What each search type can filter
Not every search type can filter on everything. AI Search knows what the one you are using supports, uses a filter wherever there is one, and lists the rest under Not filterable so you can score leads on it instead.
This page is the reference for that. It is the page Not filterable and the Search profile point to.
The search types
| Search type | What you need | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn Classic | A connected LinkedIn account | The fewest filters, and no excludes |
| Sales Navigator | A connected Sales Navigator seat | The most filters, and excludes on most of them |
| Recruiter | A connected Recruiter seat | A different set, built for hiring |
| Ragworks Database | No LinkedIn account | A business dataset: company size and revenue, no excludes, no keywords |
AI Search decides the search type in step 3, Searching in: from your account, or the one you pick with Change. See how AI Search picks where to search and account types.
Filters
✓ the search type can filter it · exclude it also takes an exclude (values to leave out) · unverified the filter is in Ragworks but not in the provider's published reference, and could not be tested without a Recruiter seat · — not available.
| Filter | Classic | Sales Navigator | Recruiter | Ragworks Database |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keywords | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| First name | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Last name | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Industry | ✓ | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | ✓ |
| Location | ✓ | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | ✓ |
| Location (postal code) | — | ✓ · exclude | — | — |
| Profile language | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Network distance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Current company | ✓ | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | ✓ |
| Past company | ✓ | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | — |
| School | ✓ | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | — |
| Connections of | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Years of experience | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Groups | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Company headcount | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Company type | — | ✓ | ✓ · unverified | — |
| Company HQ location | — | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude · unverified | — |
| Years at current company | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Department / Function | — | ✓ · exclude | ✓ | ✓ |
| Job title | — | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | ✓ |
| Years in current position | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Seniority level | — | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude | ✓ |
| Past job title | — | ✓ · exclude | ✓ · exclude · unverified | — |
| Following your company | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Viewed your profile recently | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Viewed profile (interacted) | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Messaged (interacted) | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Posted on LinkedIn | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Mentioned in the news | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Changed jobs recently | — | ✓ | — | — |
| Past colleague | — | ✓ | ✓ · unverified | — |
| Shared experience | — | ✓ | ✓ · unverified | — |
| Location radius (miles) | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Projects | — | — | ✓ · exclude | — |
| Recruiting activity | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Notes | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Skills | — | — | ✓ · exclude | — |
| Degree | — | — | ✓ · exclude | — |
| Employment type | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Graduation year | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Spoken languages | — | — | ✓ · exclude | — |
| Hide previously viewed | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Recently joined LinkedIn | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Spotlights | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Military background | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Past applicants | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Advanced keywords | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Service categories | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Followers of | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Open to | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Company revenue | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Has an email address | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Has a phone number | — | — | — | ✓ |
A few of these have a different name on Ragworks Database: Job title is Job titles, Company headcount is Company size, Department / Function is Department, Industry is Industries and Location is Locations.
On Recruiter, Department / Function takes values to include only. Where a search type has no exclude for a filter, AI Search puts "exclude X" under Not filterable rather than ignoring it.
Yes/no signals
Signals are filters that are either on or off. In your Search profile each one shows the search types that can filter it.
| Signal | Sales Navigator | Recruiter | Ragworks Database |
|---|---|---|---|
| Following your company | ✓ | — | — |
| Viewed your profile recently | ✓ | — | — |
| Viewed profile (interacted) | ✓ | — | — |
| Messaged (interacted) | ✓ | — | — |
| Posted on LinkedIn | ✓ | — | — |
| Mentioned in the news | ✓ | — | — |
| Changed jobs recently | ✓ | — | — |
| Past colleague | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Shared experience | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Military background | — | ✓ | — |
| Past applicants | — | ✓ | — |
| Has an email address | — | — | ✓ |
| Has a phone number | — | — | ✓ |
Classic has no yes/no signals. A signal no search type can filter, such as "Hiring SDRs" or "Raised funding this year", is scored after saving.
Keywords
Keywords match words anywhere on a profile, so they only ever narrow the results. AI Search uses them only for what no filter can express, and marks them May narrow results.
| Search type | What you can write |
|---|---|
| Sales Navigator | One expression with AND, OR, NOT and parentheses |
| Recruiter | One expression. Recruiter documents AND and NOT. |
| Classic | Separate parts for title, company and school |
| Ragworks Database | No keywords |
Examples that work on Sales Navigator:
founder OR ceo
(founder OR ceo) NOT consultant
"head of sales" AND (founder OR ceo) NOT consultant
Operators must be uppercase. A lowercase or is searched as an ordinary word and widens nothing.
Excluding companies
Sales Navigator and Recruiter take excluded companies in the search itself, and Sales Navigator accepted at least 100 in testing. Classic and Ragworks Database have no excludes, so your never-include companies are removed by name after the search instead. This also covers names the provider could not match.
What happens to what a search type cannot filter
Whatever cannot be filtered is never dropped silently. It goes to Not filterable, and Score for this turns it into a scoring criterion when you save the list.
Typical cases:
- An exclude on Classic or Ragworks Database, such as "not agencies", because neither takes excludes.
- Company-level facts like the technology a company uses, annual revenue, headcount growth or open jobs. These exist only in Sales Navigator company search, not in people search.
- Soft signals, like "fast-growing" or "known for design", that no field captures.
Not offered
Some Sales Navigator options need an id from one account's saved objects, so AI Search does not set them: account lists, lead lists, saved leads and accounts, personas, and saved or recent searches. Use the filters above.