Google Search Operators: The Complete List (With SEO Use Cases)

What Are Google Search Operators?

Google search operators are special commands you type into Google to get more specific results.

For example, the site: operator shows results only from a specific website:

Instead of scrolling through thousands of irrelevant results, operators help you find exactly what you need in seconds.

In this guide, you’ll find a complete list of every Google search operator that works right now. 

But I didn’t stop there.

I also included 10 practical ways to use these operators for SEO. Things like finding link building opportunities, identifying duplicate content, and uncovering competitor strategies.

Let’s get into it.

Google Search Operators Cheat Sheet (Free Download)

Want a quick reference you can bookmark or print?

I put together a free cheat sheet with every Google search operator covered in this guide. It includes the operator, what it does, and a real-world example for each.

Here’s how to grab it:

• Google Sheet: Open the link, click “File” → “Make a copy” to save it to your Drive.
• PDF: Click the link to download it instantly.

Now let’s look at the full list.

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Complete List of Google Search Operators

I’ve grouped the search operators into three types:

• Working – works properly
• Unreliable – still works sometimes, but results aren’t always accurate
• Not working – Google has officially removed it

Important note: Don’t put a space between the operator and your search term.

• site:example.com (Works)
• site: example.com (Doesn’t work because of the space after the operator)

This applies to every operator. Get the spacing wrong, and Google will treat it like a normal search.

Working Operators

Operator	What It Does	Example
” “	Shows exact match results for a word or phrase	“SEO tips”
OR	Shows results related to either term	SEO OR PPC
|	Works the same as OR	SEO | PPC
AND	Shows results related to both terms	SEO AND PPC
–	Excludes a word from results	content marketing -jobs
*	Wildcard that fills in any word	best * for SEO
( )	Groups terms or operators together	(WordPress OR Blogger) AND SEO
define:	Shows the definition of a word	define:SEO
filetype:	Finds specific file types (PDF, DOC, etc.)	filetype:pdf SEO guide
ext:	Same as filetype:	ext:pdf SEO guide
site:	Shows results from a specific website	site:bloggerspassion.com
related:	Finds websites similar to a given domain	related:bloggerspassion.com
intitle:	Finds pages with a specific word in the title	intitle:SEO tips
allintitle:	Finds pages with all specified words in the title	allintitle:SEO beginner guide
inurl:	Finds pages with a specific word in the URL	inurl:SEO
allinurl:	Finds pages with all specified words in the URL	allinurl:best SEO tools
intext:	Finds pages with a specific word in the body text	intext:link building
allintext:	Finds pages with all specified words in the body text	allintext:SEO tips beginners
source:	Finds results from a specific source in Google News	source:mashable SEO
before:	Shows results published before a specific date	SEO before:2023-01-01
after:	Shows results published after a specific date	SEO after:2024-01-01
AROUND(X)	Finds pages where two words appear within X words of each other	SEO AROUND(4) traffic
weather:	Shows weather for a location	weather:New York
stocks:	Shows stock information	stocks:GOOG
map:	Shows map of a location	map:London
movie:	Shows information about a movie	movie:avengers
in	Converts between units	50 USD in EUR
$	Searches for prices	best laptop $500
@	Searches within a specific social media platform	@reddit SEO tips

Unreliable Operators

Operator	What It Does	Example
#..#	Searches within a range of numbers	smartphone $200..$500
inanchor:	Finds pages with specific anchor text in backlinks	inanchor:SEO
allinanchor:	Same as inanchor but for multiple words	allinanchor:SEO tools
loc:	Shows results from a specific location	loc:”Los Angeles” hotels
location:	Narrows results to a specific location	location:seattle pizza
daterange:	Searches within a date range (Julian format)	daterange:23001-23091 SEO

Deprecated Operators (No Longer Work)

Google has officially dropped these operators: ~ (synonyms), + (exact word), link: (find backlinks), info: (page info), cache:, id: (same as info), phonebook: (phone numbers), # (Google+ hashtags), inpostauthor: (blog author), inposttitle: (blog title), blogurl: (blog URLs).

