LinkedIn API Search by Keyword: Find Professionals Programmatically

Searching for professionals on LinkedIn programmatically has traditionally required complex OAuth authentication and approval processes. Our Fresh LinkedIn Scraper API on RapidAPI solves this challenge by providing a simple endpoint to search LinkedIn profiles by keyword without authentication barriers.

Table of Contents

• How LinkedIn API Search Works
• Making Your First API Call
• Understanding the Response
• Advanced Search Options
• Use Cases
• Getting Started
• FAQ

How LinkedIn API Search Works

The people search endpoint allows you to programmatically find LinkedIn profiles using keywords, similar to LinkedIn's own search functionality. The API returns structured data about professionals matching your search criteria, including their names, titles, locations, and profile URLs.

Unlike LinkedIn's official API, our solution:

• Requires no OAuth authentication
• Needs no application approval process
• Has no complex implementation requirements
• Provides immediate access through RapidAPI

Making Your First API Call

Here's how to search for LinkedIn profiles using the API:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/search/people \
  --header 'x-rapidapi-key: YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY' \
  --header 'x-rapidapi-host: fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com' \
  --url-query 'name=John'

For JavaScript users:

const axios = require("axios");

const options = {
  method: "GET",
  url: "https://fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/search/people",
  params: {
    name: "John",
    page: 1,
  },
  headers: {
    "x-rapidapi-key": "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY",
    "x-rapidapi-host": "fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com",
  },
};

async function searchLinkedIn() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.request(options);
    console.log(response.data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
}

searchLinkedIn();

Python example:

import requests

url = "https://fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/search/people"

querystring = {"name":"John","page":"1"}

headers = {
    "x-rapidapi-key": "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY",
    "x-rapidapi-host": "fresh-linkedin-scraper-api.p.rapidapi.com"
}

response = requests.request("GET", url, headers=headers, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Understanding the Response

The API returns a JSON response with detailed information about matching profiles. Here's a sample response structure:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "success",
  "process_time": 884,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "478387397",
      "urn": "ACoAAByDnMUBr75NmvcrLQrNyMolO141Kg7TD_I",
      "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-heyer-685264114",
      "public_identifier": "john-heyer-685264114",
      "full_name": "John Heyer",
      "title": "ML @ depthfirst | ex Scale / Amazon / MIT",
      "location": "Boston, MA",
      "is_premium": false,
      "avatar": [
        {
          "width": 100,
          "height": 100,
          "url": "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E03AQE8eMECAnAnsQ/profile-displayphoto-shrink_100_100/B4EZZzcHPtHQAU-/0/1745693473268?e=1752105600&v=beta&t=HqBFLGFBqPhhxdOy3onmu2SWKID67f968T3eCDeCR0Y",
          "expires_at": 1752105600000
        }
      ],
      "services": []
    }
    // Additional profiles...
  ],
  "cost": 1,
  "page": 1,
  "total": 2173900,
  "has_more": true
}

Key response fields:

Field	Description
success	Boolean indicating if the request was successful
cost	Cost of the request (typically 1 credit per request)
total	Total number of results available
has_more	Boolean indicating if there are more pages of results
data	Array of LinkedIn profile objects
id	LinkedIn profile ID
urn	Unique resource identifier for the profile
url	Direct link to the LinkedIn profile
public_identifier	Profile username in URL
full_name	Person's full name
title	Professional headline
location	Geographic location
is_premium	Whether the profile has LinkedIn Premium
avatar	Profile picture details

Advanced Search Options

The API supports various search parameters to refine your results:

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
name	string	Search keyword for people	"John"
page	integer	Page number for pagination (default: 1)	1
geocode_location	string	Geographical code for location-based search	"103644278"
current_company	string	Current company ID	"1441"
past_company	string	Past company ID	"1441"
profile_language	string	Profile language	"en"
industry	string	Industry ID	"4"
service_category	string	Service category ID	"602"

Using multiple parameters together helps narrow down your search to find exactly the profiles you're looking for. For example, you could search for people named "John" who currently work at Microsoft and are located in Seattle.

Use Cases

This API enables numerous applications:

1. Talent Acquisition

   • Sourcing candidates with specific skills
   • Building talent pipelines for technical roles
   • Finding professionals with targeted experience

2. Sales Prospecting

   • Identifying potential clients by job title
   • Building industry-specific lead lists
   • Finding decision-makers at target companies

3. Market Research

   • Analyzing professional distribution by keyword
   • Tracking talent migration trends
   • Conducting competitive intelligence

4. Networking

   • Finding professionals with complementary skills
   • Building targeted connection lists
   • Identifying industry experts and thought leaders

Getting Started

To start using the LinkedIn API Search functionality:

1. Sign up on RapidAPI (no credit card required)
2. Subscribe to the Fresh LinkedIn Scraper API free tier
3. Get your API key from the RapidAPI dashboard
4. Make your first API call using the examples above

The free plan includes:

• 50 requests per month
• Rate limit: 1000 requests per hour
• Access to all endpoints including people search

Get Started with Fresh LinkedIn Scraper API Now →

FAQ

How accurate are the search results? The API returns results similar to what you would see when searching on LinkedIn directly, with matching based on keywords in profiles.

Where do I find the IDs for parameters like industry, company, or location? These IDs can be found in LinkedIn URLs when you perform searches or view profiles on the LinkedIn website. For example, company IDs appear in company profile URLs.

Can I search for connections of a specific profile? No, the API currently only supports keyword-based people search across the entire LinkedIn platform.

Does this API access private profile information? No, the API only accesses publicly available information that is visible to any LinkedIn user.

How can I get more specific results? Use multiple parameters together (name, location, company, etc.) to narrow your search results to more relevant profiles.

What happens if my search returns no results? The API will return an empty data array but still indicate success. Try broadening your search terms or removing some filters.

Is there a limit to how many profiles I can retrieve? Yes, results are paginated. Use the page parameter to navigate through all available results.