What is Linkedin X-Ray Search and How to Use LinkedIn X-Ray Search?

Scrolling through the endless LinkedIn profiles and still couldn’t find the one you are searching for. This is a common issue faced by recruiters and job seekers alike. Searching on LinkedIn is like fishing in a huge ocean with a small net; there are plenty, but you can only catch a few at a time. This is where LinkedIn X-ray search helps.

LinkedIn X-ray search is a searching technique beyond LinkedIn’s limits, using search engines like Google. It is called X-ray search as it allows you to see publicly available LinkedIn profiles without relying on LinkedIn’s internal search.

Here in this article, we will be discussing what LinkedIn X-ray search is and how to use it. 

What is LinkedIn X-ray Search?

When you search for a specific LinkedIn profile by typing the right job title, company, and location, sometimes the results end too soon without showing the profile you are searching for. Some profiles don’t show up, and some are locked. At this point, you may be asked to upgrade or connect. How to search smartly and efficiently without this? That’s when LinkedIn X-ray search is helpful. Free LinkedIn accounts are limited to about 300 searches per month and 1,000 results per search, making X-ray search essential for broader access. Recruiters can scan over 500 million public profiles via Google without logging in. In 2025, LinkedIn had around 1 billion members, with 20.7% of adults aged 18+ worldwide on the platform.

LinkedIn X-ray search searches LinkedIn public profiles without using LinkedIn’s internal search, but using search engines like Google.

Why use LinkedIn X-ray Search?

It shows more profiles than a normal LinkedIn search : 

LinkedIn does not show every profile; many are hidden as they are outside your network, search limits, and restricted visibility for free users. 

LinkedIn x-ray search does not have internal restrictions, as it uses Google to scan profiles.

No LinkedIn Premium is required : 

For unlocking more search results and filters, LinkedIn suggests an upgraded paid plan, which may be expensive for small teams and freelancers. LinkedIn x-ray search offers a cost-effective solution as it does not depend on LinkedIn filters, and Google does the searching.

Useful for finding niche or hard-to-find profiles : 

As X-ray search scans profile texts instead of just using filters, those profiles that are not easily found in LinkedIn, like profiles with uncommon job titles, profiles belonging to niche industries, and profiles that are not optimized, can be found much more easily.

Saves time : 

Instead of scrolling through irrelevant profiles and adjusting filters again and again in a normal LinkedIn search, the Xray search is faster and gives you direct and targeted results.

How does LinkedIn X-ray Search work?

With the advent of LinkedIn’s X-Ray search, search engines like Google can be utilized to search for public LinkedIn profiles. As LinkedIn is an open system and not a closed platform, Google’s ability to fetch the data from publicly-visible LinkedIn profiles makes them accessible to Google through x-ray search.

Several professionals make their LinkedIn profiles public so that potential employers, customers, and collaborators can find them. An established LinkedIn profile will :

• Allow anyone to view it without signing in to LinkedIn
• Be assigned a unique web address
• Be indexed by search engines 
• Be crawled by Google multiple times a day and is stored in Google’s database.

Instead of directly searching inside LinkedIn, users type commands in the search bar of search engines. Commands like site:linkedin.com/in, quotation marks, and specific keywords such as job titles, companies, or locations. Google then scans its index of public LinkedIn profiles and returns relevant matches. In fact, recruiters can scan over 500 million public LinkedIn profiles through Google without logging in, which explains why X-Ray search has become such a powerful sourcing method.

How to use LinkedIn X-ray Search?

LinkedIn x-ray search does not require any special tools or paid accounts. All that is required is Google or any other search engine.

1. Use the command site:linkedin.com/in, which works like a message to Google telling it to search LinkedIn profile pages only. This command shows profile pages only; it removes blog posts, company pages, and job listings from search results.
2. If you are looking for a specific job title, put it inside the quotes.
3. To get more targeted results, add the skills or technologies inside quotes. Profiles that mention these skills and technologies will appear.
4. For location-based searches, add city, state, or country name inside quotes. This helps in filtering profiles based on their location and is useful in local hiring, city-specific networking, and regional sales.
5. Use “OR” to separate different titles of similar roles, with titles being inside quotes.
6. Use a minus(-) sign to remove unwanted and irrelevant results.

site:linkedin.com/in “seo analyst” -jobs. This command will show profiles of seo analysts, and will exclude jobs and career pages related to it.

Purpose	Example
Filter only LinkedIn profiles	site:linkedin.com/in
Search for a specific job title	site:linkedin.com/in “Web Developer” “Calicut.”
Search for job role and company	site:linkedin.com/in “HR Manager” “Acodez IT Solutions”
Search for job role and location	site:linkedin.com/in “SEO Analyst” OR “Digital Marketer.”
Search multiple job titles	site:linkedin.com/in “HR Manager” “Acodez IT Solutions.”
Remove unwanted results	site:linkedin.com/in “SEO Analyst” -jobs

Tips for efficient X-ray search : 

• Include a few keywords at a time
• Use quotation marks carefully
• Try multiple job title variations
• Search at different times

Who should use LinkedIn X-ray Search?

