Google Search Operators to Master your Google Searching.

This article is about Google search operators, special characters, and commands that can help you find the exact results you want more quickly and accurately.

Here are some useful search operators to make your search results faster and more accurate.

• intitle, Searches for pages that contain a specific word in the title tag. Try it out: intitle:pizza. This will show pages with the word “pizza” in the title tag.

• allintitle, It Works like “intitle'' but will only show pages where the title tag includes all of the specified words. Try it out: allintitle:pizza recipe

• related, Allows you to find sites related to a particular domain. Try it out: related:nytimes.com .Google will show other news media sites related to nytimes.com.

• OR, Finds results related to one of two search terms. In some cases, results will contain both search terms. Try it out: pizza OR pasta .This will show pages that are related to either pizza or pasta. Or both. Alternatively, you can use the pipe (|) operator in place of “OR.” It does the same thing. Try it out: pizza | pasta

• AND, Finds results related to both the searched terms. Try it out: pizza AND pasta. The AND operator is usually implied in Google search queries. When entering multiple search terms, Google assumes you want to see results that include all of those terms. So if you search for “pizza pasta,” Google will show results that include both “pizza” and “pasta” anyway.

• The minus (-) operator excludes a particular term or phrase and shows pages that don’t include the excluded term (or terms). Try it out: digital marketing -jobs. Google will show pages related to “digital marketing,” but not “digital marketing jobs.”

• The parentheses “()” groups multiple terms or search operators to influence the final search. Try it out: Tesla (Model S OR Model Y). Google will show pages that either include “Model S” or “Model Y” in addition to “Tesla.”

• *, Acts as a wild card and fills in the missing word or phrase. Try it out: best * in Paris. Google will fill in the asterisk with different words, such as “places,” “museums,” “hotels,” “restaurants,” “tourist places,” etc.

• define, See the definition for a specific word or concept. The definition is displayed in a special dictionary box, but sometimes Google might just show websites that define the term for you. Try it out: define:algorithm. This will serve the definition of the word “algorithm.”

• filetype, Find results of a particular file format (e.g., PDF, XLS, PPT, DOCX, etc.) Try it out: filetype:pdf climate change. You’ll see search results for PDF files related to climate change. Alternatively, you can use the “ext:” operator in place of “filetype:” It does the same thing. Try it out: ext:pdf climate change

• cache, Allows you to view the most recent cached version of a webpage. Try it out: cache:semrush.com. Google will show you the most recent cached version of our homepage.

• site, Finds results from a specific website. Try it out: site:nytimes.com. You’ll see results only from nytimes.com.

• inurl, Finds pages that include a specific word in the URL. Try it out: inurl:shampoo. This will return pages that have the word “shampoo” in the URL.

• allinurl, Works like “inurl” but will only return pages where the URL includes all of the specified terms. Try it out: allinurl:best baby shampoos.

• weather, Allows you to quickly see weather conditions for a particular location. Try it out: weather:london. Google will display the current temperature, forecast, and other weather-related information.

• map, Shows a map of a specific location. Try it out: map:new york. Google will display a map of the location. If you click on the map, it will take you to Google Maps. You can zoom in or zoom out and explore further

• movie, Shows information about a specific movie. Try it out: movie:avengers endgame. Google will display movie-related information. Like reviews, ratings, full cast and crew list, trailers, and showtimes (if it’s currently in theaters near you).

• stocks, Allows you to quickly see stock prices and other financial information of a particular company. Try it out: stocks:tesla. Google will show the stock price, current market cap, stock chart with historic price details, and other relevant information.

• intext, Looks for pages that contain a specific word in the content. Try it out: intext:AI. This will return pages that have the word “AI” somewhere within the content.

• allintext, Works like “intext” but will only show pages where page content contains all of the specified words. Try it out: allintext:SEO tips. Google will show pages with both words in the content.

• source, Finds news articles from a specific source in Google News. Try it out: tesla source:nytimes.com. You’ll see news articles about Tesla from The New York Times.

