# Search operators

Category: [Basics & Search Engines](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/basics-search-engines/) › [Search engines & search](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/basics-search-engines/search-engines-search/) · Also known as: [object Object], [object Object]

**Search operators** are characters and keywords, such as quotation marks or `site:`, that narrow a query in a search engine. In Google, they restrict results to one domain, a file type, a date range or an exact phrase.

## How do search operators work?

An operator sits directly before the search term with no space between them. Google's help page states that `site:nytimes.com` works and `site: nytimes.com` does not. The operators on that page are quotation marks for an exact phrase, `site:`, the minus sign to exclude a word, `before:` and `after:` for dates, and `filetype:`.

Google's documentation for site debugging in Search Central covers four operators, `site:`, `filetype:`, `imagesize:` and `src:`. The last two apply to image search only. Others, such as `intitle:` and `inurl:`, are widely used by SEOs but are not listed on the Google pages above.

## Limits for SEO work

Google writes that search operators are bound by indexing and retrieval limits and that the URL Inspection tool in Search Console is more reliable for debugging. A `site:` query is a quick check of whether a domain has pages in the index. The number of results is only a rough hint (assessment).

## Example

```
site:example.com                      results from this domain only
site:example.com filetype:pdf         PDF files on this domain
"canonical tag" -wordpress            exact phrase, excluding results with "wordpress"
site:example.com after:2026-01-01     pages updated after this date
```

## FAQ

**Do Google search operators still work?**
The operators in Google's help page are documented. Those outside the documentation can change without notice (assessment).

**Does the space after the colon matter?**
Yes. With a space, Google does not treat the operator as one.

## Related terms

- [SEO (search engine optimization)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/seo/index.md)
- [SEM (search engine marketing)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/sem/index.md)
- [Search engine](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/search-engine/index.md)

## Sources

- [Refine Google searches – Google Search Help](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en)
- [Debugging with Google Search operators – Google Search Central (updated 10.12.2025)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/monitor-debug/search-operators)
- [Google Search Operators: The Complete List – Ahrefs (secondary)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-advanced-search-operators/)
- [What is a search operator? – TechTarget (secondary)](https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/search-operator)
- [site: search operator – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/monitor-debug/search-operators/all-search-site)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/search-operators/