# How to find Instagram influencers with Claude > Connect Manifold MCP, search your niche hashtags, and have your agent shortlist Instagram creators by median views, not followers. By Jesse Sibley, Founder of Manifold. Published 11 Nov 2026, updated 12 Nov 2026. Filed under [Instagram](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/topics/instagram.md). ## Key takeaways - Connect Manifold MCP in Claude or ChatGPT. Hosted, with no Instagram login or Meta developer app of your own, pay per call. Every account gets 250 credits a month on the free plan. - Your agent searches three to five hashtags with instagram_search_posts, groups rows by author, and drops brand accounts and resellers. Instagram search is by hashtag only and is a ranked sample, so say in the top results for a tag. - Size each author with instagram_get_profile and one page of reels or posts. Rank by niche fit, then median views, then engagement, not followers. Hidden like counts read as 3 in search and as null on get_posts and get_reels; leave those rows out of engagement rates. - Your agent creates a Keyword tracking monitor for Instagram after a preview of what it will watch. Creating it and its checks cost 0 credits. On Free it watches up to 3 keywords. The first check is a starting point and reports nothing. Alerts start on. - Start on the free plan with 1 monitor. Monitor checks cost no credits. Email alerts are on every plan. Slack and webhook alerts are on Growth and Agency. Monitors a workspace can keep, by plan: 1 on Free, 5 on Pro, 25 on Growth, 100 on Agency. Your agent searches your niche hashtags on Instagram through [Manifold MCP](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/mcp/instagram), groups the posts by author, sizes each author with their profile and recent posts, and ranks them on niche fit and median views, not followers. A Keyword tracking monitor on those hashtags then surfaces new creators. Refreshing Instagram until the right person appears is a hobby, not a system. ## How to find Instagram influencers in six steps 1. Connect [Manifold MCP](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/claude) to Claude or ChatGPT. 2. Pick three to five hashtags people actually use. 3. Search each tag and group the posts by author. 4. Size each author with their profile and recent posts. 5. Vet the finalists and rank a shortlist by niche fit, then median views. 6. Create a Keyword tracking monitor so new creators keep showing up. ![How to find Instagram influencers: hashtags, posts, authors, sized, vetted, shortlist](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-find-instagram-influencers/how-to-find-instagram-influencers-workflow.svg#1248x722 "How to find Instagram influencers with Manifold MCP: hashtags, posts, authors, sized, vetted, then a shortlist.") Monitors come with every plan, including Free, and their checks cost no credits. Default cadence is hourly. Alerts start on. The free plan keeps 1 monitor. A Keyword tracking monitor on Free watches up to 3 keywords. Monitors a workspace can keep, by plan: 1 on Free, 5 on Pro, 25 on Growth, 100 on Agency. For types and cadences, see [how monitors work](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/monitors). ## What AI engines suggest, and the shorter path Ask how to find Instagram influencers in Claude or ChatGPT today (checked November 2026) and the answers say those chats cannot read Instagram on their own. They describe a data source, the model as a scoring layer, and a spreadsheet you refresh every week. Manifold MCP is the data source inside the chat: hosted, with no Instagram login or Meta developer app of your own, and you pay per call. The Keyword tracking monitor does the repeat. You do not build the pipeline. This page is the shortlist, not a server comparison. That roundup is [the best Instagram MCP servers](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/best-instagram-mcp-servers). ## Step 1: connect Manifold MCP Manifold MCP is a hosted marketing data connector. You skip an Instagram login and a Meta developer app, and you pay per call. Every account gets 250 credits a month on the free plan. **Claude.** From the [Claude setup guide](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/claude): 1. Open **Settings**, then **Connectors**. 2. Choose **Add custom connector**. Name it Manifold and paste the server URL from the setup guide. 3. Choose **Connect**, sign in to Manifold, and approve Claude. 4. Start a chat, check that Manifold is on in the chat's tools menu, and ask a question. A connector you add on the web is also there in the desktop app and on your phone. **ChatGPT.** Manifold MCP is an official ChatGPT app. From the [ChatGPT setup guide](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/clients/chatgpt): open **Apps**, search for **Manifold**, click **Connect**, sign in and click **Allow**. Then type **@Manifold** or pick it from the **+** menu under **More**. There is no URL to paste and no developer mode to turn on. On Business, Enterprise and Edu, an admin decides which apps the workspace can use. Paste this to check the connection: > What Manifold Instagram and monitor tools do you have? Then tell me that creating a monitor is free, and how many monitors this workspace can keep. Your agent should name [`instagram_search_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_search_posts), [`instagram_get_profile`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_profile), [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels), [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts) and [`instagram_get_comments`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_comments), plus [`monitoring_create_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_create_monitor), [`monitoring_get_monitors`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_monitors), [`monitoring_get_changes`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_changes), [`monitoring_get_history`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_history), [`monitoring_update_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_update_monitor) and [`monitoring_delete_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_delete_monitor). The monitoring tools are free. Monitor checks use no credits. The plan sets how many monitors you can keep. Credits still apply to the agent's own tool calls. Every parameter is on the [Instagram tools](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram) and [monitoring