Check whether a creator's audience and engagement are real
By Starcovery. Updated .
Read the views, engagement, posting activity, and audience countries on a Starcovery creator page, and compare them with followers and the benchmarks.
To check whether a creator's audience and engagement are real in Starcovery, open the creator page and compare Average views and Engagement on views with the follower count and with the medians in Instagram and TikTok engagement benchmarks. Then read the views per post, the posting activity, and the audience countries, and open the creator's profile on the platform to read the comments on recent posts.
Starcovery publishes no fake-follower score and no audience-quality grade. The creator page shows the numbers in the Starcovery catalog, and you judge what they mean for your campaign.
This page covers what each number on a creator page counts, how to read it, the same figures over the API, and what the steps cost.
Steps
Open the creator page
Search from a brief on the web, or over MCP, REST, or the CLI. See Search. The results on the web show Engagement on views and Average views for each creator, and each creator name opens the creator page. To narrow the results on followers, average views, or engagement, ask the assistant, such as "only creators with engagement on views above 5%".
A creator page shows one Instagram or TikTok profile. The header shows the follower count as Followers on Instagram or Followers on TikTok, and the handle under the name links to the profile on the platform.
Compare views with followers
Average views is the mean views of the 6 newest posts with a stored video, counting the posts that have views. The caption under Recent posts names how many posts it counts.
Compare it with the follower count, and with the median views per post for the creator's platform and follower tier in the benchmarks. An average far below that median means the creator's posts reach fewer viewers than most creators with a similar follower count.
Compare engagement with the benchmarks
Engagement on views is likes plus comments divided by views for each of the same posts, averaged across them. Shares do not count, and the follower count is not part of the figure. Sponsored posts and ads count like any other post.
The benchmarks compute the engagement rate the same way, from each profile's 6 newest posts, and list the median by platform, follower tier, and creator country. Compare the creator's figure with the median for its platform and tier. The benchmarks cover profiles with 10,000 or more followers, so a creator with fewer followers has no tier there.
Read the views per post
Views per post plots the views of up to 30 of the creator's newest posts that Starcovery captured, oldest to newest, and highlights the highest bar. A post with no view count shows no bar.
Bars of similar height mean each post reaches a similar number of viewers. One bar far above the rest is one post that drew far more views than the others. Average views counts only the 6 newest posts with a stored video, so the chart can show posts the average leaves out.
Check the posting activity
Posting days counts the days in the last 12 weeks, in UTC, with at least one post Starcovery captured. The Activity grid shows each of those days, shaded by the number of captured posts. An empty day is a day with no captured post, not a day without posts.
The dates under Recent posts show the newest posts Starcovery stored. When those dates are weeks old or Posting days is low, open the profile on the platform from the handle to see what the creator posted since.
Read the audience countries
Audience shows the follower share by country when Starcovery has it on record: the top country in the headline, then a row for each country. Compare it with the countries where you sell.
When Starcovery has no audience data for the profile, the section reads No audience countries on record. Ask the creator for the audience breakdown from the platform's analytics before you hire. Starcovery records no audience age or gender.
Read the posts on the platform
Recent posts shows the views and likes of each of the 6 newest posts with a stored video, and no comments. A post with no view count reads No view count. Open the profile on the platform from the handle to read the comments under recent posts.
Hire or reveal the contact
When the numbers fit your campaign, choose Hire to start a campaign with the creator, or choose Reveal Contact under Contact for the address. Hire shows for creators with 1,000 or more followers. Signed out, the contact button reads Sign In to Reveal. See Pay creators and handle disclosure for the steps after the campaign starts.
Check over the API
GET /api/search, MCP search_creators, and starcovery search --json return each creator's followerCount, averageViews, and engagementOnViews, computed over the same 6 posts as the creator page. engagementOnViews is a fraction: 0.0768 is 7.68%. Each creator's videos lists posts with playCount, likeCount, commentCount, postedAt, isAd, and isSponsored, so an agent can compute the engagement of each post or leave sponsored posts out.
curl "https://www.starcovery.com/api/search?q=fitness+creators" \
| jq '.creators[] | {username, followerCount, averageViews, engagementOnViews}'The audience countries, the activity grid, and the views per post chart are on the creator page only.
Live example
fitness creators is a published search page: a ranked list of creators for the brief "fitness creators", each with platform, followers, average views, and engagement on views. Each creator name opens the creator page, such as @gabbylgeorge.
Read that page in the order of the steps above, and compare its Average views and Engagement on views with the TikTok figures for its follower tier in the benchmarks.
Prices
A credit costs $0.05. Opening a creator page and reading its numbers spend no credits.
| Step | Price |
|---|---|
| Open a creator page | Free |
| Search within the daily grant | Free |
| Search past the daily grant | 1 credit |
Search thread turn on the web, over MCP thread_turn, or with starcovery thread | 1 use for the turn, from the daily grant and then 1 credit, plus up to 3 searches and exclusions in all, each billed like a search |
| Narrow a thread's creators on followers, average views, or engagement | The turn's use only, because the narrowing runs no search |
| Contact reveal | 1 credit the first time your organization reveals the profile |
| Private campaign | 1 credit at creation, or when a public campaign becomes private |
Prepaid credit packs are on Pricing. See Pay for API calls without a subscription for the credit ledger.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a creator has fake followers?
Starcovery publishes no fake-follower score. Compare the creator's Average views and Engagement on views with the follower count and with the medians for the platform and follower tier in the benchmarks. Then read the comments under the creator's recent posts on the platform.
Does Starcovery audit creator audiences?
No. Starcovery publishes no fake-follower score and no audience-quality grade. It shows the follower count, views, engagement, posting activity, and audience countries in its catalog.
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram or TikTok?
Instagram and TikTok engagement benchmarks lists the median engagement rate and views per post by platform, follower tier, and creator country, from public profiles in the Starcovery catalog. Compare a creator with the median for its platform and follower tier.
How does Starcovery calculate engagement?
Engagement on views is likes plus comments divided by views for each of the creator's 6 newest posts with a stored video and views, averaged across those posts.
Is engagement on views the same as engagement rate by followers?
No. Engagement on views divides by views, not followers, so it does not match an engagement rate computed from the follower count.
Why does a creator page show few posting days?
Posting days counts only the posts Starcovery captured in the last 12 weeks. A day with no captured post can still be a day the creator posted. Open the profile on the platform to see the newest posts.
Can I see where a creator's followers live?
The Audience section shows the follower share by country when Starcovery has it on record. When it reads No audience countries on record., ask the creator for the breakdown from the platform's analytics. Starcovery records no audience age or gender.
Does checking a creator cost credits?
No. Opening a creator page and reading its numbers is free. Revealing the contact address costs 1 credit the first time your organization reveals the profile.
Can an agent check a creator's engagement?
Yes. GET /api/search, MCP search_creators, and starcovery search --json return averageViews, engagementOnViews, and the views, likes, and comments of each post. See Check over the API.