The best way to track a niche topic is to describe it in plain English, be specific about what you want, and let a scheduled AI assistant do the searching for you. That's it.
Most big news sites cover broad topics. Tech, sports, finance. If you care about something specific, like indie game funding in Southeast Asia, or drone regulation in rural counties, you're mostly out of luck. You check manually. You forget. You miss things.
Here's how to fix that.
Why Niche Topics Are Hard to Track
There's no one site to bookmark. The relevant info is scattered across news outlets, government pages, forums, and blogs. You'd have to check five or six places just to feel caught up.
Google Alerts can help a little, but it sends you a messy list of links and you still have to read everything yourself to find the one useful piece.
A better approach: describe what you care about clearly, then let an AI do the searching and summarising on a schedule.
Step 1: Name the Topic as Specifically as You Can
Vague prompts get vague results. Before you write anything, ask yourself:
- What exact thing am I tracking?
- Who does it affect?
- What would make a result useful vs. useless?
"AI news" is too broad. "New AI tools released for small law firms" is much better.
Step 2: Write Your Prompt in Plain English
You do not need special syntax or keywords. Write like you're explaining it to a friend.
Here's a copy-paste example prompt you can use or adapt in AIDular:
Track any new developments in the use of AI tools by independent law firms. Focus on tools that help with document review, client intake, or billing. Ignore enterprise or big-firm news. Include any new product launches, case studies, or opinion pieces from legal tech publications.
Notice what that prompt does:
- Names the exact audience (independent law firms)
- Lists the specific use cases you care about
- Tells the AI what to skip
- Specifies the types of content you want
That last part, telling AIDular what to ignore, is often the most valuable thing you can add.
Step 3: Choose the Right Schedule
For niche topics, weekly usually works best. Here's a simple guide:
- Daily - Use this only if things change fast. Breaking news, stock prices, live events.
- Weekly - Good for most niche topics. Enough time for real developments to happen.
- Monthly - Best for slow-moving topics. Policy changes, academic research, long-term trends.
If you're unsure, start weekly. You can always change it later.
Step 4: Read the First Report and Adjust
Your first report is a test. Look at what came back and ask:
- Is this actually what I wanted?
- What's missing?
- What's showing up that I don't care about?
Then go back and add one or two lines to your prompt based on what you saw. Something like "exclude press releases" or "focus on news from the last 7 days only." Small edits make a big difference.
Step 5: Share It If It's Useful
AIDular lets you add other email recipients to your report. If you're tracking something for a team, a class, or a group chat, just add their emails. Everyone gets the same clean, sourced report without having to do their own searching.
A Few Niche Prompt Ideas to Inspire You
- "New grant funding announced for community solar projects in the US"
- "Changes to short-term rental regulations in European cities"
- "New research published on ADHD and sleep in teenagers"
- "Indie tabletop game Kickstarters that launched in the past week with over 500 backers"
These are the kinds of topics that fall through the cracks of normal news. An AI research assistant that runs on a schedule is the practical way to stay on top of them.
You can set up your first niche track for free at aidular.com. The Lite plan costs nothing, and you can have a working report in a few minutes.