Yes there are other ways, although it doesn’t change what I am saying. And as to that, I may not have clearly stated my point. A Hook link can trigger a HoudahSpot file and a HoudahSpot file launches what it was saved to do, be it a saved search or a template file.
My comment was intended to say that, once the HoudahSpot search comes up, you are no longer linked back to the original (linked) document. That was my meaning when I wrote of it not being a permanent link. What I was saying, and probably saying badly, was that, if you try and set a Hook link in your found HoudahSpot search results, you are only going to get a single found item to link back to the next time and not the whole HoudahSpot search.
As to other ways to do this in HoudahSpot, go to HoudahSpot “Templates” menu, bottom of menu, select "manage templates. Click bottom of window on “Open templates in Finder”. Single click that is, select without opening, any HoudahSpot template file in that folder, use Hook to copy that link, and paste that Hook link into a Hooked document. Works for me.
With HoudahSpot I can save a search in different places as I like as they are just files and do not have to be in a special folder. By saving searches as templates, this is the HoudahSpot naming convention that means the file is a saved search that is going to be placed in your side panel.