Search engine techniques
Exact Phrase Search
"Peter Parker"
Finds pages with the exact phrase.
Site-Specific Search
site:linkedin.com "Peter Parker"
Searches only within a specific website.
Username in Text
intext:"peterparker_cool_123" site:instagram.com
Finds pages with the username in the body text.
Title Search
intitle:"Peter Parker"
Searches for pages with the phrase in the title.
URL Search
inurl:"peterparker"
Finds pages with the keyword in the URL.
File Type Search
"Peter Parker" resume filetype:pdf
Finds documents like PDFs, Word files, etc.
OR Search
"Peter Parker" OR "Spider Man"
Finds pages with either term.
AND Search (Default)
"Peter Parker" New York
Google shows results containing both.
Exclude Term
"Peter Parker" -marvel
Excludes results that mention “marvel”.
Wildcard Search
"Peter * Parker"
The asterisk stands in for one or more unknown words.
Related Sites
related:facebook.com
Finds sites similar to Facebook.
Cache Search
cache:linkedin.com
Shows Google’s last cached version of a page.
Link Search (limited)
link:example.com
Attempts to show sites linking to a given URL.
Social Media Site Search
site:facebook.com "Peter Parker"
Useful to find public Facebook profiles.
Subreddit Search
site:reddit.com/r/osint "tools"
Searches within a specific subreddit.
Search by Location Mention
"Peter Parker" "Brooklyn"
Helps narrow down to geographic relevance.
Search with Allin Operators
allintitle:Peter Parker
allintext:"Peter Parker"
Forces all keywords to appear in the title or text.
Hashtag Search
site:instagram.com "#cybersecurity"
Finds public posts using that hashtag.
Directory Search
intitle:index.of "Peter Parker"
Attempts to find open directories or file listings.