LinkedIn x-ray search is not just used by recruiters and job seekers. Even though they continue to be one of the biggest users of X-ray search, X-ray search is not just limited to them. X-ray search is and can be used by anyone who wants to find the right profiles on LinkedIn much more efficiently. The major users who benefit from LinkedIn X-ray search include : 

• HR Professionals and Recruiters : 

Recruiters benefit most from X-ray search, as it helps to find many public profiles that were not visible directly on LinkedIn due to profile view limits, locked profiles, and paid subscription prompts. Using an X-ray search allows them to : 

• Find passive candidates who are not actively applying for jobs
• Can search based on skills and location
• Can find profiles that may not be visible in LinkedIn’s internal search

• Job Seekers :

For job seekers, X-ray search helps as a research tool for job hunting. LinkedIn x-ray search helps job seekers in : 

• Finding professionals working in their target companies and can network with them
• Finding skills listed by people working in roles they want to move to
• Learning skills and experience of professionals working in their target company

• Freelancers and Consultants : 

Freelancers and consultants work closely with marketing heads, business owners, and decision makers. X-ray search is a smart method to find public profiles they are looking for, which might not easily appear with regular LinkedIn searches, saving time and effort. This helps freelancers to : 

• Find people based on their role and company type
• Identify potential clients from different industries
• Build a targeted outreach list

• Sales and Business Development Professionals : 

Sales and business development professionals use LinkedIn x-ray search to find the right contacts instead of random outreach. It allows them to : 

• Connect to managers, leads, and founders
• Filter by industry, region,n, and role
• Create lead lists without paid tools

LinkedIn X-Ray Search in 2026

In 2026, the usefulness of LinkedIn x-ray search has been reduced in comparison to previous years. Before, many of the information fields that were available on LinkedIn profiles, such as job titles, skills, and experience, were easily displayed on Google and other search engines. Recently, LinkedIn has made a considerable reduction to the amount of profile information that can be displayed via search engines, reducing the amount of available X-Ray Search results. Essentially, Google can no longer “see” LinkedIn profiles nearly as well as it did in the past.

• What has changed?
• X-ray search results may feel incomplete in 2026 as ;
• Many LinkedIn profiles now show limited information in Google search results
• Some profiles may redirect you to the LinkedIn login
• Skills, experience, and full job history may not appear

Is LinkedIn X-Ray Search still useful?

The answer is yes.

While it’s no longer a standalone solution for sourcing candidates, X-ray search still plays a supporting role. It works best when combined with LinkedIn’s internal search tools, which continue to evolve. This is especially important because Sales Navigator’s accuracy is estimated at around 33%, and X-ray search can help fill some of those gaps by pulling publicly available profile data directly from search engine indexes.

Ethical Concerns regarding LinkedIn X-ray Search

While LinkedIn X-ray search is legal, there are some ethical considerations you should be aware of :

Respecting Privacy

LinkedIn profiles of individuals contain their personal and professional information. This information must be dealt with care by respecting their privacy. Misusing information on their profile, tracking them without any purpose, and collecting data in bulk are considered unethical.

Avoiding Unwanted Outreach  

Sending generic messages without context, relevance, and personalization to many people in the name of outreach is unprofessional and unethical. Contact people when there is a genuine reason and tailor the message accordingly.

Following LinkedIn’s terms of use 

Manual X-ray search is allowed by LinkedIn. But using automation tools and scraping software for X-ray search and using profile information for unauthorized purposes violates LinkedIn’s policy.

Transparency in Professional Intent

When you reach out to people, always be honest with your identity and your intent.

Use X-ray search as a support tool

Use X-ray search to support hiring, job hunting, and networking. It should not be used to collect information about individuals without consent.

Conclusion

LinkedIn x-ray search is an efficient tool for discovering publicly available LinkedIn profiles through a web browser’s search engine, such as Google, if you otherwise feel limited by what you find when using LinkedIn’s internal search engine.

However, due to recent changes made in 2026, LinkedIn’s current level of access for web browser-based searches (including X-ray searches) has been reduced. This means that you may receive lower amounts of data from a LinkedIn x-ray search than you otherwise would; thus, you may see lower amounts of complete profile information returned on your x-ray searches.

So today, x-ray searches on LinkedIn should not be the primary tool to find potential job candidates on LinkedIn, but should only be used as a supporting tool to LinkedIn’s social networking capability and to perform ethical outreach for jobs and outreach purposes.

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