TL;DR: Watch the video below to learn how to start monitoring Instagram mentions via a social listening tool:
If you run a brand or a business, people are probably talking about it online! And that’s a good thing—you get free contenuti generati dagli utenti e feedback dei clienti.
Tracking Instagram mentions is probably the first step toward finding all this valuable chatter online, as they are crucial for boosting engagement, gathering UGC, and staying on top of everything that’s happening with your brand on social media.
Keep reading, as I’ll walk you through the best ways to track mentions on Instagram—both manually and using a third-party tool to improve your brand reputation!
What are mentions on Instagram?
Mentions on Instagram happen when users include your handle (e.g., @yourbrand) in their content. This creates a direct link to your account and sends you notification, making it an effective way for you to engage with customers and monitor conversations.
‘Instagram mentions’ definition
A differenza di Gli hashtag di Instagram, which categorize content broadly, mentions are direct interactions with your brand that help you understand how your audience perceives it. Also, mentions can appear in different parts of Instagram, including:
- Messaggi – users can mention your brand in the caption or within the image;
- Storie – mentions in Instagram Stories appear as tappable tags and notify the mentioned account via direct messages;
- Commenti – users can mention your business in the comments section of their own or others’ posts, often to share recommendations or feedback;
- Bios – some users add brand mentions in their Instagram bio, used mostly to signal partnerships, send shoutouts, or express affiliations.
Once you start with ascolto sociale to all these mentions, you will start to effectively interact with your customers, raccogliere UGC, and respond to concerns quickly.
How to track Instagram mentions automatically
To speed up the tracking of your Instagram mentions, you can always sign up for a third-party social media listening tool that will automate most tasks for you.
For instance, EmbedSocial is a comprehensive aggregatore di social media e monitoraggio dei social media tool that can scale your social monitoring needs regardless of your business type and size. Plus, it can track multiple social media platforms at once (apart from Instagram):
The process of setting up your Instagram monitoring for mentions via EmbedSocial is quite straightforward, and it includes the following steps:
Fase 1: Creare l'account EmbedSocial e fare il login
Before doing anything, you have to create your brand new EmbedSocial account, and it takes a few minutes to do so. That said, you can always start with a 7-day trial account should you choose to, and you won’t have to pay if you cancel:
Step 2: Add a new Instagram mentions source
The fun part starts now: adding your Instagram mentions as a source so that EmbedSocial can pull all relevant content and analyze or display it.
To do so, click 'Fonti' (left ribbon menu) → Aggiungi nuova fonte (top-right corner), and then find Instagram mentions:
Nota: You will first have to connect a Facebook account that’s linked to your Instagram profile.
Step 3: Find all your Instagram mentions under ‘All Posts’
Now, tap 'Tutti i messaggi' (top of the left ribbon menu) to get a list of all the mentions EmbedSocial has collected for you. However, you might have to tap the dropdown menu and manually select the corresponding account:
Step 4: Tag individual posts (if you need to)
At this point, you can easily isolate individual posts that might require your attention later, such as customer complaints or submissions for a contest you ran:
Step 5: Export all your mentions for further analysis
Once you find and/or organize everything, you can export your mentions into a .xls, .csv, or .tsv for further analysis. Tap on 'Rapporti' from the left ribbon menu, choose your Instagram mentions source and file type, then press Scarica il rapporto:
Step 6: Use ChatGPT to get summary reports
Last but not least, you can also rely on ChatGPT to summarize the exported file for you if you don’t have time to manually sift through the spreadsheet file yourself. Doing so gives you a quick glimpse into customer sentiment in less than a minute:
Bonus step: Embed your Instagram mentions on your website!
Finally, you can also easily embed your Instagram mentions via EmbedSocial on any of your sites! You only have to create your Widget di Instagram, copy its embeddable code, and then paste it into your website builder on the corresponding page:
As you can see, EmbedSocial allows you to organize all your social media content in one place by collecting, moderating, analyzing, and displaying it—all from one platform!
Methods to manually track IG mentions via the Instagram app
Tracking Instagram mentions via the app is a manual, time-consuming process, and it can involve different processes. Here’s how to see mentions on Instagram:
Use notifications to find mentions
Instagram notifies you when someone mentions your brand in a post, comment, or story. So, regularly check your activity feed via the heart icon (top-right corner):
Check direct messages for story mentions
When someone mentions your brand in an Instagram Story, you’ll receive a DM. These mentions disappear after 24 hours, so it’s important to engage with them quickly:
Explore the “Tagged” section on your profile
If someone tags your brand in a post, it will appear under the “Tagged” section on your profile. However, note that this only applies to posts, not stories or comments:
Search for mentions using Instagram search
Although Instagram doesn’t have a dedicated mentions tracker, you can manually search for your brand name or handle in the search bar. This can help you find public posts where users mention your business but don’t tag you directly:
Use Instagram’s saved collections for mentions
If you come across important mentions, save them to an Instagram Collection for easy access later. This helps you organize UGC, keep track of feedback, and respond when needed:
Monitor Instagram comments manually
Users might talk about your brand in the comments of Instagram posts, customer posts, or competitor content—without tagging you. For that reason, you should make it a habit to check relevant comment sections to catch these indirect mentions.
