Lesson 10	Search techniques
Objective	Use modern operators and wildcards to refine searches across today’s engines and SERP features.

Modern Search Operators & Wildcards (Google/Bing, 2025)

Search operators are special symbols or keywords that refine your query without changing engines or tools. Used well, they narrow noise, target sources, and surface deeper documents (PDFs, slides, datasets). While most operators work similarly across major engines, a few are engine-specific or have caveats. This guide focuses on practical, up-to-date usage and avoids legacy, engine-specific quirks.

Quick-Start Cheatsheet

Operator	What it does	Example	Notes
`"phrase"`	Exact phrase match	`"canonical tag" tutorial`	Use quotes sparingly; can be too strict.
`-term`	Exclude a word/phrase	`jaguar -car`	Use quotes to exclude a phrase: `-"car model"`
`OR`	Either term	`schema.org OR opengraph`	Capitalized `OR` is most reliable.
`site:`	Limit to a domain	`site:seotrance.com "e-business"`	Great for competitive research and docs.
`filetype:` / `ext:`	Restrict to file type	`checkout UX filetype:pdf`	Try multiple: `(filetype:pdf OR filetype:pptx)`
`intitle:`	In page title	`intitle:"GA4 events"`	Use once; prefer multiple terms after it.
`inurl:`	In URL path	`inurl:api pagination`	Good for docs and code paths.
`intext:`	In page body	`intext:"zero trust" primer`	Useful when titles are vague.
`before:` / `after:`	Filter by date	`webhooks tutorial after:2023-01-01`	Use ISO dates; combine with recent topics.
`*` (inside quotes)	Wildcard word	`"best * for beginners"`	Matches one or more unknown words.

Wildcards & Proximity

Wildcard in phrases: Place * inside quotes to stand in for unknown words: "secure * headers".
Proximity (Google): AROUND(n) keeps words within ~n words: "customer data" AROUND(3) consent.
Proximity (Bing): NEAR:n is supported: "feature flags" NEAR:5 experiment.

Target Sources & Formats

Research PDFs: privacy sandbox filetype:pdf site:developer.chrome.com
Slide decks: checkout friction ext:pptx
Docs-only sweep: site:github.com inurl:/docs/ "rate limit"
News-like recency: combine topic + after: (date) for fresher results.

Grouping & Logic

Use parentheses to manage precedence and mix operators cleanly:

(schema.org OR "structured data") (faq OR howto) site:developers.google.com
("event-driven" OR "pub/sub") (kafka OR "sns sqs") -hiring
("entity resolution" AROUND(5) "first-party data") after:2024-01-01

Modern SERPs & AI Overviews

AI Overviews: They summarize broad queries. Operators don’t “control” them, but precise, scoped queries (site/filetype/intitle) tend to surface traditional results over broad summaries.
Verticals: When researching news, images, or shopping, switch to the appropriate vertical tab first, then refine with operators.
Entities & synonyms: Add canonical names and plausible synonyms to stabilize results: (Zero Trust OR ZTNA).

Common Pitfalls (and Fixes)

Legacy + include: Don’t rely on +word; use regular terms or quotes for must-have phrases.
Too many quotes: Over-restricts results. Start broad, then add quotes where noise is highest.
Mixed semantics: Keep operators attached (e.g., site:example.com, not site: example.com).
Date filters: before:/after: work best with ISO dates and recent topics; older material may lack reliable timestamps.

SEO & Research Workflows

Audit a domain: site:example.com (pricing OR plans) -blog
Find authoritative PDFs: "core web vitals" filetype:pdf site:w3.org
Compare definitions: intitle:"canonical tag" intext:duplicate
Exclude vendors: (cdp OR "customer data platform") -salesforce -segment -adobe
Recent tech shifts: server-side tagging after:2024-01-01

Operator Reference (Modernized)

Operator	Function	Example	Engine Notes
`" "`	Exact phrase	`"zero trust network access"`	Works across engines
`-`	Exclude term/phrase	`jaguar -car`	Use quotes to exclude phrases
`OR`	Either term	`(bonsai OR "miniature tree")`	Uppercase for reliability
`site:`	Limit to domain	`site:seotrance.com "e-business"`	Also works with subdomains
`filetype:`/`ext:`	Restrict type	`privacy impact filetype:pdf`	Use OR to include multiple
`intitle:`	In page title	`intitle:"schema markup"`	Prefer one `intitle:` per query
`inurl:`	In URL path	`inurl:api pagination`	Good for docs
`intext:`	In body text	`intext:"event sourcing"`	Use for concept words
`before:`/`after:`	Date filters	`after:2024-06-01`	ISO dates; combine with topic
`*` (in quotes)	Wildcard word	`"best * for beginners"`	Great for patterns/templates
`AROUND(n)` / `NEAR:n`	Proximity	`"data quality" AROUND(4) "governance"`	Google: `AROUND(n)`; Bing: `NEAR:n`

Practice Queries

"customer journey" AROUND(5) "micro-conversions" after:2024-01-01
site:developers.google.com intitle:"structured data" (faq OR how-to)
("server-side tagging" OR sst) (gtm OR ga4) -agency -hiring
site:docs.aws.amazon.com inurl:iam "least privilege"
"first-party data" (consent OR "preferential treatment") filetype:pdf

Operator behavior evolves. If a query becomes inconsistent, simplify, then re-add operators one by one. When researching with AI-driven SERPs, tighter scoping (site:, filetype:, intitle:) often yields more controllable, citable results.