LinkedIn Profile Discovery with n8n (Google Sheets + AirTop)

This guide documents a reusable n8n workflow template that automates LinkedIn profile discovery using Google Sheets as the data source and AirTop as the web extraction layer. The workflow reads person identifiers from a sheet, performs a Google search for each entry, extracts the corresponding LinkedIn profile URL, and writes the result back to the original row.

1. Workflow Overview

The automation is implemented as a linear n8n workflow composed of five nodes:

1. Manual Trigger – Starts the workflow on demand for testing or ad hoc runs.
2. Google Sheets (Read) – Fetches rows from a sheet that contains a Person Info column or equivalent search string.
3. AirTop (Google Search Extraction) – Executes a Google search query and extracts the LinkedIn profile URL.
4. Code (JavaScript) – Normalizes and merges the AirTop output with the original row data.
5. Google Sheets (Update) – Writes the discovered LinkedIn URL and any status flags back to the correct row.

The workflow is designed as a low-code enrichment pipeline that can be used for lead generation, recruiting, CRM hygiene, or any process that requires LinkedIn profile URLs tied to existing records.

2. Use Cases & Benefits

2.1 Why automate LinkedIn profile discovery

Manually searching LinkedIn for each contact does not scale. This n8n template helps you:

• Process hundreds or thousands of contacts with minimal supervision.
• Apply a consistent search pattern and extraction logic across all records.
• Store LinkedIn URLs directly in Google Sheets, ready for downstream tools such as CRMs or outreach platforms.

2.2 Typical scenarios

• Enriching marketing or sales lead lists with LinkedIn profile links.
• Building recruiting pipelines from spreadsheets of potential candidates.
• Cleaning and standardizing existing contact databases where LinkedIn URLs are missing or inconsistent.

3. Architecture & Data Flow

3.1 High-level flow

1. The Manual Trigger node starts execution.
2. The Google Sheets (Read) node retrieves rows containing person information (typically name plus company).
3. For each row, the AirTop node:
   • Builds a Google Search URL from the Person Info field.
   • Fetches the search results page.
   • Extracts the LinkedIn profile URL that matches a specific pattern.
4. The Code node:
   • Reads the AirTop response.
   • Combines it with the original row payload.
   • Outputs a unified JSON object containing both the original fields and a new LinkedIn URL field.
5. The Google Sheets (Update) node:
   • Identifies the target row using row_number or another unique key.
   • Writes the LinkedIn URL into the appropriate column.
   • Optionally sets a Validated flag or similar status indicator.

3.2 Data model

A minimal sheet configuration typically includes:

• Person Info – A free-text field such as First Last Company used to construct the Google search query.
• LinkedIn URL – A column that will be populated automatically by the workflow.
• Validated – Optional status column (e.g., empty / Yes / No) for manual review tracking.
• row_number – Hidden or technical column used by n8n to update the correct row deterministically.

4. Prerequisites & Setup

4.1 Required accounts and services

• An n8n instance (n8n Cloud or self-hosted).
• A Google account with access to a Google Sheets document that contains the contact list.
• An AirTop account with credentials configured in n8n, or another compatible web extraction tool configured in a similar way.

4.2 n8n configuration prerequisites

• Configured Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials in n8n with read/write permissions to the target sheet.
• Configured AirTop credentials in n8n for the extraction node.
• Basic familiarity with:
  • n8n credentials management.
  • Node parameters and expression syntax (e.g., {{ ... }} expressions).
  • Handling JSON data across nodes.

5. Node-by-Node Breakdown

5.1 Manual Trigger

Purpose: Run the workflow manually for testing or on-demand processing.

• Node type: Manual Trigger
• Configuration: No special parameters required.
• Behavior: Execution starts when you click Test workflow in the n8n UI.

In production, you can later replace or complement this with a Cron node for scheduled runs, but the manual trigger is the safest way to validate configuration before automating.

5.2 Google Sheets – Read Rows

Purpose: Retrieve the list of people or search queries to process.

• Node type: Google Sheets
• Operation: Typically Read or Read Rows.

Key configuration parameters:

• Credentials: Select your configured Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials.
• Spreadsheet ID: Choose the target spreadsheet from the dropdown or specify the ID explicitly.
• Sheet Name or GID:
  • Set Sheet Name to the tab that contains your data.
  • Alternatively, use the GID if you prefer a more explicit reference.
• Range / Columns:
  • Ensure the column that contains the search string (for example Person Info) is included.
  • Include row_number or similar technical column if you plan to update rows by index later.

Data expectations:

• Person Info values should ideally be structured as FirstName LastName Company or similar to improve search accuracy.
• Empty rows or rows without Person Info should be removed or filtered out to avoid unnecessary API calls.

5.3 AirTop – Google Search Extraction

Purpose: For each row, perform a Google search and extract a LinkedIn profile URL from the search results.

• Node type: AirTop (web extraction / model-based extraction).

