Every filter you set in a Sales Navigator people search is written into the page URL. It all sits inside one query parameter as a list of filter types, each with the IDs you included or excluded, plus your keyword string. A search is therefore a piece of text you can save, edit, share, or generate without clicking through the filter panel, and two people who open the same URL see the same list.
The rest of this piece does both directions by hand: how to read a saved search URL, and how to assemble one from the filters you actually want.
The anatomy of one URL
A people-search URL starts at https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people and carries a query parameter. Decoded, the parameter looks like this:
(spellCorrectionEnabled:true,filters:List((type:REGION,values:List((id:103644278,text:United States,selectionType:INCLUDED)))),keywords:founder)
Read it inside out. filters is a list. Each entry has a type, such as REGION or COMPANY_HEADCOUNT, and a values list. Each value has an id, an optional text label, and a selectionType of INCLUDED or EXCLUDED. Then keywords carries whatever you typed into the search box, URL-encoded.
Filter types we see most in outbound work are REGION, COMPANY_HEADCOUNT, CURRENT_TITLE, INDUSTRY, FUNCTION, SENIORITY_LEVEL, COMPANY_TYPE, YEARS_AT_CURRENT_COMPANY, and POSTED_ON_LINKEDIN. The list is longer than that, and the filter panel writes each one in the same shape.
Where the IDs come from
Headcount and seniority use short fixed IDs. A headcount of 11 to 50 is C, 51 to 200 is D, and so on up the ladder. Those never change, so they are easy to write by hand.
Geography, title, and industry use numeric IDs that LinkedIn assigns. The United States is 103644278. The only reliable way to get a geography ID you don't already have is to run the search in Sales Navigator, pick the place from the typeahead, and copy the ID out of the URL. The builder ships with the countries and US states we have verified against captured URLs and lets you add a custom ID for anything else.
Boolean keywords do the fine work
Filters narrow the population. Keywords narrow it further, and they accept Boolean operators. "managing partner" OR founder matches either phrase. founder NOT recruiter drops the recruiters. Quotes hold a phrase together, and parentheses group clauses. Keep the keyword string short. Every extra clause is one more way to exclude someone you wanted.
Why this matters for a prospect list
A search that lives as a URL is a search you can reproduce. That gets you three things.
- Version control. Save the URL beside the campaign it fed. When a list underperforms, you can see exactly what it filtered on, not what someone remembers setting.
- Handoff. A colleague or a scraper opens the same URL and gets the same population. No re-clicking the panel from a screenshot.
- Iteration. Change one ID, keep everything else fixed, and you have a clean test of one variable.
We build every outbound list this way. The URL is the spec for the list, and the list is the single biggest input to the reply rate.
Build one now
Pick a geography and a headcount band, add a title keyword, and build the URL from the parameters above. Then take a search you already use and decode it, and check it says what you think it says. If you want the list sourced, verified, and sent to, book a call.