Inbound Query Processing

What This Does

Automatically ingests journalist queries and PR opportunities from email digests into your opportunity feed. ILLIXIS receives forwarded emails from journalist query platforms, parses them using AI and regex extractors, deduplicates entries, scores relevance to your brand, and delivers matched opportunities to your Journalist Queries dashboard.

This runs automatically in the background. You don't need to manually forward or process emails once set up.

Supported Platforms

Broadcast Sources (Automatic Email Ingestion)

These platforms send daily/weekly digest emails. ILLIXIS ingests them at the platform level and distributes relevant queries to all tenant accounts based on AI relevance scoring.

| Platform | Domain | Notes |
|----------|--------|-------|
| Source of Sources | shankman.com | Peter Shankman's daily journalist queries |
| Help a B2B Writer | helpab2bwriter.com, mentionmatch.com | B2B industry expert requests (rebranded to MentionMatch Dec 2024) |
| SourceBottle | sourcebottle.com, thesourcebottle.com | Australian journalist request service |
| HARO | helpareporter.com | Discontinued 2024, legacy detection maintained |

Webhook Sources (Direct API Integration)

| Platform | Integration Type | Notes |
|----------|------------------|-------|
| Help a B2B Writer | Direct webhook | Receives structured JSON payloads directly, more reliable than email parsing |

Private Sources (Manual Paste Only)

These platforms deliver personalized queries to individual subscribers. Use "Paste Query Email" in the Journalist Queries dashboard.

| Platform | Notes |
|----------|-------|
| Qwoted | Personalized expert matching |
| Terkel | Expert quote requests |
| Manual Entry | Any other journalist query |

How Inbound Processing Works

Email Flow

```
Journalist Platform → Email Digest → ILLIXIS → Parse → Distribute
```

1. Email Received: Platform sends digest email to ILLIXIS inbound address
2. Spam Check: Verify sender domain matches expected platform
3. Rate Limit Check: Max 100 requests/hour per platform
4. Parse Queries: Extract individual queries using pattern matching (primary) or AI parsing (fallback)
5. Deduplicate: Prevents duplicate queries from being created
6. Distribute to Tenants: Score and assign to relevant tenant accounts

Webhook Flow (Help a B2B Writer)

```
Help a B2B Writer → Webhook → ILLIXIS → Validate → Distribute
```

1. Webhook Received: Direct structured query data from the platform
2. Validation: Verified for authenticity
3. Parse Fields: Extract journalist, publication, query, deadline
4. Distribute to Tenants: Score and assign to relevant accounts

Query Parsing Methods

Pattern Matching (Primary)

ILLIXIS uses platform-specific parsers for known email formats. Each platform has a dedicated extractor that recognizes its digest structure and pulls out individual queries.

AI Parsing (Fallback)

If pattern matching returns 0 queries or encounters an unfamiliar format, ILLIXIS falls back to AI parsing. The AI extracts journalist name, email, publication, query text, requirements, deadline, and category from the email content.

Relevance Scoring & Distribution

After parsing, queries are distributed to tenant accounts based on AI relevance scoring.

Scoring Method

ILLIXIS uses AI to score each query 0-100 for brand fit:

| Factor | Weight | What It Checks |
|--------|--------|----------------|
| Brand keywords | 40% | Match to your brand keywords |
| Target audience | 20% | Alignment with your audience |
| Content themes | 20% | Match to your content themes |
| Category fit | 10% | Industry/category alignment |
| Topic exclusions | 10% | Avoiding your exclusion list |

Distribution Threshold

• Default threshold: 30%
• Queries below threshold are not assigned to your account
• You can re-score queries after updating your brand profile

Batch Processing

• Scores 50 queries per API call for efficiency
• ~12 seconds per batch of 50 queries
• Staggered processing to avoid rate limits

How Queries Appear in ILLIXIS

Notification Bell

New queries appear in the global notification bell:

• Badge count shows unread high-relevance queries
• Click bell to see list
• Click query to open detail page

Journalist Queries Dashboard

Location: Authority Builder → Journalist Queries

Queries appear in the main list with:

• Source platform badge (e.g., "Source of Sources")
• Relevance score (color-coded: green 80+, yellow 60-79, gray 40-59)
• Deadline indicator (red if urgent)
• Publication name
• Query text preview

Filter Options

• Status: New, Reviewing, Pitched, Won, Lost, Expired, Skipped
• Source: Filter by specific platform

Responding to Queries

From Query Detail Page

1. Click any query to open detail view
2. Review full query text, journalist info, deadline
3. Click "Generate Pitch" to create AI response
4. Edit pitch if needed
5. Copy to clipboard
6. Send via email to journalist
7. Mark as "Sent" in ILLIXIS

Pitch Generation

ILLIXIS generates a 150-250 word pitch using:

• Your brand voice settings
• Relevant existing content (for backlink references)
• Query requirements and deadlines

Tips for Best Results

Optimize Your Relevance Scoring

Update your brand profile in Settings → Brand:

• Brand keywords: Add specific terms journalists search for
• Target audience: Define who you help
• Content themes: Topics you're expert in
• Topic exclusions: What to avoid

Monitor Your Query Feed

• Check Journalist Queries dashboard daily
• Focus on queries with 70%+ relevance first
• Generate pitches before deadlines (urgency matters)

Track Your Results

• Mark pitches as "Sent" when you submit
• Update to "Won" when published
• Update to "Lost" if no response

Re-score After Profile Updates

If you update your brand profile:

1. Go to Authority Builder → Journalist Queries
2. Click "Sources" button
3. Click "Re-score Queries"
4. Select date range (max 30 days)
5. Queries re-scored with new profile in 1-2 minutes

Troubleshooting

No Queries Appearing

Check:

• Platform sources are active (Admin → QuerySourceConfig)
• Your brand profile has keywords defined
• Relevance threshold is 30% (default)
• Recent digests have been received (check ingestion logs)

Low Relevance Scores

Fix:

• Add more specific brand keywords
• Define target audience clearly
• Add content themes
• Run "Re-score Queries" after updates

Missing Queries from Digest

Possible causes:

• Regex parser didn't extract (check for format changes)
• Duplicate query already exists (check hash)
• Query below relevance threshold

Check:

• Admin → QueryIngestionLog for recent attempts
• Admin → PlatformQuery for raw queries (before distribution)

Webhook Not Working

For Help a B2B Writer:

• Contact support@illixis.io if webhook queries aren't appearing

Related Features

• Journalist Query Response — View and respond to ingested queries
• Authority Builder — Overall PR and link-building dashboard
• Pillar Content Recommendations — Build authority for better pitch acceptance
• Settings → Brand — Configure keywords and voice for relevance scoring and pitch generation