AI filters

AI filters analyze each post and score how relevant it is to your criteria. Posts are scored 0-100, and only posts above your threshold appear in your feed.

How AI filters work

1. Your scout finds posts matching your keywords
2. Each post is sent to an AI model with your filter prompt
3. The AI scores each post 0-100 based on how well it matches your criteria
4. Posts below your threshold (default: 90) are hidden
5. Each post includes a reason explaining the score

When to use AI filters

AI filters are useful when:

• Keywords have multiple meanings — e.g., "Apple" returns posts about both the company and the fruit
• You want specific intent — e.g., only people asking for recommendations, not general discussions
• You need context-aware filtering — e.g., only negative sentiment, or only B2B contexts

If your keywords are specific enough that most results are relevant, you may not need AI filtering.

Writing filter prompts

Write your filter as if you're explaining to a person what posts you want to see. Be specific about:

• What to include — Types of posts you want
• What to exclude — Types of posts you don't want
• Context about your product — Helps the AI understand relevance

Basic structure

Only show me posts that [describe what you want].

For example:
- [specific example 1]
- [specific example 2]
- [specific example 3]

Do not show:
- [what to exclude]

About my product: [brief description]

Example filters

Finding potential customers

Only show me posts where someone is actively looking for a CRM solution or asking for recommendations.

For example:
- Posts asking "what CRM do you use?" or "best CRM for small business"
- Posts where someone is frustrated with their current CRM
- Posts asking for advice on managing customer relationships

Do not show:
- General discussions about CRM concepts
- Posts from companies promoting their own CRM
- Job postings mentioning CRM experience

About my product: We sell a CRM for small businesses.

Brand monitoring (filtering noise)

Only show me posts that are genuinely about Acme Inc (the software company).

Include:
- Customer feedback or reviews
- Questions about our product
- Mentions in discussions comparing tools

Exclude:
- Posts about other companies named Acme
- Posts where "acme" is used as a generic placeholder name
- Spam or irrelevant mentions

Competitor intelligence

Only show me posts where someone is expressing opinions about Salesforce.

Include:
- Complaints or frustrations with Salesforce
- Comparisons between Salesforce and other CRMs
- People considering switching away from Salesforce

Exclude:
- Salesforce job postings
- Salesforce's own marketing content
- Neutral mentions without opinions

Match score threshold

The default threshold is 90 — only posts scoring 90 or above appear in your feed.

You can adjust this in Settings:

Lower thresholds show more posts but may include less relevant results.

Testing filters

Use the AI filter playground to test filters before applying them:

1. Go to a scout's settings
2. Enter or modify your filter
3. Click "Test filter"
4. Review how posts would be scored with the new filter
5. Compare results against your current filter
6. Apply when satisfied

The playground tests against your last 7 days of posts (up to 1000).

Scout-level vs global filters

Scout-level filter — Applies only to a specific scout. Set this in the scout's settings.

Global filter — Applies to all scouts that don't have their own filter. Set this in Settings > AI Filter.

Scout-level filters override the global filter.

Tips

• Be conservative — It's better to miss some relevant posts than to be flooded with noise. You can always loosen criteria later.
• Include "do not show" instructions — Explicitly stating what to exclude improves accuracy.
• Add product context — The AI makes better decisions when it understands what you're selling or monitoring.
• Review regularly — Check posts scoring 70-89 occasionally to see what's being filtered out. Adjust if you're missing relevant content.
• Start with the suggested filter — When using quick setup, ForumScout generates a filter based on your product. Use it as a starting point.