Introduction
This article explains how Mention handles geolocation (country) monitoring in Basic, Standard, and Advanced Alerts. You’ll learn how to activate country filters, how the countries KPI works by source, and how to monitor mentions that do not have country information (including best practices like using Unknown Country and -has:source_country).
Which Sources Provide Geolocation Data?
Mention Fetches Geolocation Data for the Following Sources:
Twitter❗
Forums
Blogs
Video
News
Web
Twitter Monitored Pages
Review Pages
Sources with a red exclamation mark have additional restrictions (see below).
Geolocation Info is not Fetched for the Following Sources:
Reddit
Facebook Monitored Pages
Instagram Monitored Pages
Because these sources do not provide geolocation to Mention, they cannot contribute to the countries KPI and cannot be filtered by source_country:.
❗Twitter Source Country: On July 9th, 2024, X (Twitter) made changes to its API. Due to the changes, we can no longer determine the country the post originated from, in most cases. Going forward, the country will be deduced from the geolocation based on the place/location tagged in the tweet itself. This means that an individual would need to click on “location” and tag their location while they are writing the post, in order for a geolocation to be determined. If the location is not tagged, we cannot determine which country the post came from.
This new method does not match:
Retweets, as the location is tied to the original post.
Quote Tweets, as the location is also tied to the original post.
As a result, you might see fewer mentions, since mentions without a tagged location are no longer matched.
Country Monitoring Overview
Within your Mention Alerts, you can apply country filters to monitor or block specific countries for your keyword search. Mention uses data from the web and social media to identify the source country of each publication that is fetched to your account.
The following section also details how to include mentions without country information so you don’t miss relevant content.
Key Details
Mention only supports country-level filters.
You cannot filter by city or state.
Country filters impact:
Which mentions enter the alert
How the countries KPI is populated, based on sources for which geolocation can be fetched (detailed in Sources Without Geolocation Data).
Notes & Limitations
Some mentions have no country information or hidden geolocation data. These can be included via:
Unknown Country (Basic/Standard)
-has:source_country (Advanced)
For more context on mentions that lack country information, see below in Mentions without Country Information.
How to Apply Country Filters to an Alert
Mention offers monitoring for 240+ countries. You can adjust country filters for any existing alert at any time from its configuration page. The exact process is slightly different depending on the alert type, so we'll go over each below.
Basic Alerts
You can define up to 10 specific countries for your basic alert to monitor, or keep it open to all countries (including mentions without country data).
How to apply country filters
Create or edit a Basic Alert.
In the configuration page, open the Countries and Languages tab.
By default, your alert monitors All Countries, including mentions without country data.
To monitor specific countries, click the slider “I want to select specific countries” to open the country menu.
Select the countries you wish to monitor.
Notes & Limitations
📖 Tip: If you monitor specific countries, also select Unknown Country to avoid missing data from sites that do not expose their country data.
⚙️ If you add or modify country filters after alert creation, Mention only applies them to newly fetched mentions going forward.
You can only select up to 10 countries to monitor with the basic alert
Standard Alerts
You can specify up to 10 countries you want to filter for inside the Countries and Languages tab of the advanced alert settings.
How to apply country filters
Create or edit a Standard Alert.
In the Alert Creation page, go to the Countries and Languages tab.
By default, the alert monitors all countries.
To monitor specific countries, click the slider “I want to monitor specific countries”.
Select the countries you wish to monitor.
Notes & Limitations
📖 Tip: As with Basic Alerts, select Unknown Country to avoid missing data from websites that do not display their country data.
You can only define up to 10 countries you want to monitor on the Standard Alert. By default, all countries are monitored, including mentions from unknown countries.
Advanced Alerts
In Advanced Alerts, country monitoring is controlled entirely by boolean operators in your query.
Syntax
source_country:— monitor or block specific countries by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.-has:source_country— include mentions without a country code.
Example – monitor specific countries:
"Nike Air Max" AND source_country:(FR OR ES)
This query fetches mentions where "Nike Air Max" appears in publications from France (FR) or Spain (ES).
Example – combine a specific country and mentions without country code:
Starbucks AND (source_country:(FR) OR -has:source_country)
This fetches mentions of Starbucks from France and from websites with no listed country code.
How To Monitor Mentions without Country Information
Unfortunately, not every article or social mention includes country information. When this happens, Mention marks these mentions as undetected (no country code). Each alert type offers a way to include these.
Basic Alerts
To monitor mentions without country data in the basic alert:
Hover over the alert and click Edit.
In Alert Settings, find Monitored Countries.
If All Countries is checked, uncheck it to reveal the dropdown.
In the dropdown, check Get Mentions without Country Information.
Save your alert.
This ensures Mention includes content without country data codes in your alert.
Standard Alerts
To monitor mentions without country data in the standard alert:
Hover over the alert and click Edit.
