> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.reputation-insider.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Critical Mention review - URL: https://www.reputation-insider.com/critical-mention-review/ - Published: 2026-09-07T05:14:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-20T05:17:01.000Z - Description: The platform remains strong in TV and radio monitoring, but private pricing, narrower social coverage and Onclusive’s U.S. rollout complicate procurement. - Author: Levi Mastarel - Tags: Vendors, Monitoring software, #hide-recent, PR Vendor review # Critical Mention review Critical Mention remains unusually strong in broadcast monitoring, combining TV and radio clips with online news, podcasts, licensed content and a media database. Its social coverage is more limited than Onclusive's wider listening product, while pricing and commercial terms require a sales conversation. Reviewed September 2026 Product record Category Broadcast, online, podcast and social media monitoring Buying route Customized proposal through sales Primary market PR, communications, public affairs and agencies Founded 2002 U.S. base New York Owner Onclusive Review basis Reputation Insider reviewed Critical Mention's current media-monitoring, broadcast, online news, social, podcast, licensed-content, media-database and AI visibility materials; official pricing and privacy pages; Onclusive ownership, product and legal documentation; and current independent software reviews. Reputation Insider has not conducted hands-on product testing for this review. Current status ## Critical Mention remains active in the U.S. while Onclusive introduces a broader platform around it Critical Mention [became part of Onclusive in 2022](https://www.criticalmention.com/about-us/?ref=reputation-insider.com). Its existing U.S. product site, monitoring suite and customer workflows remain available. Onclusive launched its [Unified Platform in the U.S. on September 1, 2026](https://news.onclusive.com/news/onclusive-launches-unified-platform-connecting-media-monitoring-measurement-and-pr-workflows?ref=reputation-insider.com), adding a common environment for monitoring, media contacts, PR workflow and measurement. Buyer diligence **Establish which product environment is included in the quote** Onclusive has not publicly stated that every Critical Mention customer is automatically moved onto the new platform. A new buyer should confirm whether the proposal covers the existing Critical Mention environment, Onclusive's Unified Platform, or a combination of services. Critical Mention **The existing U.S. monitoring product remains live** Current product pages continue to market broadcast, online, podcast, social and licensed-content monitoring under the Critical Mention name. Onclusive **The parent company is consolidating more PR work into one environment** The new U.S. platform adds expanded media contacts, relationship management, distribution and campaign tracking. Procurement **Entitlements should be written into the Order Form** Product names, included sources, usage allowances and access to newer Onclusive capabilities should be confirmed before contract signature. Broadcast monitoring ## Broadcast remains the clearest reason to consider Critical Mention The [broadcast product](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-monitoring/broadcast-monitoring/?ref=reputation-insider.com)is built around rapid access to television and radio coverage, clip editing and distribution to internal stakeholders. Published TV and radio coverage **2,500+** Critical Mention says its network covers television and radio stations around the world, with particularly deep U.S. and Canadian coverage and access across every Nielsen Designated Market Area in the United States. Speed **Broadcast mentions can reach communications teams shortly after airing** Keyword searches and alerts are designed for PR teams that need to see television or radio coverage while a story is still developing. Wordplay **Users can refine broadcast clips inside the platform** Critical Mention's proprietary editing tool lets users trim clips precisely before saving them or adding them to reports. Storage **The product advertises unlimited cloud storage for saved clips** This can be useful for communications teams maintaining a working archive of broadcast coverage rather than repeatedly retrieving aired segments. Metrics **Broadcast reporting includes audience, sentiment and publicity values** These measures can be included in stakeholder reporting, although buyers should establish internally which valuation metrics they consider decision-useful. Online, licensed and podcast coverage ## Critical Mention extends the broadcast workflow across several forms of earned media The platform gives communications teams a common workspace for coverage that would otherwise sit across separate clipping and monitoring services. Online news ### Millions of digital sources with multilingual tracking [Online News Tracking](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-monitoring/online-news-tracking/?ref=reputation-insider.com)covers newspapers, magazines, blogs and forums and currently advertises monitoring in more than 90 languages. Licensed content ### Paywalled