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Most Useful Google Search Operators for SEO

If you only remember a few operators, start with these:

• site: – check indexing and analyze competitor content
• intitle: – find pages targeting a specific keyword
• inurl: – discover guest post pages and resource pages
• ” ” – find exact match phrases
•  filetype: – locate PDFs, spreadsheets, and downloadable resources
• – – exclude unwanted results

Example: SEO intitle:”resources” inurl:links

This helps find link resource pages in the SEO niche.

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Most Used Google Search Operators in 2026 (Explained)

Here I have explained the search operators in detail, explaining how each one functions and the various ways they can enhance your search experience:

1. site:

One of the most commonly used operators is “site:”, which allows you to search for all web pages on a particular website. This is useful if you want to find all pages on a website or mention a specific word or phrase.

For example, if you wanted to find all pages on BloggersPassion.com that mention “blogging tips”, you would enter “blogging tips” site:google.com into the Google search box.

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2. intitle:

Another sound Google search operator is “intitle:”, which only shows you results that have the specified word in the title. This can help find specific articles or blog posts. 

Suppose I want to find out the list of all pages that have the “how to start a blog in 2026” keyword mentioned at title level. This will also help me understand the competition level for the mentioned keyword. So, I will search for “intitle:”how to start a blog” in Google.

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3. inurl:

This operator searches for a specific word or phrase in the URL of all web pages on a particular site. 

For example, if you wanted to find pages that mention “SEO” on BloggersPassion’s website, you would enter inurl:seo site:bloggerspassion.com into the Google search box and it will display all the URLs that contain the word “SEO” at URL level.

Have a look;

4. filetype:

The “filetype:” operator lets you specify the type of file you are looking for, such as a PDF or an image. This allows you to select the type of file that you’re looking for, and it will only return results that match that file type. 

For example, if you want to find a PDF on WordPress, you can search for “filetype:pdf WordPress” and it will return all the search results that offer a WordPress PDF file.

5. * 

This asterisk (*) operator can be used to search pages that contain anything before your keyword.

For instance, (learn * programming) will return pages that contain “how to…” 

Have a look;

See that? You’ll notice all the “How to” posts showing up when you enter the * operator before the keyword “how to”.

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10 Ways to Use Google Search Operators for SEO

Quick note: Whenever you see our site bloggerspassion.com mentioned, replace it with your own website’s domain or competitor’s URL.

1. Find Indexing Issues on Your Site

Want to see how many of your pages are showing up in Google?

Type site:bloggerspassion.com into Google. The number of results tells you roughly how many pages Google knows about.

You can also check a single page. Just search for the exact URL:

site:bloggerspassion.com/how-does-google-make-money/

If it shows up, Google has found it. If not, it hasn’t been picked up yet.

You can even find files that shouldn’t be showing up in Google:

site:bloggerspassion.com filetype:pdf

This shows every PDF on your site that Google is displaying in search results. 

If you have PDFs that people are supposed to download after providing their email, you don’t want those showing up in Google search results for free. Add a noindex tag to hide them from search results.

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2. Find Internal Linking Opportunities

Internal links connect one page on your site to another. They help Google understand what your site is about and can boost your rankings.

Here’s a simple way to find where to add them.

Let’s say you just published a post about “keyword research.” Search for:

site:bloggerspassion.com “keyword research”

This shows every page on BloggersPassion that mentions “keyword research” somewhere. Each of those pages is a good spot to add a link to your new keyword research post.

I do this every time I publish something new. Takes about 5 minutes and usually turns up 10-15 places I can add links.

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3. Find Sites That Accept Guest Posts

Guest posting is one of the best ways to build quality backlinks.

Most people find guest post opportunities like this:

SEO intitle:”write for us” inurl:write-for-us

This finds pages with “write for us” in the title and URL. These are usually dedicated submission pages.

But everyone uses this same search.  

A better way: find someone in your niche who writes guest posts regularly, and see where they’ve been published.

SEO inurl:author/brian-dean

This shows every site where Brian Dean has an author page. These sites accept outside writers, but they don’t advertise it with a “write for us” page. Less competition for you.

You can also try different searches:

• SEO intitle:”become a contributor”
• SEO intitle:”submit a post”
• SEO intitle:”guest article”

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4. Find Who’s Copying Your Content

Some websites copy blog posts without your permission. Search operators can help you catch them.

