# What is a mention market?

as_of: 2026-10-21

A mention market is a prediction market on whether someone will say a word during an event. [Will Tesla say “Optimus” on its earnings call?](/earnings/TSLA/words/optimus) is one. Each word is its own yes-or-no market.

## Where they trade

Kalshi and Polymarket list them. Since mid-2024 they have listed about 5,400 mention events: earnings calls, Fed press conferences, White House briefings, speeches and rallies, TV interviews, podcasts, award shows and sports broadcasts. Whether you can trade them depends on where you live.

## How a market reads

- **The word.** "Tariff / Tariffs" means either form counts. Plurals and possessives usually count; other forms do not.
- **The threshold.** "(3+ times)" means the word must be said at least three times.
- **The speaker.** The rules name who must say it: one person, whoever holds a role, a company's representatives, or anyone at the event. This is where venues differ most. On earnings calls, Kalshi counts the company's speakers while Polymarket usually counts anyone, analysts included.
- **The event.** Which appearance counts, and sometimes which part: prepared remarks and Q&A, a monologue, a whole broadcast.

## How they settle

The venue checks a recording or transcript after the event and settles each word YES or NO under its own rules. The venue's decision is final.

## What Parrot adds

Parrot collects the transcripts and the settlement records behind these markets, so you can check before and after:

- how often this speaker has said the word lately, and where;
- how past markets on the word settled, with the sample size;
- after the event, the count under each venue's rule, with the quotes.

Parrot does not offer trading and is not advice. See [Methodology](/methodology) for how we count.