• in, Lets you convert one unit to another. Applies to currency, weights, distance, temperature, time, etc. For example, you can search for “999 USD in EUR” to see how much $999 USD is worth in euros. Try it out: 999 usd in eur.

• search term, Using quotation marks around a search query allows you to search for an exact phrase rather than individual words. Try it out: “best pizza in new york city”. In this example, Google will only show results that include that exact phrase, rather than “best,” “pizza,” and “new york city” separately.

• AROUND(X), Searches for pages where two words appear within the distance of “X” words from each other. 

Try it out: Tesla AROUND(5) Model S. 

In this example, Google will return pages with the words “Tesla” and “Model S” in content where they appear within five words from each other.

• Location, Narrow your results to a specific location.  

Try it out: location:seattle pizza. 

You’ll see pizza-related results specific to Seattle.

Some Google search operators are unreliable or deprecated, which means they may not work properly or return consistent results.

Google search operators have been in use for years. But did you know Google has terminated some operators?

Or that some operators don’t work as effectively as they used to? Let’s look at the non-working Google search operators. As well as the ones that return inconsistent results and shouldn’t be relied on.

• blogurl, Find all of a domain's blog URLs. The operator was useful for performing searches in Google Blog Search, which was shut down in 2011. Example: blogurl:semrush.com. Although this operator has been deprecated, it still returns a few relevant results in a regular Google search.

• #..#, Search for information within a specific range of numbers. For example, if you want to find articles about the best ’90s movies, you can use “best movies 1990..1999” as your search query. Example: best movies 1990..1999. Our testing found that this operator returns mixed results by displaying movies for the years 1990 to 1999 but also 2000 and beyond.

• inanchor, Allows you to find webpages that have links pointing to them using a specific anchor text. For example, if you want to find webpages that have links pointing to them with the anchor text “books,” you can use “inanchor:books” as your search query. Example: inanchor:books. Note: The operator no longer consistently returns relevant results.

• allinanchor, Works like “inanchor” but would only return pages where a link’s anchor text contains all specified words. Example: allinanchor:best books 2023. Note: The operator doesn’t seem to work. You’ll often see false positives.

• +, Find pages that mention a specific word or phrase exactly as written. For example, if you search for “Semrush +team,” Google will only show you pages that have the words “Semrush” and “team” together. And not pages that have “Semrush” and “team” separately or in a different order. Example: Semrush +team. Note: The “+” operator has been discontinued by Google. You can use quotation marks to find web pages that contain exact matches.

• #, See blogs, social media posts, and news articles that used a specific #hashtag. Example: #throwbackfriday. Note: This one doesn’t seem to work. It often returns false positives.

• ~, Finds pages that contain synonyms for a word or phrase. For example, if you search for “~healthy recipes,” Google will show pages that contain words or phrases related to healthy recipes, such as nutritious recipes, low-fat recipes, wholesome recipes, etc. Example: ~healthy recipes. Note: Google has terminated this operator. For most searches, Google automatically shows pages that include synonyms.

• link, Search for webpages that link to a specific URL. For example, if you search for “link:nytimes.com,” Google will show all webpages that link to The New York Times website. Example: link:nytimes.com. Note: Google has deprecated this operator, as confirmed by Google’s Gary Illyes on Twitter. It doesn’t return relevant results.

• info, Find more information about a specific URL or domain. Like a cached version, similar sites, links to the site, etc. Example: info:semrush.com. Note: Google has terminated this operator.

• datarange, which Allows you to search for content that was published within a specific date range. The date range must be specified in Julian format. Example: daterange:23001-23091 SEO. Note: We’ve found that this operator no longer works.

Using Google search operators is a skill that takes time and practice to learn, but it is well worth the effort.

Google search operators are special characters and commands that can help you narrow your search results, filter out unwanted or irrelevant results, and carry out regular SEO activities.

To help you learn more about Google search operators, we have put together a downloadable cheat sheet. This is a handy reference guide to the most useful search operators.