LinkedIn® search can be one of the most useful tools for finding the right people for your business, but only if you know what you are looking for. Instead of searching broadly and hoping you find potential clients, you can use LinkedIn search filters to identify people who match the clients, referral partners, and business relationships you actually want to build.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to use LinkedIn® search filters more intentionally, including what is available with free LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, how Boolean search can improve your results, and how to turn searching into a simple weekly business-development habit.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn® search works best when you understand your ideal client before you start searching.
- Combining job title, seniority, company size, industry, location, and other filters can help you narrow a large audience into a much more relevant group of people.
- Boolean search helps you account for the many different job titles people use for similar roles.
- Sales Navigator offers significantly more search filters than free LinkedIn and can be valuable when finding prospective clients is an important part of your business-development strategy.
- Finding the right person is only the first step. Your profile positioning and the way you approach the relationship determine whether someone has a reason to engage with you.
What LinkedIn® Search Filters Can You Use in 2026?
Many people start a LinkedIn search by typing a job title into the search bar and scrolling through the results.
You can do better than that.
Free LinkedIn accounts gives you several useful People search filters, including degree of connection, location, current and past company, school, industry, profile language, service categories, and keywords.
LinkedIn has also added AI-powered natural-language People search. Instead of relying only on dropdown filters, you can search conversationally using information such as a person’s role, title, company, or location. LinkedIn notes that more detailed queries often produce better results. If you prefer exact keyword matching, you can still use Boolean search.
See LinkedIn’s current People search guidance.
For simple searches, free LinkedIn may give you everything you need.
Sales Navigator takes search much further.
LinkedIn currently says Sales Navigator provides more than 50 advanced search filters. Depending on your Sales Navigator plan, these can include current and past company, company headcount, company type, current job title, function, seniority level, years in a position, geography, industry, recent job changes, recent LinkedIn activity, mutual connections, people following your company, people who viewed your profile, and buyer-intent signals.
Explore LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator advanced search filters
The original resource I included on LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters also provides a practitioner-level overview of using these filters for lead generation.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters for lead generation.
The important question is not, “How many filters can I use?”
It is, “Which filters will help me find the people who actually make sense for my business?”
Which LinkedIn Filters Matter Most for Finding Potential Clients?
Before you build a search, get clear about your ideal client.
Ask yourself:
Who do I want to meet?
What types of companies do they work for?
What roles or responsibilities do they have?
What level of seniority usually has influence over the problem I solve?
Does geography matter?
Does company size matter?
Which industries are the best fit?
The clearer you are about those answers, the more useful LinkedIn search becomes. Searching by job title alone is rarely enough because companies use different titles for similar responsibilities.
One company might have a Chief Marketing Officer.
Another has a VP of Marketing.
Another uses Head of Marketing.
If you search only for “CMO,” you may miss people who fit your ideal client profile simply because their company uses a different title.
This is why I like combining title keywords with other criteria such as seniority, company size, industry, and geography.
Sales Navigator lets you layer those criteria much more precisely. LinkedIn currently includes Current Job Title, Seniority Level, Company Headcount, Industry, Geography, Years in Current Position, and other filters specifically designed to refine lead searches.
Instead of searching for everyone who could potentially buy from you, narrow your search to people who have a genuine reason to be relevant to your business.
How Does Boolean Search Improve LinkedIn Results?
Boolean search sounds much more technical than it is.
Think of it as a way to tell LinkedIn:
Show me this OR this.
Show me this AND this.
Do not show me this.
LinkedIn officially supports AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks for exact phrases, and parentheses for grouping search terms. LinkedIn requires AND, OR, and NOT to be capitalized.
LinkedIn’s official guide to Boolean search.
