LinkedIn Search Operators: The Complete Guide

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 810 million members. With so many profiles and companies on the platform, finding exactly what you need can be difficult without using the right search techniques. This is where LinkedIn’s advanced search operators come in handy.

LinkedIn search operators, also known as Boolean search operators, allow you to construct precise searches to filter your results and zero in on the most relevant profiles, jobs, content, and more. Whether you’re looking to find new connections, research companies, or discover job opportunities, mastering these operators is key to getting the most out of LinkedIn.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about tapping into the power of LinkedIn search.

What Are LinkedIn Search Operators?

LinkedIn search operators are commands you can use in the search bar to refine and filter your search queries. Just like Google, LinkedIn allows you to construct advanced searches using operators to target your results more precisely.

The main types of LinkedIn search operators include:

• Boolean operators – AND, OR, NOT
• Field search – Location, Company, Title, etc
• Proximity search – NEAR
• Wildcard search – *, ?
• Fuzzy search – ~
• Search filters – Content type, date, media types

We’ll explain each of these operators in detail throughout this guide.

LinkedIn search operators give you more control over your query so you can cut through the noise and discover the people, jobs, content, and companies most relevant to your search.

Also read: Are LinkedIn Messages Private? A Detailed Guide

Why Use LinkedIn Search Operators?

Here are some of the key benefits of using LinkedIn’s advanced search operators:

• Find better matches – Search operators allow you to fine-tune your searches so you can filter out irrelevant results and focus on matches that fit your criteria.
• Save time – Well-constructed searches help you find what you’re looking for faster without having to sift through pages of generic results.
• Uncover hidden profiles & jobs – You can surface non-obvious profiles and opportunities by searching for specific titles, skills, locations and more.
• Get alerted to new listings – Search alerts let you get notifications whenever new jobs or content match your saved searches.
• Conduct research – Dial in your searches to uncover key insights about industries, companies, influencers and more.
• Curate targeted outreach lists – Build customized lists of prospects by searching for specific companies, titles, skills, groups and more.
• Stand out in job searches – Using advanced operators can help your application rise above the competition by tailoring it to the exact job criteria.

Mastering LinkedIn’s search techniques is essential whether you’re job hunting, recruiting, conducting research, searching for business partners – or simply trying to get the most out of LinkedIn.

Now let’s dive into the different types of LinkedIn search operators and syntax…

Also read: How to See Pending Connections on LinkedIn

Guide to LinkedIn Search Operators

LinkedIn offers a robust set of search operators to help fine-tune your queries. Here’s an overview of the different types and how to use them:

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators allow you to combine keywords in searches to filter, broaden, or narrow your results. The main Boolean operators are:

AND

Returns results that match both keywords joined by AND. This narrows your search.

sales AND recruiter

OR

Returns results that match either or both keywords joined by OR. This broadens your search.

sales OR marketing

NOT

Excludes results that match the keyword after NOT. This narrows your search.

sales NOT retail

You can combine Boolean operators to construct more complex searches.

sales AND recruiter NOT retail

Field Search Operators

Field search operators allow you to filter your search by specific profile fields like location, company, job title, and more.

Here are some of the key field search operators:

Location

Search by location name or LinkedIn standardized location code:

location:"San Francisco Bay Area"

loc:"Singapore"

Company

Search by company name or domain:

company:"Anthropic"

company:anthropic.com

Title

Search by job title:

title:"Sales Manager"

School

Search by school name:

school:"Stanford University"

Industry

Search by industry name:

industry:"Information Technology"

Skills

Search by skill keywords:

skills:"Cloud Computing"

You can combine field search operators to find profiles based on multiple criteria like location, title, and company.

title:"Sales Manager" AND company:anthropic.com AND loc:"San Francisco Bay Area"

Proximity Search

Proximity search allows you to find terms that are within a certain distance from each other.

Use the NEAR operator to search for keywords that appear within 10 words of each other:

“customer support” NEAR tools

This can help surface more relevant content where your keywords appear in close proximity instead of far apart in a long text.

Also read: LinkedIn Weekly Invitation Limit: The Complete Guide

Wildcard Search

Wildcard operators allow you to perform incomplete or uncertain searches where you do not know the exact terms.

