Advanced Search Operators for Bing and Google (Guide and Cheat Sheet)

When you search on Google or Bing, do you find exactly what you’re looking for the first time? Probably not.

Enter advanced search operators. These commands help you extract everything the search engine knows about a specific subject – and efficiently.

These tricks of the trade can definitely save you time, especially if you’re doing any kind of competitor analysis or SEO research.

Soon you’ll be searching like a pro as you learn:

• What are search engine operators?
• Why should I use a search operator?
• How do I use advanced search operators?
• Bing and Google search operator documentation
• Search operators used in SEO research
• List of advanced search operators (your cheat sheet)
• FAQ: How can I use Advanced Search Operators to extract precise information from search engines?

What Are Search Engine Operators?

Search operators are commands that use special characters along with a query to make the search engine results more specific. Essentially, they work like filters that you can customize as needed.

To use a search operator, add the command into the search box and search as you normally would. The results are entirely different from the average search.

Why Should I Use a Search Operator?

SEOs routinely use search operators to filter results from a search engine. These advanced search skills let you easily:

• Locate something specific online
• Research a site you’re optimizing
• Investigate the competitive field

When you get comfortable with a few of these commands, you can find what you’re looking for much faster.

How Do I Use Advanced Search Operators?

Enter search operators in the search bar along with your regular query, but with some modifications.

A search operator typically has:

• A prefix: Something that comes before the search query
• An addition: Something that is appended to the search query and contains special characters

For example, you can use the cache: prefix in front of the query, or you can use the OR command in between two words in a query.

In many instances – but not all – you want to ensure you do not put a space between the search operator character and the query.

So if you were using the site: command you would want it to look like this:

site:bruceclay.com page experience update

And not like this:

site: bruceclay.com page experience update

OK, all this information is helpful … but how about some examples?

Example 1: Quotation Marks

Quotation marks (“) help you to match an exact phrase. So searching for “advanced search tips” as an example (with the quotes) finds only pages that contain those words used as a phrase.

Example 2: Site Search

The site: command filters your search results to just one website. In other words: You are searching only one domain for the information you need.

Start with the command, which is site: then add the domain name you want to search and finally the topic you want to search the domain for.

In the example below, site: tells the search engine you want to browse a particular domain–bruceclay.com–and siloing is the topic you are interested in finding.

Your results would look something like the screenshot below. Google found 362 pages about siloing on BruceClay.com:

Example 3: Combining Search Operators

You can combine search operators to refine results even further. For example, you can combine site search with quotation marks to search for a longer phrase within a particular website.

This search found 157 pages. Without the quotation marks, the query would return way too many results. For instance, the search engine would find pages about “voice” or “search” — so nearly all the pages on our site.

Bing and Google Search Operator Documentation

Each search engine has its own set of advanced search operators. Here’s the official documentation from the two major search engines for your reference:

• Google search operators
• Bing advanced search keywords
• Bing advanced search options

Search Operators Used in SEO Research

Here are seven ways to use the search commands for SEO research:

1. Analyze the competition
2. Find information about a specific page or site
3. Discover indexing problems
4. Help with site maintenance
5. Further refine results
6. Find social profiles
7. Find potential internal links

In the examples below, the search query is in bold.

1. Analyze the Competition

related:bruceclay.com
The related: operator gives you a glimpse of competitor content. You’ll see a small selection of what Google considers to be similar. Then you can analyze their SEO metrics — including word count, keyword use, meta data and inbound links — so that you can make your page equal to and then better than the competition.

allintitle:seo blog
This query brings up webpages that have both “SEO” and “blog” in their metadata title. We could use this to find competing blogs to our own. The search operators allintitle: and intitle: let you find pages using your keywords in title tags.

Similarly, the commands allinurl: and inurl: let you identify competitors that use keywords in URLs. (Note that as of this writing, the intitle: command works in both Google and Bing searches, but allintitle:, allinurl: and inurl: work only in Google.)

cache:https://www.bruceclay.com/seo/
The cache: command shows you a search engine’s cached version of a page. It’s a way to check how the search engine actually sees your page. Cache shows what page content the search engine considers relevant to retrieve, making this Google search operator a valuable SEO diagnostic tool.

2. Find Information About a Specific Page or Site

info:competitorsite.com
Using the info: command in Bing gives you results that seem like a collection of these advanced search operators. It’s a one-stop shop to access a variety of onsite and offsite results about a website. Note: Google deprecated the info: operator in 2017.

3. Discover Indexing Problems

site:yourdomain.com
A site: command shows how many pages the search engine has indexed. Though the total number of results is only an approximation, it is a quick way to find out if you have an indexing problem — either too few or too many pages in the index.

site:yourdomain.com/blog/*
Specify a particular subfolder of your site to see how many pages it contains. For instance, adding the wildcard * finds all pages under the /blog/.

4. Help with Site Maintenance

site:yourdomain.com contains:pdf
The contains: Bing search operator gives you a powerful tool to find links within a site that point to a particular type of file. For example, the query above lets you locate every page on your site that has a link to a PDF file.