Search URL expression:

The node constructs a Google search query URL using the Person Info field from the incoming JSON:

=https://www.google.com/search?q={{ encodeURI($json['Person Info']) }}

Extraction prompt:

The AirTop configuration instructs the model or extractor to return only the LinkedIn URL that matches the pattern:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/

This ensures the output is a single URL string rather than a full HTML page or a more complex structure.

Important considerations:

• Query quality: Keep queries concise but specific. Including the full name and company usually improves matching. Overly long or noisy queries can reduce accuracy.
• Compliance: Respect robots.txt and site terms. LinkedIn prohibits direct scraping of its pages. This workflow uses public Google search results, but you are still responsible for complying with legal and terms-of-service restrictions.
• Rate limiting:
  • Configure reasonable concurrency and delays in n8n to avoid triggering Google rate limits or temporary IP blocks.
  • Consider using n8n retry logic with backoff for transient failures.

Output shape (conceptual):

The AirTop node returns a JSON object that includes a field such as data.modelResponse, which contains the extracted LinkedIn URL as a string. The exact property name (data.modelResponse) is used in the following Code node, so it must match your AirTop configuration.

5.4 Code Node – Parse & Normalize Response

Purpose: Merge the original row data from Google Sheets with the LinkedIn URL returned by AirTop, and output a clean object for the update step.

• Node type: Code
• Language: JavaScript.

Example implementation:

const linkedInProfile = $json.data.modelResponse
const rowData = $('Person info').item.json
return { json: { ...rowData, 'LinkedIn URL': linkedInProfile }};

What this code does:

• Reads the AirTop output: $json.data.modelResponse is expected to contain the extracted LinkedIn profile URL.
• Accesses the original row: $('Person info').item.json references the JSON payload from the earlier node that holds the raw Google Sheets row, including fields like Person Info and row_number.
• Merges data: The spread operator ...rowData copies all existing fields, then adds a new field 'LinkedIn URL' with the extracted value.
• Outputs a single object: The returned object is structured as { json: { ... } }, which n8n expects for subsequent nodes.

Edge cases & handling tips:

• If $json.data.modelResponse is undefined or empty (no URL found), you may want to:
  • Set 'LinkedIn URL' to null or an empty string.
  • Optionally add a 'Lookup Status' field (for example 'not_found') for later review.
• If the selector $('Person info') does not match your actual node name, adjust it to reference the correct Google Sheets node in your workflow.

5.5 Google Sheets – Update Row

Purpose: Write the discovered LinkedIn URL back into the original Google Sheets row.

• Node type: Google Sheets
• Operation: Update or Update Row.

Key configuration parameters:

• Credentials: Use the same Google Sheets credentials as the read node.
• Spreadsheet ID / Sheet Name: Target the same document and sheet tab used for reading.
• Row identification:
  • Use row_number or another unique identifier from the merged JSON to ensure the correct row is updated.
  • Map this field explicitly in the node configuration if required.
• Column mapping:
  • Map 'LinkedIn URL' from the Code node output to the LinkedIn URL column in the sheet.
  • Optionally map a Validated column to Yes, No, or leave it blank depending on your verification process.

Behavior notes:

• Ensure that the column headers in Google Sheets match the field names you are using in the Code node output to avoid mapping issues.
• If the row cannot be found (for example due to a missing or incorrect row_number), the update operation will fail for that item. Configure error handling or logging as needed.

6. Data Hygiene & Quality Practices

6.1 Input normalization

• Standardize the Person Info format (for example FirstName LastName Company) across all rows for more consistent search results.
• Normalize capitalization and remove obvious noise or extra punctuation.
• Clear out empty rows or rows missing essential fields before running large batches.

6.2 Validation & manual review

Search-based discovery is probabilistic. Not every result will be correct.

• Use a Validated column to track which rows have been manually checked.
• For high-value contacts, introduce a manual verification step outside of n8n to confirm that:
  • The name matches.
  • The company or job title is consistent.
  • The location, if visible, aligns with your expectations.
• Optionally perform fuzzy matching on name and company to flag likely mismatches for manual review.

7. Error Handling, Retries & Logging

7.1 Node-level retries

• Use n8n built-in retry settings on nodes that call external services, especially the AirTop and Google Sheets nodes.
• Set a limited number of retries with backoff for transient network issues or temporary rate limits.

7.2 Failure tracking

• Log failed rows to a dedicated Google Sheet or another data store for manual follow-up.
• Include diagnostic fields such as:
  • The original Person Info value.
  • Error messages from AirTop or Google Sheets.

7.3 Common issues

• No results returned:
  • Manually test the generated Google search URL in a browser.
  • Confirm that AirTop is receiving and parsing the page content correctly.
  • Add logging in the Code node to inspect the raw AirTop response.
• Wrong profile returned:
  • Refine the Person Info format by adding company or job title.
  • Avoid overly generic names without additional qualifiers.
• API errors:
  • Verify Google Sheets API quotas and credentials in the Google Cloud console.
  • Check AirTop usage limits, authentication configuration, and status dashboards.

8. Rate Limits, Compliance & Privacy

8.1 Rate limiting and scheduling

• Respect Google search rate limits by