For example, if you want to find senior marketing leaders, you might use:
(“VP of Marketing” OR “Vice President Marketing” OR “Head of Marketing” OR CMO OR “Chief Marketing Officer”)
If you are looking for IT leaders, you might try:
(“Head of IT” OR “IT Director” OR “Director of IT” OR CIO OR “Chief Information Officer” OR CTO)
Then use LinkedIn’s available filters to narrow the results further by location, industry, company, degree of connection, or other criteria that match your ideal client. Below you see the string in the search bar and filtered by ‘people’.
The Boolean search helps you account for different job titles people may use for similar roles.
The filters help you narrow those results to the people who are most relevant to your business.
The advantage is simple.
You are accounting for title variations rather than assuming everyone describes their job the same way.
I would then combine that Boolean search with other filters such as geography, seniority, industry, and company headcount.
The existing resource on Boolean search strings provides another explanation and additional examples:
How Should You Combine LinkedIn® Search Filters?
I recommend starting with a small group of filters rather than turning on everything at once.
For a B2B search, your basic combination might include:
- Current job title or Boolean title search
- Seniority level
- Company headcount
- Industry
- Geography
Then adjust based on your ideal client.
For example, if you work with marketing leaders at midsize companies, you might search for variations of CMO, VP of Marketing, or Head of Marketing and combine those titles with the company size and geography that best fit your business.
If your ideal clients are owners of professional-services companies, your title search might include Owner, Founder, Managing Partner, Principal, or President.
If you work with HR leaders, you might search for variations of Chief People Officer, VP of Human Resources, Head of People, or HR Director.
Do not assume my examples are your search criteria.
Your filters should reflect your actual ideal client.
This is also why I pay attention to 2nd-degree connections.
I would not claim that a 2nd-degree connection automatically becomes a better lead. What I like about 2nd-degree connections is context. You share someone in common.
That may give you a natural point of reference, an opportunity to ask for an introduction, or simply more information about how your professional worlds overlap.
That is much more useful to me than treating every search result as a stranger to pitch.
Which Sales Navigator Filters Can Help You Find Timely Opportunities?
Once you have your basic search working, Sales Navigator gives you some interesting ways to add context.
Two filters I particularly like are:
- Changed jobs in the last 90 days
- Posted on LinkedIn in the last 30 days
LinkedIn lists both as Sales Navigator recent-update filters. LinkedIn says the recent-post filter helps identify active members who may be more likely to interact, while the job-change filter identifies people who have recently moved into new roles.
I would use these signals differently than a traditional cold-outreach strategy.
If someone has recently changed jobs, learn what changed.
What is their new responsibility?
What are they talking about
What appears to matter to them?
If someone posted recently, read the post before you contact them.
Can you leave a thoughtful comment?
Did they share an idea that gives you a genuine reason to start a conversation?
That is much more aligned with how I believe relationships should begin on LinkedIn.
A search filter gives you information.
It should not become an excuse for a sales pitch.
How Do Saved Searches Work in LinkedIn Sales Navigator?
One of my favorite parts of Sales Navigator is the ability to turn a good search into a repeatable process.
Once you build a lead or account search using the criteria that matter to you, you can save it.
LinkedIn currently allows Sales Navigator users to save up to 50 lead searches and 50 account searches. Saved searches can be run again at any time, and LinkedIn provides weekly emails and Sales Navigator alerts when new people or companies match your criteria.
Learn how LinkedIn Sales Navigator saved searches work.
This is useful because you do not have to rebuild the same search every week.
Think about that from a business-development perspective. Instead of sitting down and asking, “Who should I look for today?” You already have searches designed around the people who matter to your business.
LinkedIn does some of the monitoring for you. You still need to decide whether the people in those results are actually relevant.
How Can You Create a Simple Weekly LinkedIn Prospecting Routine?
I do not recommend building giant lists of names you will never do anything with. Don’t be a name collector!
Keep this manageable.
I would use a simple four-step weekly routine.
- Review your core searches.
Start with searches built around the ideal clients, referral partners, or other people you want to know. If you use Sales Navigator, add a relevant recent-activity filter when it makes sense. If you don’t use sales navigator, use your CRM or a simple spread sheet. These steps are doable whatever tools you are using. - Look at the people, not just the search results.
