Google site: Operator — How to Search Within a Specific Website

By the getdork team — Published June 12, 2026

site:domain.com is Google's most-used advanced operator. It restricts all search results to pages indexed from one specific domain, subdomain, or top-level domain (TLD) — while your other keywords still apply as normal filters. By itself it shows everything Google has indexed from a domain; combined with keyword operators it becomes a precision search engine pointed at a single target.
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Syntax variations

site: accepts four forms, each with a different scope:

Syntax Scope Example
site:domain.com Entire domain including all subdomains site:linkedin.com "Head of Engineering"
site:sub.domain.com One specific subdomain only site:blog.hubspot.com "email marketing"
site:.gov All domains on the .gov TLD site:.gov filetype:pdf "vendor list"
-site:domain.com Exclude one domain from results "python tutorial" -site:w3schools.com
No space between site: and the domain — site:linkedin.com works; site: linkedin.com (with a space) may behave inconsistently.

How to use site: effectively (5 patterns)

  1. Full-domain search. site:company.com alone shows everything Google has indexed from that domain. Useful as a starting point before layering on additional filters.
  2. Subdomain targeting. Specify site:docs.company.com or site:support.company.com to search only a specific subdomain. This is useful when a company separates its blog, docs, or support center into subdomains.
  3. TLD targeting. site:.edu searches all US university sites. site:.gov searches US government. site:.mil searches the US military. Country-code TLDs work too: site:.co.uk, site:.de.
  4. Domain exclusion. Prefix with a minus to remove a domain: "JavaScript frameworks" -site:medium.com removes Medium articles. Stack multiple exclusions: -site:medium.com -site:dev.to.
  5. Multi-domain with OR. site:domain1.com OR site:domain2.com "keyword" searches both domains simultaneously. Keep it to two or three domains — more causes unpredictable result behavior.

Copy-paste examples by use case

Sales: finding prospects and decision-makers

# LinkedIn profiles matching a title and location
site:linkedin.com/in "VP of Sales" "Chicago"

# Company team or leadership pages
site:targetcompany.com inurl:team OR inurl:leadership OR inurl:about

# Company news and press releases (often list executives)
site:targetcompany.com inurl:press OR inurl:news "Chief"

Recruiting: sourcing candidates

# LinkedIn profiles: engineers in a specific city open to work
site:linkedin.com/in "software engineer" "Austin" "open to work"

# GitHub profiles with a specific language and location
site:github.com "Python" "Memphis" "open to opportunities"

# Portfolios on personal or niche developer sites
site:dribbble.com "UX designer" "mobile"

OSINT and account research

# Find all publicly indexed PDFs on a domain
site:company.com filetype:pdf

# Find job postings (reveals hiring focus and org structure)
site:company.com inurl:jobs OR inurl:careers "engineer" OR "manager"

# Pricing pages that are publicly accessible
site:competitor.com inurl:pricing OR inurl:plans

SEO and indexation audits

# Check what Google has indexed from your own domain
site:yourdomain.com

# Find pages on your domain Google indexed that mention a competitor
site:yourdomain.com "competitor name"

# Surface paginated or parameter URLs that should be excluded
site:yourdomain.com inurl:"?page=" OR inurl:"&sort="

Document research

# Government RFPs and procurement documents
site:.gov filetype:pdf "request for proposal" "technology"

# Open data CSV files published by a municipality
site:.gov filetype:csv "business permits"

Combining site: with other operators

site: works alongside every other Google operator. It acts as a hard filter — all other operators then apply only within that result set.

CombinationEffect
site: + filetype: Find a specific document format on a domain — site:company.com filetype:pdf
site: + intitle: Require your keyword in the page title, restricted to the domain
site: + inurl: Find specific URL paths — site:company.com inurl:/team
site: + intext: Require text in the page body within the domain — useful for contact/email research
site: + quotes Exact phrase must appear anywhere on pages from that domain
site: + OR Either of two terms on pages from that domain

For the complete operator reference, see the Google search operators cheat sheet.

Why the result count is unreliable

When you run site:domain.com, Google displays an estimated number of results like "About 4,320 results." This number is an approximation. It changes between searches and does not equal the true number of indexed pages. Google excludes:

For a reliable indexation count, use Google Search Console's "Pages" report, which shows exact indexed counts and lists specific reasons for exclusions. The site: count is useful as a rough sanity check, not an audit tool.

Use getdork to build site: queries without the syntax overhead.
Set the domain, add a title keyword or file type, and getdork assembles the full operator string. Copy it to Google free, or run it in-app with a Pro account.

Start free at getdork.com →

Frequently asked questions

Does site: include subdomains?

Yes. site:company.com returns results from the root domain and all subdomains (blog.company.com, docs.company.com, support.company.com, etc.). To restrict to a specific subdomain, specify it explicitly: site:blog.company.com.

Why does site: show fewer pages than the website actually has?

Google only shows pages it has indexed. Pages blocked by robots.txt, tagged noindex, behind a login, or considered duplicate/low-quality are excluded. The displayed count is also an approximation that fluctuates between queries. Use Google Search Console for accurate indexation data.

Can I use site: with a country-code TLD?

Yes. site:.co.uk searches UK domains; site:.de searches German domains. This is useful for market research, international recruiting, or finding local business contacts in a specific country.

Can I search multiple domains at once with site:?

Not with a single site: value, but you can use OR: site:domain1.com OR site:domain2.com "keyword". Keep it to two or three domains for predictable results.

What is site: most useful for in B2B sales?

The single most productive pattern is site:linkedin.com/in combined with a job title and location. This finds LinkedIn profiles without requiring a paid Recruiter or Sales Navigator seat. Add intext:"company name" to further filter by employer. See how to find company employees on LinkedIn with Google dorks for a full step-by-step walkthrough.

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