---
title: "Choose a Ghost type and create a Ghost"
url: "https://pitchghost.com/docs/ghosts/ghost-types"
description: "Pick the Ghost type that fits what you want to find, then create the Ghost from a short goal or by hand."
---

A Ghost is a saved search that keeps scanning a social platform for posts worth your attention. Its type decides where it looks and how it gets its posts.

## Which Ghost type do you need

| You want to | Choose | The Ghost reads |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Find posts about a topic, whoever writes them | The finder for the platform | Posts that match your search queries |
| Watch what specific people post | LinkedIn user monitor | Posts from up to 5,000 profiles you choose |
| Watch what specific companies post | LinkedIn company monitor | Posts from up to 5,000 company pages |

Use a finder when the topic matters more than the author. For a payroll software company, that is anyone complaining about their payroll provider. Use a monitor when you already know who you want to hear from, such as prospects, customers or competitors.

A company monitor reads the posts a company publishes on its own page. It does not catch other people mentioning that company. For mentions, create a finder and use the company’s name as a search query.

A user monitor can take its people from a pasted list, your connections, a CRM list or a people search. See [LinkedIn user monitor](/docs/platforms/linkedin-user-monitor#get-your-people-in).

You can’t change a Ghost’s type after you create it. To reuse a finder’s setup on another platform, [transmute it](/docs/ghosts/managing-ghosts#transmute-a-ghost-to-another-platform). What each type reads and returns is covered under [Platforms](/docs/platforms).

## Create a Ghost

Owners and Admins can create Ghosts. Every plan includes as many as you like.

1.  Go to Ghosts and choose Create new Ghost.
2.  Find the type you want and choose Create.
3.  In Ghost creation method?, choose Automatically or Manually.

The monitors skip step 3 and open the settings form, because you supply the list of people or pages yourself.

### Automatically

PitchGhost writes the search queries and settings from a short goal and your business info. This is the fastest way to start.

1.  In What’s the goal of this Ghost?, describe what you want this Ghost to find in 20 to 500 characters. You can lengthen the goal later. See [Write your Ghost’s goal](/docs/ghosts/goals).
2.  Choose Generate Ghost.
3.  Check the values PitchGhost filled in, the search queries most of all.
4.  Choose Create + scan to start the first scan right away, or Create to create the Ghost without scanning.

Try example goals offers templates to start from. Replace every placeholder in \[BRACKETS\] before you continue.

### Manually

Manually opens an empty form. Fill in the goal, the [search queries](/docs/ghosts/search-queries) and the rest yourself.

## After you create a Ghost

A new Ghost has Auto scan turned on and scans every 1 day. Its first scan reads only the last 3 days of posts. See [Scanning](/docs/ghosts/scanning).