and print-only material can be added [Licensed Content](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-monitoring/licensed-content/?ref=reputation-insider.com)extends access to selected subscription publications, trade journals, magazines and print-only material that ordinary web crawling may not expose. Podcasts ### Speech-to-text search is combined with editable audio clips [Podcast Monitoring](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-monitoring/podcast-monitoring/?ref=reputation-insider.com)tracks thousands of shows, supports alerts and transcripts and lets customers request additional podcasts for monitoring. Social media coverage ## The social product needs to be separated from Onclusive's broader listening offer Critical Mention's current [social monitoring page](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-monitoring/social-media-monitoring/?ref=reputation-insider.com)focuses on public content from X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Critical Mention ### The core product covers a relatively defined group of networks Users can monitor brand terms and keywords, receive alerts and combine social metrics with broadcast, online and podcast reporting. Critical Mention's own privacy documentation also specifies the types of public social content collected from these services. Onclusive Social ### A separate Onclusive product provides much wider social listening Critical Mention's page promotes Onclusive Social for buyers needing coverage that includes sources such as TikTok, LinkedIn and Threads alongside a much larger global listening dataset. A buyer should therefore avoid treating the coverage advertised for Onclusive Social as automatically included in a Critical Mention subscription. The required social networks and any additional Onclusive module should appear explicitly in the proposal. Media contact database ## The platform connects monitoring with journalist research and outreach Critical Mention's [media database](https://www.criticalmention.com/media-contact-database/?ref=reputation-insider.com)extends the product beyond passive monitoring by allowing communications teams to find media contacts and build outreach lists. Integrated workflow **Coverage can lead directly into media research** Critical Mention links monitoring with journalist and outlet information, which can be useful when a team wants to identify the people behind relevant coverage without maintaining a separate contact database. **Contacts can be filtered by beat, location and outlet** Current functionality supports targeted searching across reporters, producers, broadcasters, bloggers and other media contacts. **Lists can be created and exported** Teams can prepare segmented contact lists and export them for media-relations workflows. **Broadcast coverage can connect to people appearing in the segment** Critical Mention has built links between broadcast mentions and relevant host, anchor, producer or other media-contact records. **The new Onclusive platform expands the PR workflow further** Newer U.S. Onclusive capabilities include contact-interaction tracking, PR CRM functions and content distribution, subject to the customer's purchased product. AI brand visibility ## Critical Mention has added a direct link between earned media and AI search visibility The current [AI Brand Visibility product](https://www.criticalmention.com/ai-brand-visibility/?ref=reputation-insider.com)tracks how brands appear across major AI answer engines and connects those results back to media sources. Engine coverage **ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity are named** The product tracks brand presence, recommendations and sentiment across the currently published engine set. Source attribution **Cited publications can be connected to earned-media activity** Communications teams can examine which articles and domains appear in AI-generated responses rather than relying only on a visibility score. Competitors **Brand presence can be benchmarked against competing organizations** The product includes comparative share-of-voice and positioning views across monitored AI engines. Source priorities **The product recommends publications to target through earned media** Critical Mention ranks source opportunities by likely impact and effort as part of its GEO-oriented workflow. Pricing ## Critical Mention does not publish standard subscription prices The official [pricing page](https://www.criticalmention.com/pricing/?ref=reputation-insider.com)asks buyers to describe their earned-media requirements so the company can prepare a customized package. [Published pricing page ↗ ](https://www.criticalmention.com/pricing/?ref=reputation-insider.com) Published buying model **Custom quote** Critical Mention specifically lists agency accounts, growing communications firms, individual brands, nonprofit rates and API partners as commercial routes, without publishing a standard dollar benchmark. Media scope **Coverage requirements can affect the proposal** Broadcast, licensed content and other media sources can introduce different content and licensing economics. Usage **Content volume can be part of the commercial structure** The owner's public SaaS framework allows purchased capacity