LinkedIn, with its expansive network of over 875 million active users, serves as a treasure for B2B data and potential leads. This platform offers a wealth of information, making it a prime resource for those in the business of lead generation and market research.
There are times, however, when you might want to explore LinkedIn profiles discreetly. Perhaps to gather insights or check out potential connections without alerting the individuals that you’ve viewed their profiles.
This could be especially useful if you’ve hit the viewing limit imposed by LinkedIn or if you prefer to maintain a low profile during your preliminary research.
In this article, we’ll look for effective strategies for accessing LinkedIn information anonymously.
Whether you’re a recruiter, marketer, or job seeker, understanding how to navigate LinkedIn without logging in can provide you with the competitive edge you need. So, let’s get started on uncovering the secrets to stealthy LinkedIn searches.
Search LinkedIn in Incognito Mode in Your Browser
When it comes to discreetly browsing online, Google Chrome’s incognito mode is a powerful tool. This feature is particularly useful for viewing LinkedIn profiles anonymously, ensuring that your visit remains unlogged and your identity is hidden from the profile owners.
1. Open Incognito Mode: Launch your browser and open an incognito window. This can usually be done by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows or Cmd+Shift+N on macOS. In incognito mode, the browser doesn’t save your browsing history, cookies, site data, or information entered in forms.
2. Use the Site Search Operator: In the incognito window, use the site: search operator to target LinkedIn profiles. For example, if you’re searching for someone named Divanshu Khatter, you would enter:
site:linkedin.com “Divanshu Khatter”
This directs Google to restrict the search results to the LinkedIn domain and look specifically for the name provided.
3. Add More Specifics if Needed: If you are looking for someone who has a common name or you’re not getting the desired results, you can refine your search by adding more specifics like a job title, location, or the company they work for:
site:linkedin.com “Divanshu Khatter” “SEO Manager” “Jaipur”
Since my name was not common and therefore we didn’t use the job title and the location earlier, however, there will be instances when you will be faced with common names, and in that case, you can distinguish with location, job title, and company name.
4. Review the Results: Browse through the search results and click on the most relevant link. Since you are in incognito mode, LinkedIn won’t track this visit, and the person whose profile you view won’t receive a notification of your visit.
Using incognito mode in combination with specific Google search techniques allows you to maintain your privacy while efficiently finding the LinkedIn profiles you need.
Search LinkedIn by Using LinkedIn’s Platform and Your Account
You can browse anonymously using your account on LinkedIn. The notification that is sent to the profile you visited depends upon the setting you have.
Let’s see how you can view what profile settings you currently have and how you can change them.
1. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Go to settings and privacy settings under the “Me” tab on the top right.
3. Under the “Me” tab, find “settings & privacy” options.
4. After this, you will see an option “Visibility” on the left-hand side box. It is the third option from the top. Please see the screenshot.
5. After clicking on this option (Visibility) on the right-hand side click “Profile Viewing Option”.
This option lets you decide what the other person’s notification would be when you land on their LinkedIn profile.
You get these options for this setting.
The first option is as it is the headline and your name. So when this option is check marked and you are looking at the profile of someone. They will be notified about the same with your name and headline.
The second option is “private profile characteristics”.
In this option, you give certain information about you but not all. This is still not viewing someone’s LinkedIn profile anonymously.
The third option is the “Private mode”, this mode makes you a detective.
Now with this option, you can view anybody’s profile and the notification they will get is “Anonymous LinkedIn Member”.
Understanding the Limitations of Incognito Mode and LinkedIn Privacy Settings
While both incognito mode and adjusting your LinkedIn privacy settings offer ways to browse profiles anonymously, they come with certain limitations that may affect the efficiency and scope of your research on the platform.
Limitations of Using Incognito Mode
1. Limited Access to Detailed Profile Information: While incognito mode ensures your browsing history and site visits remain untracked, it also means you must operate without logging into your LinkedIn account. This restriction primarily impacts your ability to view full profile details and extended LinkedIn search functionalities, which are often crucial for in-depth research or lead generation.