tools](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring) pages. ## Step 2: pick three to five hashtags Settle the search before you run it. Pick three to five hashtags: the category, the problem the product solves, a use case, and a competitor's name. Creators who already reviewed a rival already cover the category. Read the next tags off the captions of the first results. Instagram search here is by hashtag only. A phrase is run together into one tag, so "gym wear" searches #gymwear. Pick tags people actually use. Settle a size band too, so a huge brand account does not crowd out people you would actually hire. Search has no country filter. Keep creators whose captions and speech are in the buyers' language. For a one-off look at an account or reel, see the other [Instagram guides](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/topics/instagram) on the blog. This page stays on the shortlist. ## Step 3: search and group Ask your agent to run [`instagram_search_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_search_posts) once per hashtag. Each call returns a list ranked by Instagram: a sample of posts under that tag, not every post. Say "in the top results for #tag", not "on Instagram". See the [Instagram tools](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram) for what each row includes (author and `author_followers` when Instagram publishes them, caption, likes, comments, views, transcript). Your agent groups the rows by author and counts matching posts per author. Niche fit beats one viral hit. Drop brand accounts and resellers. Many good creators do not tag, so Instagram is under-found. Widen with more tags rather than treating a quiet result as proof nobody is posting. When an owner hides like counts, search reads them as exactly 3. Leave those rows out of engagement rates. ## Step 4: size each author For each author worth keeping, your agent calls [`instagram_get_profile`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_profile) for followers, bio, website, links, and the business contact buttons (email and phone where a business account publishes them). The email field is often empty when the bio shows an address, so read the bio. `kind` does not settle person or brand: many creators run business accounts. `posts_count` is null, because a signed-out visitor is shown 12 posts whatever the account has. Then one page of [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels) (or [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts) for image accounts), newest first. Your agent works out median views, engagement, posting cadence, niche share and sponsored share. On reels, engagement is likes plus comments over views; for a rate on image posts, use the [Instagram engagement rate calculator](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/free-tools/instagram-engagement-rate-calculator). When an owner hides like counts, [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels) and [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts) return `likes` as null. Leave those rows out of the rate. Null is not zero. Rank by niche fit first (share of recent posts on the topic), then median views, then engagement. Not by followers. Followers are what a creator charges for. Median views on recent posts are what you get. The method is the [creators skill](https://github.com/manifoldmcp/marketing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/creators): find, size, vet, then brief. ## Step 5: vet the finalists Judgment, not a platform-wide percentage. Your agent reads comments on a few posts with [`instagram_get_comments`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_comments) (leave replies off). Generic or repeated comments are a warning. A real audience answers what was said. Check sponsored posts against the creator's own median. Far below it, the audience may skip ads. Views that sit low against followers are a warning too. Instagram publishes no audience country split. Read caption and comment language, and ask the creator for a screenshot of their own analytics before a large fee. Your agent does not message, contract or pay anyone. It delivers the table. You do the outreach from your own account. ## Step 6: the shortlist table Deliver one row per person: | Handle and link | Followers | Median views | Engagement | Posts a week | Last post | Niche share | Sponsored | Contact | Fit | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | @[handle] | [count] | [views] | [rate] | [n] | [date] | [share, with one example link] | [n of recent] | [bio or contact button] | [one line] | Contact comes from the bio and the public contact buttons only. Your agent can draft the message in the chat. You send it. ## Step 7: keep finding new creators The shortlist is a snapshot. To keep finding people, your agent creates a Keyword tracking monitor (preset mentions, platforms Instagram) on the best hashtags, with a preview first: > Track Instagram every week for new posts under #tag1, #tag2, #tag3. Description: new creators posting about [niche] we might partner with. Preview it first. Creating it and its checks cost 0 credits. On the free plan a Keyword tracking monitor takes up to 3 keywords, and the workspace keeps 1 monitor. Default cadence is hourly. Weekly or daily is enough for creator discovery. The preview shows the tags and cadence before anything is made. **Dashboard.** Open [social media monitoring](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/monitors/social-media) and create a Keyword tracking monitor, Instagram only. The form shows what the monitor will watch before it starts. Each post is news once, by its id. A post counts when its text, transcript or hashtags contain the term. A multi-word term also matches the hashtag with the spaces run together, so "gym wear" matches #gymwear. The first check is a starting point and reports nothing. That starting point stops last week's posts arriving as news. From the second check on, each new matching post is one new mention. Each Monday, ask your agent which new authors appeared in the monitor's feed and to size them as in step 4. Your agent reads the feed when you ask. Claude and ChatGPT do not run that prompt on their own schedule. ## Alerts Keyword tracking alerts start on. Email alerts are on every plan: at most one email a day per monitor, with the rest waiting in the feed your agent reads. Each person in the workspace turns a monitor's alerts on or off for themselves. Slack and webhook alerts are on the Growth and Agency plans. They are not on