Asterisk *

The asterisk symbol * functions as a wildcard matching any number of characters.

sale* 

This will match sales, salesperson, salesforce etc.

Question Mark ?

The question mark ? functions as a single character wildcard.

w?man

This will match woman and wiman.

You can use wildcards to broaden your search when unsure of exact spellings or terminology.

Fuzzy Search

Fuzzy search uses the tilde symbol ~ to find terms with similar spellings to account for typos.

~Sales

This will also match Sales, Sails, etc.

Search Filters

LinkedIn offers search filters that allow you to narrow results by specific criteria:

Content Type

Filter by content types like articles, posts, videos, images, etc.

articles

videos

images 

Date Posted

Filter by date range like last 24 hours, week, month, year, etc.

last 7 days

posted:>2020

Media Type

Filter by types of media like text, images, video, PDFs, presentations, etc.

media:images

media:video

You can combine search operators and filters for powerful customized searches:

title:"product manager" AND "San Francisco" media:video posted:last 90 days

This finds product manager profiles in San Francisco from videos posted in the last 90 days.

Saved Search Alerts

One of the most useful features of LinkedIn search is creating saved searches. This allows you to get notified whenever new jobs, profiles or content match your customized search criteria.

To save a search on LinkedIn:

1. Construct your search query using the advanced operators covered in this guide.
2. Click “Save this search” below the search bar.
3. Name your search alert.
4. Select the frequency for email notifications – daily or weekly.
5. Click “Save” to create the alert.

You will now start receiving email alerts whenever new results match your saved search criteria. This is extremely valuable for tracking new job listings, content, and people matching your precise parameters.

LinkedIn Search Syntax Examples

Let’s look at some example searches to see these operators in action:

Find product managers at San Francisco startups:

title:"product manager" AND "San Francisco" AND (startups OR "early stage")

Software engineers with cloud skills who attended Stanford:

title:"software engineer" AND skills:cloud AND school:"Stanford University"

Venture capital investors in California last 3 years:

industry:"Venture Capital" AND location:"California" AND (joined:>2018)

UX designers in Austin working at tech companies:

title:"ux designer" AND location:"Austin, Texas" AND industry:"Information Technology"

Articles about machine learning trends from top influencers:

"machine learning" AND trends AND ("AI experts" OR influencers) media:articles

These examples demonstrate how you can dial in effective searches by combining different operators like title, location, company, skills, industry, schools, influencers, content types, and more.

Follow these best practices when constructing your search queries:

• Use double quotes for multi-word terms like job titles or skills
• Specify fields like title, company, location to filter instead of generic keywords
• Try proximity or fuzzy searches for more flexible matching
• Filter by date ranges, content types or media formats
• Start broad, then gradually narrow using AND and NOT operators
• Test different keyword variations to see what yields the best results

Now let’s look at some of the rate limits…

Also read: How to Add Promotion on LinkedIn: The Complete 2023 Guide

LinkedIn Search Limits

As of October 2023, here are some of the key LinkedIn search limits to be aware of:

• Personal profile searches – Up to 50 per hour, 1,000 per day
• Job searches – 100 per hour, 1,500 per day
• Saved searches – 10-100 active alerts depending on account type
• Search history – Available for past 90 days
• Boolean terms – Up to 20 terms recommended
• Keyword length – 128 characters maximum
• Results – Only top 100 profiles, 250 jobs displayed

Keep these limits in mind when constructing searches. Try to be as targeted as possible with your keywords and filters to get quality results within the restrictions.

LinkedIn does not publicly provide the exact rate limits. The above numbers are estimated based on observed thresholds testing normal personal accounts.

Premium paid accounts may have higher rate limits. Contact LinkedIn support to learn more about API access for larger scale searches.

Tips for Effective LinkedIn Search

Here are some top tips for honing your LinkedIn search skills:

• Use field operators – Filter by location, title, company, skills rather than just keywords. This surfaces more relevant people/jobs matching the criteria.
• Include AND/NOT – Narrow in on your target using AND. Filter out noise using NOT.
• Filter content types – Focus on articles, images, videos, PDFs to find media formats.
• Save complex searches – Creating alerts for sophisticated searches ensures you get notified of new matches.
• Vary keywords – Try different keyword variations and synonyms to uncover different results.
• Follow search etiquette – Avoid searching names you don’t know or spamming people who show up in results.
• Personalize connection requests – Reference common ground from search results when reaching out to prospects.
• Fix common mistakes – Review next section to avoid pitfalls like keyword stuffing or typos.

