# LinkedIn mapping

Many companies have multiple LinkedIn profiles (including duplicates and non-official pages). Typical data vendors often rely on LinkedIn as a source of truth for foundational company data. Still, they incorrectly assume that companies have only one LinkedIn profile or use the LinkedIn website itself as the source of truth. However, this approach is insufficient.

* Starbucks alone has 100+ LinkedIn profiles
* Google's [LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/google) is associated with [`goo.gle/3DLEokh`](https://goo.gle/3DLEokh), a short link to their careers site.
* In your CRM, Frito-Lay may be incorrectly associated with `linkedin.com/company/frito-lay-inc/`, which looks correct, but isn't.

Kernel's LinkedIn mapping takes place in two steps

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Candidate generation**

Kernel maintains a database of all LinkedIn profiles (updated monthly). For each company, Kernel generates a long list of potential candidates using a variety of techniques (see [#techniques-used-for-linkedin-mapping](#techniques-used-for-linkedin-mapping "mention"))
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Candidate ranking**

Kernel ranks all profiles using a custom algorithm that uses string similarity, headcount, LinkedIn followers, and how much of the LinkedIn profile is complete.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}
**Candidate selection**

Kernel uses an AI-based approach to candidate selection, comparing the data of the top candidates against unstructured data of the target account.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

<details>

<summary>Techniques used for LinkedIn mapping</summary>

<table><thead><tr><th width="264.79296875">Technique</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Find the LinkedIn URL on the company's website</td><td>Many company's maintain a link to their official LinkedIn on their website, often in the footer.</td></tr><tr><td>Existing LinkedIn in your CRM</td><td>If an account in your CRM already has a LinkedIn associated with it, Kernel will use this as a candidate</td></tr><tr><td>Exact domain match</td><td>If the LinkedIn's profile has an exact domain match to the target company's website</td></tr><tr><td>Web search</td><td>Kernel searches the web for viable candidates</td></tr></tbody></table>

</details>

The result is to add missing LinkedIn accounts to your CRM and replace incorrect mappings with correct ones, allowing the SDRs and AEs to look up the correct profile.

<figure><img src="https://1215786129-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FvRYB7XIKCnmUi9oCEQGV%2Fuploads%2FfQNrsFpzm6NnmVl5f5Sv%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=a270aa2f-6552-4e80-8a0f-2dd73a904bc3" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
Kernel provides all data points from a company's LinkedIn profile as part of its [Foundational enrichment](https://docs.kernel.ai/legacy/data/foundational-enrichment).
{% endhint %}