Skip to main content

Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter

Workflow preview

Workflow preview
100%
Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter preview
Open on n8n.io

Important notice

This workflow is provided as-is. Please review and test before using in production.

1. Workflow Overview

Problem LinkedIn search is BROKEN. I waste hours on LinkedIn manually filtering profiles, reading summaries, hoping they’d reply—tedious, frustrating, inefficient. I wish LinkedIn had built an a...

Best for

  • Lead Generation automation workflows
  • AI Summarization automation workflows
  • advanced n8n builders looking for reusable templates

Tools used

n8n-nodes-base.wait, @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chattrigger, n8n-nodes-base.googlesheets, n8n-nodes-base.code, n8n-nodes-base.httprequest, n8n-nodes-base.if, n8n-nodes-base.hunter, @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.openai

Source and attribution

This workflow is cataloged by N8N Workflows and links back to its original n8n.io source page by Abhijay Vuyyuru.

Original n8n.io source

1.1 Workflow description

Title
Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter
Workflow name
Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter

Problem

🚨 LinkedIn search is BROKEN.

I waste hours on LinkedIn manually filtering profiles, reading summaries, hoping they’d reply—tedious, frustrating, inefficient.

I wish LinkedIn had built an agent that would get me to the right profile with one click!

If only I could just type: "Product managers working on YouTube Shorts' generative AI features."

and seconds later, have LinkedIn URLs, names, emails, and full context about them.

Introducing LinkGPT, a LinkedIn Agent, an automated agentic workflow powered by n8n.

Prerequisites:

Required accounts/API keys for Hunter.io, Google, and OpenAI.

This would be helpful for:

🎯 Job Seekers: Skip ATS, email hiring managers directly ( I wish I had this when I was recruiting!)

🎯 Recruiters: Reach your dream candidates first

🎯 Founders & Sales Teams: Share your demos with customers directly (this does NOT use the expensive Sales Navigator API)

Step-by-step workflow:

Takes 5-10 minutes to setup.

  1. Generate a Boolean search string for LinkedIn profiles.
  2. Perform authenticated Google searches using your query.
  3. Extract LinkedIn URLs and workplace context from the search results.
  4. Use OpenAI to extract first name, last name, and domain name from the context.
  5. Use Hunter.io to find emails of the contacts.
  6. Append all results to your connected Google Sheet. Columns: first_name, last_name, domain_name, email, context

I put together a clear, step-by-step guide on setting this up yourself.

Sample Query

Sample:

Input: "I am headed to NYC later this month, whom should I meet with that works in product management for gen AI products?"

Output: List of 10 contacts with first name, last name, workplace, email address and context about them so you can email them.

1.2 Logical Blocks

This catalog entry is organized from the workflow JSON. The node-level section below shows the executable blocks available for review before importing the template.

2. Block-by-Block Analysis

Block 1 - Wait

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.wait - wait
Config choices
Version 1.1

Block 2 - When chat message received

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.chatTrigger - chatTrigger
Config choices
Version 1.1

Block 3 - Create a new sheet

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleSheets - googleSheets
Config choices
Version 4.5

Block 4 - Add columns to new sheet

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleSheets - googleSheets
Config choices
Version 4.5

Block 5 - set page number for google search

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 6 - Google Boolean Search

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest - httpRequest
Config choices
Version 4.2

Block 7 - If desired results not reached

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.if - if
Config choices
Version 2.2

Block 8 - Appends the results to the sheet

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.googleSheets - googleSheets
Config choices
Version 4.5

Block 9 - Code

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 10 - Extracts fname, lname, domainname

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 11 - Extracts all linkedin urls and workplace context from the google http response

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 12 - Adds 10 to start - Go to next page

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 13 - Hunter

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.hunter - hunter
Config choices
Version 1

Block 14 - Generate a Boolean Search String

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.openAi - openAi
Config choices
Version 1.8

Block 15 - Extract Contact Details

Type / Role
@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.openAi - openAi
Config choices
Version 1.8

Block 16 - Sticky Note4

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 17 - Sticky Note

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 18 - Columns to add: linkedin_url, first_name, last_name, email, context, domain

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.code - code
Config choices
Version 2

Block 19 - Sticky Note1

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 20 - Sticky Note3

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 21 - Sticky Note2

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

Block 22 - Sticky Note5

Type / Role
n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices
Version 1

3. Summary Table

Workflow Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter
Complexity advanced
Nodes 22
Categories Lead Generation, AI Summarization
Author Abhijay Vuyyuru
Published 10 Jun 2025

4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

  1. 1. Download the workflow JSON

    Use the JSON export at /data/workflows/4831/4831.json as the source template for this automation.

  2. 2. Import the template into n8n

    Open n8n, import the downloaded JSON, and review each node before activating the workflow.

  3. 3. Configure credentials and variables

    Replace placeholder credentials, API keys, webhook URLs, account IDs, and environment-specific values with your own settings.

  4. 4. Test with sample data

    Run the workflow manually or in a staging workspace, inspect node output, and confirm downstream systems receive the expected data.

  5. 5. Activate and monitor

    Enable the workflow only after testing, then monitor executions, errors, and rate limits during the first production runs.

5. General Notes & Resources

Review imported nodes carefully before activation. This catalog entry is intended to help you inspect the workflow structure, understand required services, and find related templates faster.

Node names, credentials, schedules, webhook paths, and external service limits may need adjustment for your workspace.

Frequently asked questions

What does Automate LinkedIn profile search & cold email outreach with OpenAI and Hunter do?

Problem LinkedIn search is BROKEN. I waste hours on LinkedIn manually filtering profiles, reading summaries, hoping they’d reply—tedious, frustrating, inefficient. I wish LinkedIn had built an a...

What do I need before importing this workflow?

Review the workflow JSON, configure any required credentials in n8n, and test the automation in a safe workspace before using it in production.

Can I customize this workflow?

Yes. Use the block-by-block analysis and the downloadable JSON to inspect each node, then adjust credentials, prompts, schedules, filters, or destinations for your Lead Generation, AI Summarization use case.