Boolean Syntax for Advanced DIY Keyword Searches
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Modified on: Thu, 26 Jan, 2023 at 4:26 AM

When crafting an advanced keyword search, you can use the following Boolean operators to refine your query and bring the most relevant coverage into your Cision Communication Cloud system. Advanced DIY Keyword Searches are looking through every article and mention from every outlet that Cision monitors. As a result, there is a much larger and more advanced set of Boolean terms that can be used in these types of searches as opposed to other searches in the Cision Communications Cloud platform. It is also important to note that you can compose much longer Boolean strings for Advanced DIY Keyword Searches and Search All News that can be used in other areas of the Cision Communications Cloud. NOTE: If you make an error in the Boolean syntax the system will present an error message. There are a variety of messages that may appear to help you determine which part of the Boolean string is in error.

Hint: You can also use these operators to search the Comms Cloud archive, Search All News, to perform ad-hoc searches and test your keyword searches.


Operator 

Definition

Example

” ”

Search for an exact phrase.

“iced coffee”

AND

Return clips containing both keywords.

“coffee” AND “farmer’s market”

OR

Return clips containing either keyword.

“coffee” OR “tea”

 

AND NOT

 

Ignore any clips containing this keyword.

“coffee” AND NOT “iced coffee”

()

Combine multiple operators to craft a complex search. Innermost set of parentheses is interpreted first.

(((“coffee” OR “tea” OR “latte” OR “cappuccino”) w/5 (“great” OR “best” OR “delicious”)) AND “Chicago”)

cs()

Preserve the case-sensitivity of this keyword. At least one uppercase letter is required.

cs(“BEST”)

 

headline()

 

Retrieve clips where my keyword appears in the headline

headline(“best iced coffee”)

 

publication()

 

Retrieve clips where my keyword appears in the outlet name

publication(“Chicago Tribune”)

 

atleast2()

 

Retrieve clips where my keyword is mentioned at least twice. Supported for minimum mentions between 2-9.

atleast3(“coffee”)

 

author()

 

Return clips by a given author, as specified by our content provider.

author(Cision)

 

pageid()

 

Return clips from a specific Facebook page, identified its unique page id.

pageid(75155261177)

 

sitedomain()

 

Return clips from a specific source URL. Enter the root domain without a protocol like www or http. 

sitedomain(“cnn.com”)

w/X

Return clips where these keywords appear within a specified distance of one another.  Read more.

“coffee” w/5 “best”

*

Truncation wildcard to return all possible endings of this keyword. Not supported with quotes or phrases. Read more. 

apple* returns apple, apples, applesauce, etc.

Special Characters:

Diacritics

Diacritics and accent marks are supported and will be preserved in your search.

Punctuation

Some special characters are supported. Make sure to wrap your search term in quotes.

  • Always Supported: Apostrophe (‘), Underscore(_), Ampersand (&), At-Symbol (@), Hash (#), Plus Sign (+)
  • Supported in Numbers Only: Comma (,), Forward Slash (/), Hyphen (-), Colon (:)
  • Other: Period  (.) – Supported in numbers, email addresses, and acronyms only

More Information

Notes on Proximity

  •  For best results, limit proximity searches to w/20 or fewer.
  •  This operator only works with single terms or lists of terms separated by OR. It cannot be used in the same clause as other operators, although you can use other operators elsewhere in the search.
EXAMPLES OF VALID SYNTAX
  1. ((patent OR patents OR trademark OR trademarks) w/5 (grants OR granted))
  2. ((“social media” w/10 (influencer OR influencers)) AND marketing)
  3. ((market OR markets) w/5 (trends OR trend OR analysis OR research OR report))
EXAMPLES OF PROBLEM SYNTAX
  1. (“social media” w/100 (influencer OR influencers))
  2. (cs(iPhone) w/5 (release OR update OR news))
  3. (market w/10 (analysis AND report))

Notes on Wildcard

  •  Use this operator sparingly: more likely than not, there are more possible variants than you anticipated which can lead to runaway searches and irrelevant content.
  • The system requires at least 2 characters before the wildcard, but we recommend being as specific as possible to minimise irrelevant results.
  • The wildcard is not currently supported with phrase searches, so if you use this operator, make sure it is on a single search term without quotes.
EXAMPLES OF VALID SYNTAX
  1. ((Psycholog* OR psychiatr*) AND ((study OR research) w/15 new))
  2. (technolog* AND ethics AND “silicon valley”)
  3. (fashion* AND (jewelry OR accessories) AND trends)
EXAMPLES OF PROBLEM SYNTAX
  1. art*
  2. (“technolog*” AND ethics AND “silicon valley”)
  3. “national championship*

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