Query syntax

Queries match one sentence at a time: a sentence matches when it satisfies the words, phrases, and operators in your query.

Combine terms

Use OR, AND, and AND NOT to combine words and phrases within the same sentence:

inflation OR pricing

inflation AND margin

silicon AND NOT valley

Write operators in uppercase (OR, AND, AND NOT); you can also use a comma , as shorthand for OR. When you want to exclude more than one term, repeat AND NOT for each exclusion: silicon AND NOT valley AND NOT chips.

Phrases and word forms

Write multi-word phrases naturally, without quotes, such as supply chain or interest rate.

Unquoted words and phrases ignore capitalization, so supply chain matches both Supply chain and supply chain. Wrap a term in double quotes when it contains an operator word or reserved character, such as "research and development" or "R&D", or when you need an exact match on capitalization and punctuation, such as "Motor", "C++", or "U.S.".

Queries do not automatically expand plurals or word stems. List the forms you want to capture (company OR companies), or use a wildcard where supported: updated search supports trailing * wildcards such as bank*, while standard search supports wildcards on the previous engine.

Group alternatives

When combining OR and AND in the same query, use parentheses to group alternatives and place exclusions at the end:

(inflation OR pricing) AND margin AND NOT wages

This matches any sentence that mentions either inflation or pricing alongside margin, as long as it does not mention wages. Make sure every opening parenthesis and quotation mark is closed.

Updated search (beta)

Accounts enrolled in updated search show a Beta badge next to the page title and a live preview below the query box that shows how your query will be interpreted. Compared with standard search, updated search differs in three ways:

• Uppercase operators only. Write AND, OR, and AND NOT in uppercase (a comma , still works as OR). Lowercase and, or, and not are rejected with a suggested fix, and the symbol shortcuts &, |, and ! are not supported. Put phrases that contain connector words in quotes, such as "research and development".
• Scoped and grouped exclusions. AND NOT applies only to the next word, phrase, or parenthesized group. For example, growth AND NOT inflation AND hiring requires both growth and hiring while excluding inflation. To exclude a combination of terms together, wrap them in parentheses: growth AND NOT (inflation AND hiring).
• Trailing * wildcards on the new engine. Any word, whether standalone or inside an unquoted phrase, can end with * after at least three letters or digits, such as bank* (matching bank, banks, and banking) or supply chain*. Single-character ? wildcards, leading or mid-word *, and wildcards after punctuation (such as u.s.*) are not supported. Inside quotes, * is treated as a literal character.

To upgrade an existing dataset marked Legacy search, see Update a legacy search in My Library.

Syntax reference