Go to the boolean keywords search tab and click Edit the Query.
On the right side, locate Monitored Countries.
Open the dropdown and check Get Mentions without Country Information.
Save your alert.
Tip: You can try adding language restrictions so you still monitor only relevant mentions, even if geolocation data is unavailable for a particular source.
Advanced Alerts
Use boolean operators in an Advanced Alert to include mentions without country information.
Syntax
-has:source_country— fetch mentions that do not have a country code.
Example:
"Nike Air Max" AND -has:source_country
This query fetches mentions of "Nike Air Max" from undetected countries.
You can also nclude both specific countries and undetected countries in a single Advanced Alert query.
Examples
"Nike Air Max" AND (source_country:(FR) OR -has:source_country) AND lang:fr
This query fetches mentions of "Nike Air Max" either:
From France (FR), or
From undetected countries
…as long as the mentions are in French (lang:fr).
Why Do Some Sources Lack Geolocation Data?
Some mentions do not come with location-related information because:
The information is hidden, or
The mention comes from a service whose own location does not reflect the end user’s location.
When this happens, mentions are marked as undetected.
For monitoring, each alert type offers filters to include mentions without country information, as covered in in the previous sections.
Countries Monitoring Shortcuts for the Advanced Alert:
You can use these pre-built boolean snippets to quickly filter regions by multiple source_country: codes in Advanced Alerts.
Europe Shortcut
To monitor all European countries:
AND source_country:(AL OR AD OR AT OR BY OR BE OR BA OR BG OR HR OR CY OR CZ OR DK OR EE OR FI OR FR OR DE OR GR OR HU OR IE OR IT OR LV OR LI OR LT OR LU OR MT OR MD OR MC OR ME OR NL OR NO OR PL OR PT OR RO OR SM OR RS OR SK OR SI OR ES OR SE OR CH OR UA OR GB)
Did you know? You can type "Europe" in the Boolean Editor to auto-fill this shortcut.
Africa Shortcut
To monitor all African countries:
Source_country: ("DZ" OR "AO" OR "BJ" OR "BW" OR "BF" OR "BI" OR "CM" OR "CV" OR "CF" OR "TD" OR "KM" OR "CG" OR "CD" OR "CI" OR "DJ" OR "EG" OR "GQ" OR "ER" OR "ET" OR "GA" OR "GM" OR "GH" OR "GN" OR "GW" OR "KE" OR "LS" OR "LR" OR "LY" OR "MG" OR "ML" OR "MW" OR "MR" OR "MU" OR "YT" OR "MA" OR "MZ" OR "NA" OR "NE" OR "NG" OR "RE" OR "RW" OR "ST" OR "SN" OR "SC" OR "SL" OR "SO" OR "ZA" OR "SS" OR "SD" OR "SZ" OR "TZ" OR "TG" OR "TN" OR "UG" OR "EH" OR "ZM" OR "ZW")Did you know? You can type "Africa" in the Boolean Editor to auto-fill this shortcut
Middle East Shortcut
To monitor all Middle East countries:
AND source_country:(SA OR BH OR CY OR EG OR AE OR IQ OR IR OR IL OR JO OR KW OR LB OR OM OR PS OR QA OR SY OR TR OR YE)
Did you know? You can type "Middle East" in the Boolean Editor to auto-fill this shortcut.
LATAM Shortcut
If you need to monitor all the LATAM countries:
AND source_country:(BR OR PE OR MX OR CO OR AR OR VE OR CL OR EC OR GT OR CU OR BO OR DO
Did you know? You can type "Latam" in the Boolean Editor to auto-fill this shortcut.
List of Country Codes:
Mention can monitor any ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. Below is a partial list to assist with building source_country: filters. Use Command+F / Ctrl+F to search within this list.
