Critical Mention

What Critical Mention does

Critical Mention, founded in 2002 in New York and now operating as Critical Mention by Onclusive, is a cloud-based media monitoring SaaS platform that delivers real-time earned media intelligence across broadcast, online news, social, podcast, and licensed content channels. The platform monitors over 2,500 international TV and radio channels with results within 60 seconds, tracks millions of digital news sources in 90+ languages, and covers Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Complementary modules include a Media Contact Database with millions of journalist records refreshed within 24 hours via human vetting, the AP Planner forward planning service built on a 15+ year collaboration with The Associated Press, and a Developer API serving 2+ million broadcast and podcast segments daily to partners in finance, government, and PR services.

The technology stack is built entirely in-house, modernized under CTO Vishal Padhye's leadership to span over 160 globally distributed datacenters. Proprietary capabilities include NLP-driven sentiment analysis, real-time crisis alerts, customizable dashboards with publicity value and share-of-voice metrics, and a Podchaser-powered podcast analytics layer. The company targets a horizontal set of customer segments led by PR and communications agencies and brands/corporations, with secondary adoption across public sector, healthcare, education, technology, and financial services. Named customers include Weber Shandwick, RBC Capital Markets, Allied Universal, Wichita State University, Shriners Hospital for Children, and Dysart Unified School District.

Critical Mention monetizes through customized annual and multi-year subscription packages for the Earned Media Suite, with dedicated quote-based pricing for large PR agencies, scalable packages for growing firms, individual brand plans, nonprofit rates, and separate API access for partners. Distribution combines enterprise field sales, inside sales, self-serve platform login, and an API-first partner channel. In May 2022, Critical Mention was acquired by Onclusive, a global media intelligence company formed from the merger of Kantar's Reputation Intelligence business, PRgloo, and legacy Onclusive, itself owned by private equity investor Symphony Technology Group (STG).

Name

Critical Mention

Legal name

Critical Mention

Website

https://criticalmention.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Critical Mention by Onclusive is a cloud-based media monitoring SaaS platform delivering real-time earned media intelligence across TV, radio, online news, social, podcasts, and licensed content for PR agencies, brands, and public sector organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Monitoring Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Media Representatives (541840), Publishing Industries (513)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Relations, Monitoring & Rapid Response (MPAAAOAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Media Relations & Press Office Services (MPAAADAI)

Keywords

• Media monitoring services
• Earned media analytics
• Broadcast media tracking
• Media contact database
• PR analytics software

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription: Annual and multi-year subscription contracts for access to the Earned Media Suite including media monitoring, contact database, and analytics. Pricing is customized based on organizational needs and scale.
2. API Access for Partners: API access fees for partners integrating TV, radio, and podcast content. HTTP API with JSON format, over 2 million segments available daily. Partners include investment/trading firms, PR services, and government departments.
3. Enterprise Custom Packages: Tailored packages for large PR agencies with multiple clients, scalable packages for growing firms, individual brand plans, nonprofit rates, and special API access pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Critical Mention is a cloud-based SaaS platform that delivers real-time earned media monitoring and analytics across broadcast TV/radio, online news, social media, podcasts, and licensed print content. The platform also provides a journalist/media contact database, forward news planning via Associated Press partnership, and a developer API exposing over two million daily media segments for partner integrations. Its core customers are PR agencies, corporate communications teams, brands, and government organizations tracking coverage and proving earned media value.

Product overview

Critical Mention by Onclusive is a unified Earned Media Suite platform combining multiple monitoring and analytics modules. The core platform includes Media Monitoring for real-time tracking across broadcast TV/radio, online news, social media, podcasts and licensed content. Supporting modules include the Media Contact Database for journalist outreach, AP Planner for forward news planning, and a Developer API for programmatic access. The platform is designed for PR, communications and marketing professionals to track, measure, share and grow earned media coverage across the entire media lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Media Monitoring Real-time monitoring and analysis platform tracking brand mentions and earned media across TV, radio, online news, social media, podcasts and licensed content with results within 60 seconds. For PR, communications, and marketing professionals.
• Broadcast Monitoring Television and radio monitoring covering over 2,500 international TV and radio channels for real-time brand mention tracking and clip capture.
• Online News Tracking Real-time monitoring across millions of digital news sources, online newspapers, magazines, blogs and forums in 90+ languages including Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese and Russian.
• Social Media Monitoring Real-time tracking across Twitter (X), Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, plus Onclusive Social covering 850M+ sources across 190+ countries including TikTok, LinkedIn and Threads.
• Podcast Monitoring Monitoring for thousands of the world's top podcasts powered by Podchaser, providing audience insights, listenership data, popularity charts and Power Score metrics.
• Licensed Content Access to subscription paywalled content from prominent publications, industry trade journals, magazines and print-only content for tracking behind paywalls.
• Media Contact Database Database of millions of journalist, broadcaster, influencer, producer and blogger records with contact information updated within 24 hours by human vetting, with filtering by location, topic and job title. DMA data powered by Google.
• AP Planner News and events forward planning service providing access to 150,000+ future events and news items up to 12 months ahead across 140 categories, delivered via Associated Press collaboration.
• Developer API HTTP API providing access to over two million TV, radio and podcast segments daily in JSON format with embeddable Wordplay tool for clip editing and sharing within partner applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Dysart School District corrects false stories and misinformation in as little as 30 minutes
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability4 records