Pick a sentence from your blog post that’s unique to you. Put it in quotes and exclude your own site:

-site:bloggerspassion.com “In the last nine years, BloggersPassion generated over $1,400,000 (yes, 1.4 million dollars!)”

If any results show up, someone has copied your content. You can contact them and ask for credit with a link back to your original post.

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5. Find Resource Pages for Link Building

Some websites create pages that list useful links and tools on a specific topic. If your content is a good fit, the site owner might add your link too.

Find these pages like this:

SEO intitle:resources inurl:resources

This shows pages with “resources” in both the title and URL. These are almost always pages that link out to helpful content.

You can try different versions:

blogging intitle:resources inurl:links

Not every result will be useful. Some pages only link to their own stuff. But you’ll usually find a few worth reaching out to.

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6. See What Your Competitors Are Writing About

Want to know what topics a competitor covers on their blog?

Start with a broad search:

site:ahrefs.com/blog

This shows all blog posts on Ahrefs. Scroll through to see what topics they focus on.

Now get more specific. Want to see how many definition-style posts they have?

site:ahrefs.com intitle:(“what is” OR “what are”)

Want to see their how-to guides?

site:ahrefs.com intitle:”how to”

You can also find competitors you didn’t know about:

“keyword research” intitle:guide -site:ahrefs.com -site:semrush.com -site:moz.com

This removes the authoritative websites from the results. What’s left? Smaller blogs ranking for the same topics. These are often direct competitors you’ve never heard of.

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7. Find “Best Of” Lists That Don’t Mention You

If you have a product, tool, or blog you want featured in roundup posts, this trick helps.

Here’s how to find “best of” lists that haven’t included you yet:

intitle:”best SEO tools” -bloggerspassion

This shows every “best SEO tools” article that doesn’t mention BloggersPassion. You can reach out to the author and ask to be included.

Want only recent posts? Add a date filter:

intitle:”best SEO tools” -bloggerspassion after:2026-01-01

Authors who have published recently are more likely to reply and update their posts.

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8. Find Old Content That Needs Updating

Updated content tends to rank better. But when you have hundreds of posts, it’s hard to know which ones are outdated.

The before: operator helps:

site:bloggerspassion.com before:2023-01-01

This shows your pages that Google last picked up before 2023. These probably need a refresh.

You can narrow it down to a specific topic:

site:bloggerspassion.com “SEO” before:2023-01-01

Update the old information, add new examples, and republish with today’s date. I’ve seen posts jump from page 3 to page 1 on BloggersPassion just by doing this. You can read more from our case study on how long it takes to rank on Google.

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9. Find People Who Review Competing Products

If someone wrote a review of a product similar to yours, there’s a good chance they’d review yours too.

Find those reviewers:

allintitle:review (Semrush OR Ahrefs)

This shows pages with “review” and either “Semrush” or “Ahrefs” in the title. These are bloggers who already write reviews in your space.

Want only recent reviews?

allintitle:review (Semrush OR Ahrefs) after:2026-01-01

Reach out, offer free access to your product, and ask if they’d be willing to write a review. Since they already review similar products, your pitch makes perfect sense.

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10. Find Pages Targeting the Same Keyword (Keyword Cannibalization)

Sometimes, two or more pages on your site target the same keyword. 

When that happens, they compete with each other on Google instead of ranking high on a single page.

Find them like this:

site:bloggerspassion.com intitle:”google search operators”

If more than one page shows up with a similar title or topic, you might have keyword cannibalization.

If you find two pages targeting the same keyword, you have a few options.

• Merge them into one post. 
• Redirect the weaker page to the stronger one. 
• Or change the INTENT of one page to target a different keyword.

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Quick heads up: If you run a lot of Google operator searches in a short time, Google might ask you to verify you’re not a robot. Don’t worry. It’s normal. Just complete the CAPTCHA and keep going.

Related Posts:

• Little-Known Google Search Statistics that Will Surprise You

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Final thoughts

Google search operators are one of those skills that take 10 minutes to learn but save you hours every week.

You don’t need to memorize all the search operators. Start with the basics like site:, intitle:, and ” “. Once you’re comfortable, try combining them for more specific results.

Bookmark the cheat sheet, try a few operators today, and you’ll be glad you learned them.

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FAQs | Essential Google search operators

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about Google search operators.