How the HiringCoachAI LinkedIn profile score works

The short version

49 checks in 10 sections add up to 100 points. Each check belongs to one lens: findability, first impression or credibility. It is a HiringCoachAI rubric, not a LinkedIn metric, and it does not predict views, interviews or offers.

Points by section

Score bands

Bands name where your total falls. They describe your profile, not a hiring outcome.

• Needs work0 to 39
• Developing40 to 59
• Strong60 to 79
• Polished80 to 100

How the total is calculated

• Your total is the points you earned divided by the points we could assess, scaled to 100.
• A check is not assessed when we could not read that part of your profile, when you answered Not sure, when an AI check did not run, when a keyword check has fewer than 3 target terms to look for, or when a wording check meets text that is not in English. Not assessed checks are left out of the denominator instead of counted as missing.
• Checks you mark Does not apply, and checks that do not fit your goal, are left out the same way. Every check can be marked Does not apply, so 100 is reachable.
• When fewer than 40 of the 100 points can be assessed, we show section results without an overall total or band.
• Advisory checks are worth 0 points. They note something worth a look and never lower your score.
• The points on each fix are the change in your total when that check passes, on the same 100 point scale.
• 6 checks worth 13 points are judged by an AI model and marked Estimated. The model must quote your own text; strong earns full points, adequate earns half rounded up, weak earns none. When you edit a section, its AI-judged checks are set aside until they are checked again.
• Photo and banner presence come from your answers. This version does not check the image itself, so the other photo and banner checks are not assessed.

Evidence grades

A

LinkedIn-stated or independent large-sample data

B

Partial, dated or vendor data

C

Editorial judgment, no outcome data

What this score cannot tell you

• It is not a LinkedIn metric. LinkedIn does not publish how its search ranks profiles, so each check rests on LinkedIn's help pages, LinkedIn engineering writing, vendor studies or editorial judgment, graded A to C.
• It does not predict profile views, recruiter messages, interviews or offers.
• We only read what you import. LinkedIn's PDF leaves out your photo, banner, Featured section and endorsement counts, and often shortens your skills list.
• AI-judged checks are estimates. They can differ slightly between runs.
• Wording checks such as buzzwords and action verbs run on English text only.

LinkedIn limits we use

LinkedIn does not publish these limits in one place, so each value is marked unverified with the date we last checked it.

• Headline character limit: 220Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• Headline characters shown in search cards: 60Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• About character limit: 2,600Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• About characters shown before See more on a phone: 200Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• Experience description character limit: 2,000Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• Skills limit (LinkedIn Help): 100Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• Skills limit (LinkedIn blog, 2024): 50Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)
• PDF sidebar boundary, as a share of page width: 0.33Unverified, last checked 2026-10-20Source(opens in a new tab)