Feature13 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• OnclusivecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2022Critical Mention was acquired by Onclusive, a global partner for PR and communications success. Onclusive was formed from merger of Kantar's Reputation Intelligence business, PRgloo, and legacy Onclusive. Acquisition expands Onclusive's US footprint and combines Critical Mention's monitoring tools with Onclusive's global media intelligence suite.
• PodchasercoreTechnology or Integration · 17 November 2021Partnership where Podchaser, the world's most comprehensive podcast database, powers Critical Mention's podcast monitoring service. Integration provides robust podcast metadata, audience insights including listenership, popularity charts, and Power Score. Critical Mention is the only all-in-one platform with Podchaser's dataset and internally-built podcast capture network.
• GooglecoreTechnology or Integration · 23 March 2021Google Analytics integration allows users to view website metrics alongside earned media mentions in reports. Location and DMA data in Media Contact Database powered by Google. DMA options added to contact and outlet location filters.
• The Associated Press (AP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration providing US forward planning service through AP Planner. Over 150,000+ future events and news items up to 12 months ahead across 140 categories. 12-month rolling calendar verified and updated daily. Celebrating over 15 years of collaboration.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Meltwater: Global media intelligence SaaS platform offering monitoring across news, social, broadcast, and online sources with analytics and influencer tools. Most direct functional competitor to Critical Mention, frequently listed alongside it in PR analytics buyer guides.
• Cision: Large PR and media intelligence platform combining media database, monitoring, distribution (PR Newswire), and analytics. Directly comparable in target customer (PR/comms professionals) and overlapping Earned Media Suite functionality.
• TVEyes: Broadcast and podcast monitoring service used by PR agencies, brands, and government. Explicitly named by Hollywood Branded as a prior incumbent replaced by Critical Mention, making it a direct head-to-head competitor in broadcast monitoring.
• Muck Rack: PR platform combining a journalist database, media monitoring, and pitching workflows. Overlaps with Critical Mention's Media Contact Database and monitoring modules for the same PR/communications buyer.
• Notified: PR and communications platform (formerly PR Newswire) offering distribution, monitoring, and analytics. Co-listed with Critical Mention in G2 PR analytics rankings; targets the same enterprise PR buyer.
• Brandwatch: Consumer intelligence and social listening platform with deep coverage of social and online sources. Comparable to Critical Mention's social monitoring and Onclusive Social capabilities, particularly for brand and marketing use cases.
• Agility PR Solutions: Media monitoring and PR analytics platform targeting PR agencies and corporate communications teams. Overlaps with Critical Mention's online news, broadcast, and social monitoring modules for mid-market buyers.
• Talkwalker: Consumer intelligence platform with strong social listening and earned media analytics. Comparable to Critical Mention's social monitoring and Onclusive Social modules, especially for brand and enterprise marketing use cases.

Emerging players

• CisionOne (legacy LexisNexis Risk Solutions media monitoring): Cision's next-generation media monitoring product line, comparable to Critical Mention's Earned Media Suite but emerging from the Cision PRgloo-style consolidation. Competes for the same enterprise PR monitoring RFPs.

Broad incumbents

• Sprout Social: Public social media management platform covering publishing, engagement, analytics, and listening. Broader portfolio than Critical Mention but overlapping social monitoring and analytics use cases for marketing and comms buyers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/criticalmention
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@onclusive
• Facebookfacebook.com/criticalmention
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/critical-mention
• Instagraminstagram.com/onclusive

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Critical Mention