2. Inefficiency for Bulk Searches: Using incognito mode for anonymous browsing is predominantly a manual process. This becomes impractical and time-consuming if you need to browse a large number of profiles. Each search must be conducted individually, limiting the method’s scalability and efficiency for extensive research or lead-generation activities.
Limitations of Changing LinkedIn Privacy Settings
Restricted Visibility Feedback: While activating private mode ensures your browsing activity remains anonymous, it also means you won’t receive information on who has viewed your profile. This could limit insights into potential reciprocal interest from other professionals.
Potential for Suspicion: Regular use of private mode, especially in professional contexts, may arouse suspicion among other LinkedIn users. Being consistently anonymous can be perceived as overly secretive, potentially affecting how your professional persona is perceived.
Search LinkedIn Without Logging In via EnrichmentAPI
EnrichmentAPI is a data enrichment tool, that helps you to get all the data any LinkedIn profile has. The API works on the backend and retrieves the data without logging into your account or any LinkedIn account.
We have a dedicated API that works on this principle only and will get you the data of the profile you requested.
Here’s the data you get for my profile from Person Enrichment API: –
{
"fullName": "Divanshu Khatter",
"first_name": "Divanshu",
"last_name": "Khatter",
"uid": 1270,
"email": [],
"public_identifier": "divanshu-khatter-20a7a711a",
"linkedin_id": "divanshu-khatter-20a7a711a",
"background_cover_image_url": "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E16AQGziU5mq9tnrQ/profile-displaybackgroundimage-shrink_200_800/0/1636717752957?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=-QPlj-4L0GmNVCZXAtMagVZt-1XBp97AA27z9kZ7_J4",
"profile_photo": "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E03AQHbitjNgEz3Fw/profile-displayphoto-shrink_800_800/0/1636715488181?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=9RHccq1BQfVMozVltVVQLo_WrT-840VXCCtvHunwBH4",
"headline": "I E-A-T Rankings for Breakfast | SEO & Content Manager",
"location": "Jaipur, Rajasthan, India",
"followers": "943 followers",
"connections": "500+ connections",
"card_title": "",
"card_subtitle": "",
"about": "Intuitive Digital Marketing specialist, adept at increasing revenue and profits through diligent research and efficient resource allocation.Having worked with SaaS, Fantasy Sports & Educom domain, I have had the opportunity to handle different domain clients. Skilled at maximizing profits while working within a limited marketing budget. My Skills-------------Strategic Planning-Search Engine Optimization-Keyword Research -Keyword Optimization-Funnel Creation-Technical Website Audit-Local SEO-Social media marketing: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.-Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.-Keen eye for effective digital marketing collaterals-Ahrefs, semrush, kwfinder, Hotjar, google search console, ubersuggest, Mozbar, Similar web, Grammarly, Small seo tools, brokenlinkchecker, bitly, VidIq, Answerthepublic, Canva.",
"articles": [...
There is more data though, however, you will get the idea.
To get data from bulk profiles you need to use your API-KEY, which you will find in the dashboard.
I will go through the Person Enrichment API to give you a brief on how this tool works. Sign up for enrichment API, you get free 100 credits to test all the APIs.
After successfully signing up you will land on the dashboard of enrichmentapi.
Go to Person Lookup on the left-hand side of the dashboard.
Here, you need to enter the LinkedIn ID for which you want to get the data. For the sake of this blog, we are using my LinkedIn ID which is “https://www.linkedin.com/in/divanshu-khatter-20a7a711a/”
Pasting it in the tool, we get the following data.
This way you can search LinkedIn without even logging in. You can do this for thousands of profiles by using your API_KEY in the dashboard.
All the data points we get are from LinkedIn and Google.
If you liked reading this, please share it. And if you have a specific data enrichment need, just say “Hi” to us in the chat. We’re here to help!
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