Free or Pro. ## Run this in your agent Connect Manifold to your agent, then paste this prompt: ```text Build a shortlist of Instagram creators for [Acme gym wear]. Search #gymwear, #activewear and #[competitor] with instagram_search_posts. Group by author, drop brand accounts and resellers, and keep people whose posts fit the niche. Size each with instagram_get_profile and one page of instagram_get_reels (or instagram_get_posts for image accounts). Read comments on a few posts with instagram_get_comments. Rank by niche fit, then median views, then engagement, not followers. Give me a table: handle and link, followers, median views, engagement, posts a week, last post, niche share with one example link, sponsored posts seen, contact and its source, one line on fit. Then preview a weekly Keyword tracking monitor on those hashtags, Instagram only. Description: new creators posting about gym wear we might partner with. Preview it first, then create the monitor once I agree. Each Monday, read that monitor's feed and size any new authors the same way. ``` It uses [`instagram_search_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_search_posts), [`instagram_get_profile`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_profile), [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels), [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts), [`instagram_get_comments`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_comments), [`monitoring_create_monitor`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_create_monitor), [`monitoring_get_changes`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_changes) and [`monitoring_get_history`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/monitoring#monitoring_get_history). ## Limits to know From Manifold MCP docs and the tools: - Instagram search is by hashtag only. There is no free-text search. - Search is ranked by Instagram and is a sample, not every post under the tag. - Many good creators do not tag, so they are missed. - Hidden like counts read as exactly 3 in search, and as null on [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts) and [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels). Leave those rows out of engagement rates. - Private accounts are not available. Only what anyone can see without following. - A signed-out reader is shown 12 posts on a profile, so `posts_count` is null. Count posts from [`instagram_get_posts`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_posts) or [`instagram_get_reels`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/instagram#instagram_get_reels). ## Instagram and TikTok together The same method works on TikTok, where [`tiktok_search_videos`](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/docs/tools/tiktok#tiktok_search_videos) is free text. To track the same hashtags on TikTok, see [how to track TikTok hashtags and keywords with Claude](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-track-tiktok-hashtags). To see which posts work, not who to hire, see [research TikTok and Instagram with an AI agent](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/use-cases/research-tiktok-and-instagram). The same Keyword tracking monitor can add TikTok and YouTube later. ## Create your Instagram creator monitor Create a Keyword tracking monitor for Instagram. Creating it and its checks cost nothing. Open [social media monitoring](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/monitors/social-media) and start from the form, or connect Claude or ChatGPT and paste the prompt above. The first check is a starting point. From the second check on, ask your agent which new authors appeared and to size them. Your agent reads the monitor's feed when you ask. Claude and ChatGPT do not run that prompt on their own schedule. ## Questions people ask ### Can Claude find Instagram influencers on its own? Not on its own. Claude and ChatGPT cannot read Instagram unless you connect a data source. Manifold MCP is that source: hosted, with no Instagram login or Meta developer app of your own, pay per call. Your agent searches hashtags, sizes authors and builds the shortlist in the chat. ### Why rank by median views, not followers? Followers are what a creator charges for. Median views on recent posts are what you get. One old viral post can leave a large following that no longer watches. Rank by niche fit first, then median views, then engagement. ### Does it find every creator in my niche? No. Instagram search here is a ranked sample of posts under a hashtag, not every post on the platform. Many good creators do not tag, so they are missed. Widen with more tags people actually use, and say "in the top results for #tag", not "on Instagram". ### Can it search Instagram by keyword? No. Instagram search here is by hashtag only. A phrase is run together into one tag, so "gym wear" searches #gymwear. Pick tags people actually use, and read the next tags off the captions of the first results. ### Can it see a creator's audience countries? No. Instagram publishes no audience country split here. Read caption and comment language, and ask the creator for a screenshot of their own analytics before a large fee. ### How do I keep finding new creators? Create a Keyword tracking monitor on the best hashtags, Instagram only. Creating it and its checks cost 0 credits. The first check is a starting point and reports nothing. Each later check searches those hashtags and reports new posts once, by id. Each Monday, ask your agent which new authors appeared and to size them. On Free the monitor watches up to 3 keywords. ## Keep reading - [The best Instagram MCP servers in 2026](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/best-instagram-mcp-servers.md): Meta has no MCP server for organic Instagram. Here is how the open-source, publishing and research servers compare on login, whose data they read, account risk and price. - [How to find customers in Facebook groups with Claude](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/how-to-find-customers-in-facebook-groups.md): Connect Manifold MCP, find the public groups your buyers use, and have your agent table the themes and the open threads you could answer. - [AI backlink analysis with Claude: audit links and find competitor gaps](https://www.manifoldmcp.com/blog/backlink-analysis.md): Connect Claude to Manifold MCP, run an AI backlink analysis: audit your own links, pull the sites that link to competitors, find the backlink gap, then get contacts and a draft pitch.