and actual delivered content volume to influence billing. API and agencies **Partner and multi-client use is priced separately** Agencies and technology partners are directed toward tailored packages rather than a public self-service plan. Capterra currently displays a $1-per-year starting price for Critical Mention. Critical Mention does not publish that figure on its own pricing page, and the amount cannot be reconciled with the vendor's quote-led buying process. It should not be used as a purchasing benchmark. Contract, renewal and content rights ## The Order Form deserves close attention because usage and media rights can affect the final cost Critical Mention does not currently expose a detailed standalone subscription agreement on its public site. Because Onclusive owns Critical Mention and is identified as the seller on G2, Reputation Insider also reviewed Onclusive's [published U.S. SaaS Agreement](https://onclusive.com/legal/termsandconditions/?ref=reputation-insider.com)as the closest public contractual framework. Buyers should confirm that their Order Form actually incorporates these terms. The Onclusive agreement makes the Order Form central: purchased modules, content volume, geographies, users and other limits can be defined there. A Critical Mention customer should therefore treat the signed commercial paperwork as part of product diligence rather than relying only on marketing pages. Historical coverage **The Onclusive terms default to two months unless the Order Form says otherwise** Teams requiring a longer research window should make historical access and any archive costs explicit during procurement. Renewal pricing **The published SaaS terms provide for a 7% fee increase at renewal** The increase applies to each successive term unless the applicable Order Form states something different. Content overages **Purchased capacity can create additional charges** The public agreement says customers can be billed when delivered content exceeds limits stated in the Order Form. Broadcast packages **Prepaid clip allowances can be non-refundable and expire with the term** The Onclusive agreement also permits overage billing when broadcast usage exceeds the purchased package. Early termination **Remaining contractual fees can survive an early exit** Under the public SaaS terms, customers can remain liable for the full term when an Order Form is terminated for reasons other than Onclusive's uncured material breach. Support wording **Public marketing and the owner agreement describe different support windows** Critical Mention advertises 24/7/365 support, while the Onclusive SaaS agreement states standard telephone and email support hours. The service level included in a Critical Mention quote should be confirmed separately. Broadcast content rights **Access to a clip does not automatically create unrestricted redistribution rights** Onclusive's public terms limit broadcast content primarily to internal business and research use. Public posting, resale and wider redistribution can require additional permission from the rights owner. The terms also say broadcast clips or links are ordinarily streamed for up to 30 days after the original air date unless a permitted download or stream has been purchased. Contract terms checked September 2026\. Because Critical Mention is operating during a wider Onclusive product rollout, buyers should verify the governing entity, incorporated legal terms, purchased content rights and renewal mechanics in the executed Order Form. Security and data posture ## Onclusive now provides a more substantial public assurance framework around the product group Onclusive maintains a [public Trust Center](https://trust.onclusive.com/?ref=reputation-insider.com)covering security, compliance and data-protection documentation. Procurement teams should confirm which reports and certifications specifically cover the Critical Mention service environment included in their order. SOC 2 **The Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type 2 assurance** Supporting reports may require access through Onclusive's trust portal rather than unrestricted public download. Privacy **Critical Mention publishes its own monitoring-data privacy disclosure** The policy identifies publicly available broadcast, web, podcast and selected public social content used to create monitoring results. ISO 27001 **The group has been working toward company-wide certification** Onclusive's Trust Center says the certification initiative began in 2025 and was scheduled for completion during 2026\. Buyers should request the current certificate and scope rather than infer completion from the program description. SLA **Onclusive publishes a 99.9% availability commitment** The public service-level agreement measures availability monthly and excludes defined scheduled and emergency maintenance periods. Buyer fit ## Critical Mention makes the strongest case when broadcast coverage has real operational value Suitable for ### Communications teams that need television and radio alongside digital coverage PR teams in government, higher education, major employers and consumer brands can benefit when broadcast clips need to reach leadership quickly after airing. Agencies handling clients with recurring