Google Search Operators

What are Google search operators?

Google search operators are special characters and commands (sometimes called “advanced operators”) that extend the capabilities of regular text searches. Search operators can be useful for everything from content research to technical SEO audits.

How do I use search operators?

You can enter search operators directly into the Google search box, just as you would a text search:

Except in special cases (such as the “in” operator), Google will return standard organic results.

Google search operators cheat sheet

You can find all of the major organic search operators below, broken up into three categories: “Basic”, “Advanced”, and “Unreliable”. Basic search operators are operators that modify standard text searches.

I. Basic Search Operators

" " :"nikola tesla"

Put any phrase in quotes to force Google to use exact-match. On single words, prevents synonyms.

OR: tesla OR edison

Google search defaults to logical AND between terms. Specify "OR" for a logical OR (ALL-CAPS).

|: tesla | edison

The pipe (|) operator is identical to "OR". Useful if your Caps-lock is broken :)

( ): (tesla OR edison) alternating current

Use parentheses to group operators and control the order in which they execute.

-: tesla -motors

Put minus (-) in front of any term (including operators) to exclude that term from the results.

*: tesla "rock * roll"

An asterisk (*) acts as a wild-card and will match on any word.

#..# tesla announcement 2015..2017

Use (..) with numbers on either side to match on any integer in that range of numbers.

$: tesla deposit $1000

Search prices with the dollar sign ($). You can combine ($) and (.) for exact prices, like $19.99.

€: €9,99 lunch deals

Search prices with the Euro sign (€). Most other currency signs don't seem to be honored by Google.

in: 250 kph in mph

Use "in" to convert between two equivalent units. This returns a special, Knowledge Card style result.

Advanced search operators are special commands that modify searches and may require additional parameters (such as a domain name). Advanced operators are typically used to narrow searches and drill deeper into results.

II. Advanced Search Operators

intitle: intitle:"tesla vs edison"

Search only in the page's title for a word or phrase. Use exact-match (quotes) for phrases.

allintitle: allintitle: tesla vs edison

Search the page title for every individual term following "allintitle:". Same as multiple intitle:'s.

inurl: tesla announcements inurl:2016

Look for a word or phrase (in quotes) in the document URL. Can combine with other terms.

allinurl: allinurl: amazon field-keywords nikon

Search the URL for every individual term following "allinurl:". Same as multiple inurl:'s.

intext: intext:"orbi vs eero vs google wifi"

Search for a word or phrase (in quotes), but only in the body/document text.

allintext: allintext: orbi eero google wifi

Search the body text for every individual term following "allintext:". Same as multiple intexts:'s.

filetype: "tesla announcements" filetype:pdf

Match only a specific file type. Some examples include PDF, DOC, XLS, PPT, and TXT.

related: related:nytimes.com

Return sites that are related to a target domain. Only works for larger domains.

AROUND(X) tesla AROUND(3) edison

Returns results where the two terms/phrases are within (X) words of each other.