All of these methods work to an extent, but they still take organized time and effort that you simply might lack most of the time. Plus, you have to set up your mentions settings within the app and allow cookies from Instagram to get the most out of them.
For that reason, I’ll show you a better way to find mentions when someone on Instagram adds your brand to their content. Meet EmbedSocial—a thorough social media monitoring platform used to improve content on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
Best practices for leveraging Instagram mentions
Tracking Instagram mentions is only the first step. You also have to engage with them to make a huge difference in building relationships and strengthening your brand. Here are the best ways to make the most of your mentions:
- Engage with users who mention your brand – rispondere alle recensioni and comments, reshare tagged posts, and thank users for positive mentions, as acknowledging mentions encourages more interactions and builds stronger customer relationships;
- Encourage more mentions and UGC— – un hashtag contests, offer incentives, or simply ask customers to mention your brand when sharing their experiences. The more mentions you get, the more exposure and content you can leverage;
- Respond to negative mentions and manage reputation – not all mentions will be positive. So, you must address negative feedback quickly and professionally to show that you care about customer concerns and are proactive in resolving issues;
- Track and analyze trends in mentions – do ascolto dei social media to find common themes in your mentions and understand what customers love (or dislike) about your brand. Use these insights to improve your products, services, or marketing strategy;
- Leverage mentions for marketing and social proof—highlight customer mentions in your social media, website, or email campaigns. Featuring real user experiences builds credibility and attracts more potential buyers.
By following these best practices, you will start turning your Instagram mentions into powerful tools for engagement, gestione della reputazione, and brand growth.
How do brands & businesses benefit from IG mentions?
On the surface, Instagram mentions look just like tags, but they are more than that! They can be opportunities to boost your visibility, get product insights, and build stronger relationships. Here’s an overview of the main benefits they provide:
- Gathering user-generated content (UGC)—when customers mention your brand in posts or stories, they create authentic content that you can showcase on your social media, website, or campagne di marketing;
- Gaining customer insights and feedback—mentions help businesses understand customer opinions, preferences, and expectations. By tracking how people talk about your brand, you can identify trends, measure sentiment, and refine your products or services accordingly;
- Identifying and addressing customer complaints—not all mentions are positive. Sometimes, customers mention brands to express dissatisfaction or seek support. Therefore, using a monitoraggio dei social media tool allows businesses to respond promptly, resolve issues, and turn negative experiences into positive ones;
- Enhancing brand reputation and engagement—responding to mentions—whether positive or negative—shows that your brand is active, engaged, and cares about its customers. Acknowledging mentions can strengthen customer relationships, encourage more interactions, and improve brand loyalty over time;
- Boosting brand awareness and reach—when users mention your brand, their followers see it too, expanding your visibility to a wider audience. This organic exposure can attract new customers and drive more traffic to your profile or website.
As you can see, when you track Instagram story mentions and other types of mentions, you maximize your online reach, build prova sociale, and create a better customer experience.
Conclusion: Turn Instagram mentions into growth opportunities!
Whether it’s a happy customer praising your product or a complaint that needs immediate attention, monitoring Instagram mentions helps you respond proactively.
But how do you efficiently track Instagram mentions without missing anything? And how can you turn them into valuable insights and marketing opportunities?
At the end of the day, tracking Instagram mentions is more than just keeping an eye on who’s talking about your brand. When used properly, social media mentions offer a powerful strategy for engagement, brand awareness, and reputation management.
So, you should start monitoring Instagram, X, Reddit, and all other kinds of mentions to get valuable UGC, gain customer insights, and address feedback in real time.
However, while manual tracking methods can help, they require time and effort. Therefore, the solution is to automate the process with a tool like EmbedSocial.
That way, you streamline your mentions tracking and collecting and you respond to customers more efficiently, thus saving time and effort.
Come Instagram continues to evolve in 2025, brands that actively track and leverage mentions will gain a competitive edge, as they will prove a key growth driver!
Start tracking your mentions today and make every customer interaction count!
FAQs about Tracking Instagram mentions
What’s the difference between tagging and mentioning on Instagram?
Tagging means adding an account to a post or story and linking it directly to the image while mentioning refers to using someone’s @username in captions, comments, or stories to notify the account without linking it to the media.
What happens when someone mentions you on Instagram?
You’ll receive a notification in your activity feed or direct messages (for story mentions), allowing you to view, engage, or reshare the mention if it aligns with your brand.
How do I find my mentions on Instagram?
Check your notifications under the heart icon, review your direct messages for story mentions, and explore the “Tagged” section on your profile for mentions in posts.
How do mentions work on Instagram?
When users type @yourbrand, Instagram links it to your profile and sends a notification, making it easier for businesses to track interactions and engage with customers.
How do I see all my mentions on Instagram?
There’s no dedicated mentions tab, so manually check your notifications, DMs, tagged posts, and search your username in the Instagram search bar for public mentions.