Mastering these advanced search strategies takes practice, but is one of the most valuable skills to amplify your LinkedIn results for recruiting, research, networking and more.

Common LinkedIn Search Mistakes to Avoid

While advanced LinkedIn searches can yield powerful results, there are some common mistakes people make. Be aware of these pitfalls:

• Typos/misspellings – A minor typo can completely change search results. Double-check the spelling of keywords, names, and companies.
• Overstuffing keywords – Don’t overdo it on cramming in tons of keywords. This looks spammy.
• Restrictive filters – Too many narrow filters may omit potentially relevant results or people. Cast a wider initial net.
• Irrelevant keywords – Only include closely related keywords. Random words will misdirect your search.
• Nested quotes – Nesting too many sets of quotes can break search syntax.
• Repetitive searches – Spread out search frequency to avoid hitting rate limits and getting blocked.
• Impersonal outreach – Personalize connection requests using context from searches instead of generic invites.
• Saving overly broad searches – Tighten up saved search parameters to get notifications for quality results.

By being mindful of these missteps, you can fine-tune your LinkedIn search technique and improve the quality of your results.

LinkedIn vs Google Search Differences

While LinkedIn search works similarly to Google in many respects, there are some key differences to note:

• Indexing – Google indexes the entire web, while LinkedIn only indexes member profiles and posted content.
• Field search – No advanced field operators like site: or filetype:. But LinkedIn does allow title, company, and location filters.
• Personalized results – LinkedIn results are tailored based on your profile and network. Google results are anonymous.
• Keyword density – Keyword density matters more on LinkedIn since it has less data than Google’s web index.
• Freshness – LinkedIn results favor recency more. Google ranks pages based on external links/authority over time.
• Rate limits – LinkedIn search has stricter rate limits. Google does as well, but the numbers are not public.
• Auto-complete – Less refined auto-complete suggestions on LinkedIn search vs Google.

The core search skills transfer, but optimizing LinkedIn searches requires understanding these key differences from standard web searches.

FAQs

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn search:

How do I search LinkedIn without an account?

LinkedIn requires you to have an account to use the advanced search features. But you can perform basic keyword searches while logged out to find some public profiles and posts.

What’s the best way to search LinkedIn for jobs?

Use field filters like title and location, and turn on the “Jobs” toggle filter. Save searches to get alerts for new job listings.

How do I find people on LinkedIn by name?

Use the first and last name in double quotes: “John Smith”. Check spelling variations. Avoid searching anonymously.

Is there a phone number search on LinkedIn?

No, LinkedIn removed the ability to search for profiles by phone number. You need specific member name or company info to search effectively.

Can I search by email address on LinkedIn?

No, searching by email or contacting members without connecting is restricted. Build connections organically through profile commonalities.

What are LinkedIn tags and how are they used in search?

Members can add hashtag style tags to enhance visibility. Follow tags related to your industry to see top discussions and feed posts.

How do I get more LinkedIn search results?

Broaden keywords, remove restrictive filters, and paginate through results past top 100 profiles and 250 jobs.

Recap

Let’s do a quick recap of the key points:

• LinkedIn search operators allow you to perform advanced searches by filtering, using Booleans, field targeting and more.
• Take advantage of operators like AND, NOT, title:, location:, site: for precise searching.
• Create saved searches and alerts to get notifications of new matching jobs, profiles or content.
• Follow best practices like using double quotes, proximity search, and search filters.
• Avoid mistakes like repetitive searching, irrelevant keywords, and impersonal outreach.
• Note differences between LinkedIn vs Google like personalized results, freshness, and field search.

Mastering LinkedIn search is crucial for recruiting, networking, research, and showcasing your expertise. Use these advanced operator techniques to unlock the full potential of LinkedIn data.

With over 810 million members and 20+ million jobs, LinkedIn holds a vast trove of professional information – if you have the skills to tap into it. Use this guide as your LinkedIn search blueprint.