> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clearcue.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI Signals

> Define custom detection patterns using natural language to find exactly the content you need.

AI Signals let you define a completely custom detection pattern using natural language. Instead of choosing from pre-built logic, you describe exactly what content you want to find — and AI evaluates every post or comment against your criteria.

## When to use it

Use an AI Signal when none of the [pre-built templates](/signal-templates) match what you're looking for, or when you need highly specific detection logic. Common use cases:

* Tracking a niche topic that doesn't fit any standard category
* Combining multiple intent signals into a single custom pattern
* Filtering content based on tone, sentiment, or context that keywords alone can't capture

## How to set it up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select AI Signal from the template library">
    Choose the AI Signal template from the [signal template library](/signal-templates).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a data source">
    Select either a profile to monitor or a keyword search to scan. AI Signals support both data source types.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write your qualification prompt">
    Describe what content should match your signal. Be specific about what to include and what to exclude.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and save">
    Clearcue combines your data source with the AI prompt. Every matching post or comment is evaluated against your criteria before being surfaced as a signal.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Write an effective prompt

Your qualification prompt tells the AI what to look for. The more specific you are, the better the results.

### Include and exclude criteria

The most effective prompts have two parts: what to look for and what to ignore. This dramatically reduces false positives.

**Good prompt:**

> Qualify posts where a founder or CEO announces they are personally taking over a sales or GTM function that was previously handled by a team member or agency. Include posts expressing frustration with previous sales performance. Exclude general hiring posts or posts about delegating sales to someone else.

**Weak prompt:**

> Find posts about sales.

### Be specific about the subject

Tell the AI who the relevant person or company is in the context of the signal.

**Good prompt:**

> ...When qualified, the relevant subject is the company receiving the funding.

This helps Clearcue correctly attribute the signal to the right person or company in your pipeline.

### Use concrete examples

If certain phrases or patterns are strong indicators, mention them explicitly.

**Good prompt:**

> Include personal announcements ("Excited to share I've joined..."), company announcements ("Welcome our new\..."), and congratulatory posts that confirm the appointment.

### Define hard disqualifiers

List specific conditions that should always result in rejection, even if the post otherwise looks relevant.

**Good prompt:**

> Hard disqualifiers — immediately reject if any apply:
>
> * The author is promoting their own agency or freelance practice
> * The post is a guide, ranking, or listicle about choosing providers
> * The post is a job listing for a permanent, in-house position

<Tip>
  Many of the [pre-built templates](/signal-templates) in Company Activity and Sales Opportunities use detailed AI prompts with hard disqualifiers. You can use them as inspiration for your own custom AI Signals.
</Tip>

## How AI qualification works

When you add an AI prompt to any signal, Clearcue runs a two-stage detection process:

1. **Keyword matching** — Your boolean search query or profile monitoring finds candidate posts
2. **AI evaluation** — Each candidate post is evaluated against your qualification prompt. Only posts that pass both stages are surfaced as signals.

This two-stage approach keeps detection fast (keyword search narrows the field) and accurate (AI filters out false positives).

<Info>
  AI qualification is not exclusive to the AI Signal template. Many pre-built templates like Funding Announcement, Hiring for Position, and Frustration Expression also use AI prompts behind the scenes. The AI Signal template simply gives you full control over the prompt.
</Info>

## Content vs signal qualification

There are two types of AI prompts:

| Prompt type               | What it evaluates                                                 | When to use                                                                                                                                |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Content qualification** | The text of a post — is this post about the right topic?          | Search-based signals where you want to filter by content relevance                                                                         |
| **Signal qualification**  | The engagement or action — does this interaction indicate intent? | Profile-based signals where you want to filter by the type of engagement (e.g. only meaningful comments, not generic "great post" replies) |

You can use one or both depending on your signal setup.