide to collaborate on an up to date video
- Enhance function priorities: See which competitor options constantly win over patrons, then bump comparable capabilities up your product roadmap or sundown options no person mentions
- Optimize comparability pages: Be aware what patrons really care about in video comparisons, then rewrite your “Model vs Competitor” touchdown pages to steer with these actual ache factors and options
The right way to discover excessive buy intent mentions on YouTube
The simplest method to discover mentions of your model in buyer-focused content material is to seek for comparability movies that includes your model and opponents.
Maintain your earlier “doesn’t include” filters energetic (i.e. those excluding your personal model channel and companions), then reintroduce the opponents that you simply filtered out.
On this instance, I’ve merely eliminated the Title > doesn’t include > partial match > [competitor name] filter.
I’ve additionally excluded mentions of the phrase “free” within the video title, simply so I can deal with creators reviewing our paid instruments.
Now all of our opponents are again within the recreation.
If in case you have a bigger model with extra mentions, you’ll be able to add further key phrase modifiers to zero in on comparability content material—e.g.
- versus/vs
- various
- compares/in contrast/comparability
- overview
- execs and cons
- price it
- greatest
- high
This wasn’t essential for us, as our hottest mentions have a tendency to come back from head-to-head evaluations, so that they’re fairly simple to discover.
Analyze your video mentions in NotebookLM
After establishing my filters, I instantly discovered two evaluations pitting Ahrefs in opposition to Semrush.
The primary got here from “Advertising Island”, printed again in Might 2024. So far, it’s been considered 10.2K instances.
The second was from “Jaume Ros”, printed again in August 2024 and considered 3.4K instances.
If you run them by means of NotebookLM, it turns into clear one recommends Semrush, and the opposite Ahrefs.
However in each circumstances, the creators overview Ahrefs negatively as a consequence of our previous “credit” primarily based cost system, and the truth that we lack a broader vary of selling instruments.
Our platform and pricing has modified so much since these movies have been created.
We’ve performed away with credit, and added far more versatile advertising options like Model Radar for AI monitoring, Social Media Supervisor for scheduling social posts, and Internet Analytics—our GA4 various for analyzing all-site site visitors.
One motion we’d take right here is to succeed in out to those creators, replace them on Ahrefs’ product developments, and ask in the event that they’d be focused on filming new evaluations.
This manner we are able to enhance the accuracy of the knowledge surrounding our model, and hopefully encourage extra conversions.
Sponsored content material usually represents a giant chunk of selling funding.
Monitoring your sponsored mentions helps you verify whether or not content material went reside and measure which partnerships drove the most effective engagement.
Particularly, you can:
- Test deliverables: Verify creators really printed the content material they have been paid for, and observe up on any lacking or delayed content material
- Assess the standard of the point out: Consider how authentically and prominently they featured your model—did they point out you within the title and thumbnail or simply as soon as on the 8-minute mark in a 20-minute video?
- Monitor longevity: See if sponsored movies proceed driving mentions over time or fade shortly. For instance, if a video nonetheless generates mentions six months down the road, that creator delivered lasting worth and is price working with once more
- Aggressive intelligence: Monitor which creators your opponents are sponsoring, then study from their technique. Does it appear to be working? Might you go after comparable influencers? Or differentiate your model with distinct area of interest influencers?
The right way to analyze the YouTube mentions you sponsor
When you’ve secured sponsorships, use Model Radar to observe them and ensure your funds goes to good use.
Keep in mind all the “doesn't include” parameters you arrange earlier (to filter out sponsored mentions)?
Change them over to “incorporates”.
Be sure to’ve accounted for all of the phrases or hyperlinks you’ve requested your sponsors to incorporate of their descriptions.
This can show you how to maintain monitor on output, assess the relevance of your sponsored mentions, and evaluate the engagement generated by completely different companions.
You may as well examine how the companions of your opponents spotlight their sponsor relationships (e.g. semrush encourages creators to advertise their free trial).
Then use these findings to construct out a question, so you’ll be able to monitor rival sponsorships.
This sort of setup will show you how to discover your opponents’ high creators and swoop in with higher presents, or spot niches they’re ignoring, then personal these areas earlier than they catch on.
YouTube is the 2nd most-cited supply by LLMs—so video mentions immediately affect how AI assistants place your model.
Right here’s what you acquire from monitoring AI-cited content material:
- Spot AI-driving mentions: See which video mentions result in AI citations. For instance, if a tutorial from “MarketingPro” generated 180 ChatGPT citations whereas your different sponsored video landed <20, prioritize “MarketingPro” on your subsequent marketing campaign—or replicate their tutorial format in your owned content material
- Perceive AI preferences: Be taught which subjects, codecs, or creators AI favors most. Say AI cites 10-minute tutorial movies 5x greater than 2-minute product demos, then it’s worthwhile to shift your video technique to prioritize longer, instructional codecs
- Discover the most effective AI companions: Goal creators whose content material is steadily cited in AI. As an illustration, if “TechReviewer101” seems in 70% of related AI responses, add them to your top-tier sponsorship checklist and take into account allocating extra funds to that partnership
- Create AI-led video content material: Produce extra of the video sorts AI references. For instance, if AI constantly cites “The right way to do X with [Your Tool]” movies, script and produce 5 tutorial movies with that actual title format
- Measure twin impression: Monitor how YouTube presence boosts AI visibility. You are able to do this by monitoring your whole AI citations post-sponsorship. If visibility jumps from 200 to 500 mentions, for instance, then your associate is price working with once more
The right way to see whether or not your YouTube mentions drive up AI mentions
Everytime you discover a point out of your model in YouTube, drop the video URL into Model Radar.
This can present you which of them of your YouTube mentions are additionally liable for AI visibility throughout seven completely different AI assistants.
As an illustration, whereas analyzing how Ahrefs seems in current “greatest software” movies, I noticed this LearnWire point out:
I took the URL over to the Model Radar dashboard, and dropped it into the “URL > incorporates” filter:
Because it occurs, that one video triggered 254 mentions of Ahrefs in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
You may scale this evaluation to search out out which subjects, codecs, and creators AI cites most frequently—then run the identical test on competitor mentions.
Then it’s only a case of manufacturing and sponsoring extra of that content material.
Wrapping up
Your model is being mentioned on YouTube whether or not you’re watching or not.
Monitoring your video mentions will show you how to work out how creators place you, spot partnership alternatives, and join your YouTube presence to AI visibility.
Begin with month-to-month model monitoring in Ahrefs Model Radar to see the place you stand.
