10 Best AI Social Listening Tools for Brand Managers

Sprout Social9.2/10

Sprout Social's AI-powered listening dashboard delivers sentiment analysis, trend detection, and competitive benchmarking across all major platforms. The platform excels at helping brand managers identify emerging issues before they escalate, with customizable alerts and detailed reporting that integrates seamlessly with existing marketing workflows.

Hootsuite Insights8.9/10

Hootsuite's AI listening engine provides real-time sentiment tracking, audience insights, and competitor analysis across 20+ social networks. Brand managers appreciate the intuitive dashboard, automated reporting, and ability to track brand mentions alongside industry conversations—all at a price point that scales with team size.

Brandwatch (formerly Buzzsumo)8.7/10

Brandwatch combines social listening with AI-powered insights to track brand mentions, sentiment shifts, and emerging narratives. The platform's strength lies in competitive intelligence and trend forecasting, making it ideal for brand managers who need to understand market positioning and consumer perception shifts.

Cision Social Listening8.5/10

Cision integrates social listening with earned media monitoring and AI-driven insights. Brand managers benefit from unified visibility across social and traditional channels, plus crisis detection algorithms that flag potential reputation threats before they spread.

6sense8.3/10

While primarily an account-based platform, 6sense's AI listening capabilities help brand managers understand how target accounts and competitors are perceived on social. The platform excels at connecting social sentiment to buying signals and account engagement patterns.

Muck Rack8.1/10

Muck Rack combines social listening with media monitoring and influencer tracking. Brand managers use it to monitor brand mentions across social and news, identify key voices in their industry, and track how media coverage translates to social conversation.

SparkToro7.9/10

SparkToro's AI-powered audience research tool helps brand managers understand where their audience spends time online and what they're talking about. While not traditional listening, it provides valuable context for social strategy and competitor positioning analysis.

AlsoAsked7.6/10

AlsoAsked uses AI to map questions and conversations happening across search and social platforms. Brand managers can identify emerging customer concerns, content gaps, and conversation trends that inform both social listening strategy and content development.

Prowly7.4/10

Prowly combines PR and social listening capabilities with AI-powered media monitoring. Brand managers benefit from integrated tracking of brand mentions across earned, owned, and social channels, plus automated sentiment analysis and reporter identification.

ZoomInfo7.2/10

ZoomInfo's AI listening capabilities help brand managers track competitor activity and industry conversations. While stronger in B2B contexts, it provides valuable intelligence on how competitors are positioning themselves and what conversations matter to your target accounts.