Google's boolean operators for searching Linkedin [Guide 2024]

Google is undeniably a powerhouse in the digital world, offering vast repositories of information at our fingertips. However, the true potential of Google's search capabilities is often underutilized. To harness this power effectively, one must understand the various search operators and techniques that refine and target searches.

Leverage Google's search operators to perform 'Google Dorking,' a technique for finding specific data on LinkedIn to elevate research precision. Google Dorking uses Boolean operators, which are the simplest yet powerful tools, allowing for intuitive and targeted searching.

Operators

Exact-Match Search “keyword”

‍This operator is invaluable for pinpointing precise phrases or terms. By enclosing a word or phrase in quotation marks, Google searches for the exact string of characters, in the same order. It’s perfect for locating specific information, like quotes or technical terms.

Domain-Specific Search site:

‍Use this to restrict search results to a particular domain or website. It's particularly useful for searching within sites that lack their own search function or when you trust information from a specific source. For instance, site:linkedin.com will only show results from Linkedin.‍

File Type Search filetype:

‍This operator is a godsend for finding specific types of files, such as PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, or CSV files. For example, searching climate change report filetype:pdf will return only PDF documents related to climate change reports.‍

Related Sites Search related:

‍Discovering websites similar to one you already know can be done effortlessly with this operator. For instance, related:linkedin.com will display news websites similar to Linkedin.

URL Keyword Search inurl:

This is excellent for finding pages that have specific words in their URLs, which can be indicative of the content’s focus. For example, inurl:blog will return pages that have "blog" in their URL.

Combining Terms OR & AND

OR broadens your search, allowing for results that include either of the specified terms. For example, cats OR dogs will show pages with either "cats" or "dogs".

AND narrows down the search, ensuring that results contain all the specified terms.

Grouping Terms ( )

‍Parentheses are used to group terms together, which can be particularly effective when used with OR and AND operators. For instance, (cats OR dogs) AND nutrition will return pages that must contain "nutrition" and either "cats" or "dogs".

Find almost anything with these Google Booleans Searches

Find public emails

{{keyword}} “@gmail.com”

Find public data list

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets {{keyword}}

Find public phone numbers on Linkedin

site:linkedin.com/in AND “Call me at” AND {{keyword}}

Find Quora questions with lots of views but few answers

site:quora.com {{keyword}} "1 answer" “k views"

Find guest post opportunities

{{keyword}} AND (“write for us" OR "guest post" OR “submit article”)

Find a person's social media profiles

site:facebook.com OR site:linkedin.com/in OR site:twitter.com {{personName}}

Find similar companies

related: {{domain}}

Discover competitor backlinks

link:competitor.com -site:competitor.com

Discover business partnership opportunities

{{keyword}} AND ("partners” OR “partner program” OR inurl: /partners/)