List of Country Codes
Afghanistan - AF
Aland islands - AX
Albania - AL
Algeria - DZ
American Samoa - AS
Andorra - AD
Angola - AO
Anguilla - AI
Antarctica - AQ
Antigua and Barbuda - AG
Argentina - AR
Armenia - AM
Aruba - AW
Australia - AU
Austria - AT
Azerbaijan - AZ
Bahamas - BS
Bahrain - BH
Bangladesh - BD
Barbados - BB
Belarus - BY
Belgium - BE
Belize - BZ
Benin - BJ
Bermuda - BM
Bhutan - BT
Bolivia - BO
Bosnia & Herzegovina - BA
Botswana - BW
Bouvet Island - BV
Brazil - BR
British Indian Ocean territory - IO
Brunei - BN
Bulgaria - BG
Burkina Faso - BF
Burundi - BI
Cambodia - KH
Cameroon - CM
Canada - CA
Cape Verde
Caribbean Netherlands
Cayman Islands - KY
Central African Republic - CF
Chad - TD
Chile - CL
China - CN
Christmas Island - CX
Cocos (Keeling) Islands - CC
Colombia - CO
Comoros - KM
Congo - Brazzaville - CG
Congo - Kinshasa - CD
Cook Islands - CK
Costa Rica - CR
Côte d'Ivoire - CI
Croatia - HR
Cuba - CU
Curaçao - CW
Cyprus - CY
Czechia - CZ
Denmark - DK
Djibouti - DJ
Dominica - DM
Dominican Republic - DO
Ecuador - EC
Egypt - EG
El Salvador - SV
Equatorial Guinea - GQ
Eritrea - ER
Eswatini - SZ
Falkland Islands - FK
Faroe Islands - FO
Fiji - FJ
Finland - FI
France - FR
French Guinea - GF
French Polynesia - PF
French Southern Territories - TF
Gabon - GA
Gambia - GM
Georgia - GE
Germany - DE
Ghana - GH
Gibraltar - GI
Greece - GR
Greenland - GL
Grenada - GD
Guadalupe - GP
Guam - GU
Guatemala - GT
Guernsey - GG
Guinea - GN
Guinea - Bissau - GW
Guyana - GY
Haiti - HT
Heard & McDonald Islands - HM
Honduras - HN
Hong Kong SAR China - HK
Hungary - HU
Iceland - IS
India - IN
Indonesia - ID
Iran - IR
Iraq - IQ
Ireland - IE
Isle of Man - IM
Israel - IL
Italy - IT
Jamaica - JM
Japan - JP
Jersey - JE
Jordan - JO
Kazakhstan - KZ
Kenya - KE
Kiribati - KI
Kuwait - KW
Kyrgyzstan - KG
Laos - LA
Latvia - LV
Lebanon - LB
Lesotho - LS
Liberia - LR
Libya - LY
Liechtenstein - LI
Lithuania - LT
Macao SAR China - MO
Madagascar - MG
Malawi - MW
Malaysia - MY
Maldives - MV
Mali - ML
Malta - MT
Marshal islands - MH
Martinique - MQ
Mauritania - MR
Mauritius - MU
Mayotte - YT
Mexico - MX
Micronesia - FM
Moldova - MD
Monaco - MC
Mongolia - MN
Montenegro - ME
Montserrat - MS
Morocco - MA
Mozambique - MZ
Myanmar (Burma) - MM
Namibia - NA
Nauru - NR
Nepal - NP
Netherlands - NL
New Caledonia - NC
New Zealand - NZ
Nicaragua - NI
Niger - NE
Nigeria - NG
Niue - NU
Norfolk Island - NF
North Korea - KP
North Macedonia - MK
Northern Mariana Islands - MP
Norway - NO
Oman - OM
Pakistan - PK
Palau - PW
Palestinian territories - PS
Panama - PA
Papúa New Guinea - PG
Paraguay - PY
Peru - PE
Philippines - PH
Pitcairn Islands - PN
Poland - PL
Portugal - PT
Puerto Rico - PR
Qatar - QA
Reunion - RE
Romania - RO
Russia - RU
Rwanda - RW
Samoa - WS
San Marino - SM
São Tomé and Principe - ST
Saudi Arabia - SA
Senegal - SN
Serbia - RS
Seychelles - SC
Sierra Leone - SL
Singapore - SG
Sint Maarten - SX
Slovakia - SK
Slovenia - SI
Solomon Islands - SB
Somalia - SO
South Africa - ZA
South Georgia & Sandwich islands - GS
South Korea - KR
South Sudan - SS
Spain - ES
Sri Lanka - LK
St. Barthelemy - BL
St. Helena - SH
St. Kitts & Nevis - KN
St. Lucia - LC
St. Martin - MF
St. Pierre and Miquelon - PM
St. Vincent and Grenadines - VC
Sudan - SD
Suriname - SR
Svalbard & Jan Mayen - SJ
Sweden - SE
Switzerland - CH
Syria - SY
Taiwan - TW
Tajikistan - TJ
Tanzania - TZ
Thailand - TH
Timor - Lester - TL
Togo - TG
Tokelau - TK
Tonga - TO
Trinidad and Tobago - TT
Tunisia - TN
Turkey - TR
Turkmenistan - TM
Turks and Caicos Islands - TC
Tuvalu - TV
US Outlying Islands - UM
US Virgin Islands - VI
Uganda - UG
Ukraine - UA
United Arab Emirates - AE
United Kingdom - GB
United States - US
Uruguay - UY
Uzbekistan - UZ
Vanuatu - VU
Vatican City
Venezuela - VE
Vietnam - VN
Wallis & Futuna - WF
Western Sahara - EH
Yemen - YE
Zambia - ZM
Zimbabwe - ZW
⚙️ Please be aware that this is not the full list of country codes. If you would like to review the full list, please head on over to the ISO website and search by country codes:
If you have any questions regarding country filters, please contact [email protected].