Boolean queries
Boolean operators let you build precise keyword queries using logic. Instead of monitoring a single phrase, you can combine terms with AND, OR, NOT, and group them with parentheses.
Operators
| Operator | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
AND |
Both terms must be present | CRM AND startup |
OR |
Either term can be present | CRM OR "customer management" |
NOT |
Exclude posts containing the term | CRM NOT Salesforce |
() |
Group terms for complex logic | CRM AND (startup OR "small business") |
"" |
Match an exact phrase | "project management tool" |
Platform support
Boolean operators are not supported on all platforms:
| Platform | Boolean support |
|---|---|
| Yes | |
| Twitter / X | Yes |
| Yes | |
| YouTube | Yes |
| News | Yes |
| Forums | Yes |
| No | |
| Bluesky | No |
On platforms that don't support boolean operators, ForumScout skips searching that platform when a boolean expression is detected.
Examples
Find people asking for recommendations
(CRM OR "customer management") AND (recommendation OR suggest OR "looking for" OR best)
Matches posts that mention CRM or customer management AND include words indicating the person is looking for a tool.
Monitor a brand but exclude job postings
"Acme Inc" NOT (hiring OR "job opening" OR career OR recruiter)
Matches posts mentioning Acme Inc but filters out recruitment-related content.
Track competitor complaints
Salesforce AND (frustrated OR expensive OR "switching from" OR alternative OR complaint)
Matches posts about Salesforce that express dissatisfaction or interest in switching.
Multiple product names
"Acme CRM" OR "Acme Analytics" OR "Acme Platform"
Matches posts mentioning any of your product names.
Complex brand monitoring
(Acme OR AcmeHQ OR @acme) AND (review OR opinion OR feedback OR complaint OR love OR hate) NOT (job OR hiring OR "acme hardware")
Finds opinion-based posts about your brand while excluding job posts and a similarly-named company.
Common mistakes
Unnecessary AND
CRM AND software
This requires both words to appear, but they don't need to be adjacent. A post saying "I use CRM tools and build software" would match. If you want the exact phrase, use quotes: "CRM software".
Overly complex queries
(CRM OR ERP OR "customer management" OR "sales tool") AND (best OR top OR recommend OR suggest OR review OR compare OR alternative OR versus) NOT (job OR hiring OR tutorial OR course OR certification)
This is hard to maintain and debug. Consider splitting into multiple scouts instead — one for each topic — and using AI filters for nuanced filtering.
Conflicting operators
CRM NOT CRM
This matches nothing. Make sure your NOT terms don't overlap with your main keywords.
Boolean queries vs AI filters
Boolean queries and AI filters solve different problems:
| Boolean queries | AI filters | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Exact keyword logic | AI reads and scores each post |
| Best for | Controlling which posts are found | Controlling which found posts are relevant |
| Speed | Filtered at search time | Applied after search |
| Flexibility | Rigid — exact word matching | Flexible — understands context and intent |
They work well together. Use boolean queries to get the right pool of posts, then use AI filters to score relevance within that pool.
Tips
- Keep queries readable — If you can't understand your query at a glance, simplify it or split it into multiple scouts.
- Use quotes for multi-word phrases —
"project management"finds the exact phrase. Without quotes,project managementmatches posts containing both words anywhere. - Test with simple queries first — Start broad, review results, then add operators to refine.
- Prefer AI filters for subjective criteria — Boolean can't understand intent, tone, or context. Use AI filters for "only show posts where someone is complaining" type requirements.