television or radio exposure can also use the clipping, reporting and media-database workflow without maintaining separate broadcast infrastructure. The product is particularly relevant when media relations and monitoring need to sit close together inside the same communications workflow. Not suitable ### Teams whose primary requirement is broad social listening Critical Mention's core social coverage is narrower than specialist listening platforms and narrower than the separate Onclusive Social product promoted from its own site. Small organizations needing only web mentions or lightweight brand alerts may find a full broadcast-led media intelligence platform commercially excessive. Buyers that require published pricing and immediate self-service procurement will also need to look elsewhere. ## Pros - Broadcast monitoring remains unusually central to the product, with clip editing and rapid sharing built into the normal communications workflow. - Online news, licensed content and podcasts can be handled alongside television and radio coverage. - The integrated media-contact database reduces the need for a separate journalist-research tool for some PR teams. - AI brand-visibility functionality now connects earned-media sources to how brands appear in major answer engines. - G2 reviewers repeatedly rate customer support and reporting positively. - Onclusive's ownership gives U.S. buyers access to a larger media-intelligence product portfolio when additional capabilities are required. ## Cons - Standard dollar pricing is not public, which prevents meaningful budget comparison before speaking with sales. - Core social monitoring covers a narrower network set than dedicated enterprise social-listening products. - Current G2 users still report missed mentions, search difficulties and weaker social accuracy in some workflows. - Broadcast and licensed content introduce usage and redistribution restrictions that communications teams need to understand before sharing clips externally. - Onclusive's 2026 U.S. platform rollout creates an additional procurement question around which interface and modules a new Critical Mention customer will receive. - The smaller Capterra review corpus is old enough that it provides limited evidence about the latest product additions. Independent user evidence ## G2 provides a useful current review base, while Capterra is much smaller and largely historical The two public software-review sources differ substantially in scale. G2 contains recent 2025 and 2026 user evidence; Capterra's 13-review profile remains useful for recurring themes but contains much older individual reviews. 4.3 / 5 G2 221 reviews when checked in September 2026 4.3 / 5 Capterra 13 reviews; customer service rated 4.8 ### Reporting and broadcast workflows receive consistent praise Reviewers frequently describe the ability to find coverage, build reports, edit broadcast clips and share results with clients or executives as useful parts of the product. ### Search quality remains a recurring criticism Current G2 feedback includes complaints about query setup, missed coverage and the need to verify some results manually. An April 2026 reviewer also described the social component as less accurate than the core press-monitoring product. ### Customer support is one of the stronger recurring themes Support and account management are rated favorably across both review sources, including older users who compared Critical Mention with competing monitoring products. Capterra and Software Advice currently display the same 13-review corpus, so they should not be treated as two independent bodies of user evidence. The review totals above therefore use G2 and Capterra only. External evidence: [G2](https://www.g2.com/products/critical-mention/reviews?ref=reputation-insider.com)and [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/187045/Critical-Mention/reviews/?ref=reputation-insider.com). Reputation Insider verdict ## Critical Mention has a clearer case for broadcast-heavy communications teams than for social-first reputation programs The product's strongest use remains television and radio monitoring. Clip retrieval, editing and distribution are built into the workflow, while online news, podcasts and licensed sources allow a communications team to consolidate much of its earned-media coverage in the same environment. The broader Onclusive portfolio expands what a U.S. buyer can purchase, including wider social listening and newer PR workflow capabilities. Procurement now needs to establish exactly which of those services sit inside the proposed subscription. Commercial diligence deserves attention because the product is quote-led and media licensing can affect both usage allowances and redistribution rights. Teams should evaluate the Order Form as carefully as the monitoring interface. Strongest use case PR and communications teams that depend heavily on television and radio monitoring Best product trait Fast broadcast clipping combined with wider earned-media monitoring and reporting Main commercial issue Private pricing and contract economics tied to content scope and usage Reputation Insider view A serious U.S. media-monitoring option when broadcast coverage is central to the communications program