Review profiles.
Read their About sections.
Look at recent activity.
Notice shared connections.
Ask yourself whether there is a genuine reason for this person to be in your network. - Decide how you should engage.
A connection request is not always the first move.
Perhaps the person recently published something worth commenting on.
Maybe you have a mutual connection.
Maybe you met at an event.
Maybe you share an industry or professional interest.
Choose the action that makes sense based on the context. - Follow through.
If someone accepts your connection request, responds to your comment, or starts a conversation, pay attention.
Do not immediately turn the interaction into a pitch.
Business development works better when you actually develop the relationship.
The B2B lead generation resource included in the original article provides additional prospecting ideas if lead generation is a significant part of your role.
Additional B2B lead generation tactics
The goal is not a huge cold list. The goal is a small, relevant group of people you can thoughtfully get to know over time.
What Happens After Someone Finds You?
This is the part of LinkedIn search that does not get enough attention.
You find someone who looks like a good fit. You interact with their content or send a connection request. What might they do next?
They look at you.
Your search strategy brought you to them.
Your LinkedIn profile now has to explain why they should pay attention to you.
This is where many prospecting strategies quietly break down.
If your headline is unclear, your About section reads like a résumé, or your profile does not quickly explain who you work with and the value you provide, the person you worked so hard to find may have no idea why connecting with you makes sense.
I have written before about profiles being written for the wrong audience.
Read: Profile Optimization for Business Owners: 5 Changes That Build Credibility Fast
Your profile should not simply document your career history. It should help the right visitor understand your relevance.
Why Do Search Strategy and Profile Positioning Need to Work Together?
This is where I believe the other half of LinkedIn prospecting begins.
Search can help you find the right people, but it cannot control what they think when they land on your profile.
I work with business owners, consultants, and professionals to make sure their positioning clearly communicates who they are, what they know, and why the right person should pay attention.
My approach has always been relationship-first.
The goal is not simply to find more prospects.
It is to create enough relevance, credibility, and trust that the right people have a reason to engage with you.
You can have the best search strategy in the world, but if your profile does not support the business relationship you are trying to build, something is missing.
The reverse is also true.
A strong profile does not help much if you are waiting for the right people to magically find you.
You need both.
Search helps you identify the right people.
Positioning helps those people understand you.
Engagement begins building familiarity.
Conversation begins building the relationship.
That is the system!
What Is the Most Important Thing to Remember About LinkedIn® Search Filters for Leads?
LinkedIn search filters can make finding the right people much easier. Sales Navigator can take that precision much further.
But filters do not create relationships.
People do.
Use search to become more intentional about who you want in your professional world.
Use filters to reduce the noise.
Use Boolean search to improve the quality of your results.
Use saved searches to make the process repeatable. Then slow down. Look at the person. Understand why they might be relevant. Find a natural reason to engage.
And make sure that when they look back at you, your profile clearly answers the question they are likely asking:
Why should I know this person?
If you are finding the right people on LinkedIn but are not getting the engagement or opportunities you expected, your search may not be the problem.
Your positioning may be the next place to look.
If you'd like to explore whether your LinkedIn profile is positioned to attract the people and opportunities you want, contact me at joanne@joannefunch.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most useful filters depend on your ideal client, but a strong starting point is job title, seniority level, company size, industry, and location. On Sales Navigator, you can add filters such as recent job changes, recent posting activity, and mutual connections to make your search more relevant.
Sales Navigator can be valuable if finding and building relationships with potential clients is an important part of your business-development strategy. It gives you access to more advanced filters, saved searches, alerts, and additional ways to narrow your results. If you only do occasional searches, free LinkedIn may be enough.
Start by looking for context before you reach out. Review the person’s profile, recent activity, and shared connections. Then choose a natural way to engage, such as commenting on a post or sending a relevant connection request. Finding the right person is only the first step. Your profile positioning and the quality of the conversation determine whether the relationship moves forward.