5. Further Refine Results

cats -musical
A minus sign (-) before a keyword removes any results with that word. Again, it’s a way to help filter results when a query might be ambiguous. If you’re looking for info about cats the animal, but there’s a showing of Cats the musical in your town, you can search cats -musical to remove results about the theater production.

intitle:keyword -site:yourdomain.com
You can use the minus sign (-) before a search command, too. The above example finds webpages that have your keyword in the title tag, excluding those on your own site. This reduces the clutter when doing competitor research.

6. Find Social Profiles

john doe (site:linkedin | site:twitter)
If you want to get in touch with someone via their social profiles, you can use the site: for social media profiles along with the person’s name (and company name if you have it). This will search any of the social media channels you want to look up for that person. The example above would show LinkedIn and Twitter.

7. Find Potential Internal Links

site:bruceclay.com/blog -site:bruceclay.com/seo/siloing/ intext: “siloing”
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know that I recommend siloing as an SEO strategy. A key part of siloing is internal linking.

This advanced search is useful to find potential linking opportunities within a website. The example above combines the site: command with intext:, the minus sign (-) and exact match quotations (“).

What this particular search would do is find any webpages on the blog that mention siloing so that we could link to the main siloing page on the site. It uses the minus sign to exclude the page we want to link to from other pages.

List of Advanced Search Operators for SEO (Cheat Sheet)

In the table below, you’ll find the search engine operators that we routinely use in SEO research. (This is not an all-inclusive list.)
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Open this operators cheat sheet as a PDF and save or print it for your reference!—>

Doing research takes time. Especially when there are so many search engine results. These advanced search operators will get you searching like a pro – more efficiently with better results.

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FAQ: How can I use Advanced Search Operators to extract precise information from search engines?

Becoming proficient with Advanced Search Operators will enable you to extract accurate and pertinent data from search engines. These commands act like filters allowing for tailored queries with more precise results.

To begin, consider using quotation marks around your search query to find an exact phrase match. This can be especially helpful when researching specific topics or phrases. For example, searching for “advanced search tips” (with the quotes) will retrieve pages containing that exact phrase.

Another powerful operator is the “site:” command, which allows you to search within a specific website. This is particularly useful when conducting competitor analysis or investigating a particular site. For instance, by using “site:example.com SEO tips,” you can narrow down your search to SEO-related content within the specified domain.

Combining multiple search operators can further refine your results. For instance, combining the site search with quotation marks can help you find longer phrases within a particular website. This is invaluable for in-depth research.

Other search engines, like Bing, offer their own suite of Advanced Search Operators that you can utilize. You can learn more by consulting the documentation provided by these search engines. It’s important to note that while these operators enhance your search experience, precision and relevance may vary. Therefore, it’s essential to become familiar with the various operators and practice using them to refine your results effectively.

Mastering advanced search operators allows you to extract precise information from search engine results quickly and accurately, saving time while meeting research and analytical requirements more effectively. By mastering them, you can unlock hidden knowledge found online with just the right combination and practice. 

Step-by-Step Procedure: How to Use Advanced Search Operators to Extract Precise Information from Search Engines:

1. Understanding the Basics: Familiarize yourself with the concept and functionality of Advanced Search Operators found within search engines.
2. Identify Key Operators: Explore the most commonly used Advanced Search Operators, such as quotation marks and site search.
3. Use Quotation Marks: Practice using quotation marks to search for exact phrase matches, which are particularly useful for specific research topics.
4. Master the Site Search: Learn how to use the “site:” command to filter your search results within a specific website or domain.
5. Combine Operators: Experiment with combining multiple operators to refine your search results further.
6. Utilize Other Operators: Explore additional operators, such as “inurl,” “intitle,” and “cache,” to enhance your search capabilities.
7. Study Documentation: Refer to the official documentation provided by search engines like Google and Bing to understand the full range of available operators.
8. Analyze Competitors: Use Advanced Search Operators to conduct competitor analysis, gaining insights into their SEO strategies and content.
9. Discover Indexing Problems: Use the “site:” command to identify potential indexing issues with your website or specific subfolders.
10. Find Internal Links: Use operators like “intext” and “inurl” to locate potential internal linking opportunities within your website.
11. Analyze Social Profiles: Utilize the “site:” operator with social media platforms to find and connect with individuals through their profiles.
12. Refine Search Results: Practice using the minus sign (-) to exclude specific keywords from your search queries, improving result relevance.
13. Test Different Queries: Experiment with various combinations of Advanced Search Operators to find the most effective search results for your needs.
14. Verify Information: Double-check the accuracy and relevance of the information obtained through Advanced Search Operators.
15. Enhance Research Efficiency: Incorporate Advanced Search Operators into your regular research workflow to save time and improve data accuracy.
16. Stay Updated: Stay informed about changes or updates to search engine operators to adapt and improve your search techniques.
17. Share Knowledge: Educate your team or colleagues about Advanced Search Operators to enhance overall research productivity.
18. Practice and Patience: Become proficient in using Advanced Search Operators through consistent practice and patience.
19. Continuous Learning: Stay curious and keep exploring new ways to leverage Advanced Search Operators for research and analysis.
20. Mastering Advanced Search Operators: Achieve expertise and efficiency by mastering Advanced Search Operators and becoming a proficient researcher in your field.

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing firm providing search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with him on LinkedIn or through the BruceClay.com website.

See Bruce's author page for links to connect on social media.