Guest Post Search Operators: 7 Footprints, Tested
Guest post search operators are Google searches that find sites accepting guest posts: your niche plus a phrase those sites put on their submission pages. We tested seven of them in three niches to see which return real leads.
Use [niche] intitle:"write for us" or [niche] inurl:write-for-us first: each returned 24 usable leads out of 30 in our test. Add "guest post by" to find sites that have already published guest posts.
Skip: results from vendors and "200+ sites" lists; several were in every search.
7 footprints, 3 niches, 210 Google results sorted by hand. The best returned 80% usable leads; "become a contributor" returned 30%.
The guest post search operators to copy
Replace [niche] with your topic, for example gardening or personal finance:
| Search | What it finds |
|---|---|
[niche] intitle:"write for us" | Pages with "write for us" in the title, usually the site's own submission page |
[niche] inurl:write-for-us | Pages whose address contains write-for-us |
[niche] "write for us" | Any page with the phrase, including lists that mention it |
[niche] "guest post guidelines" | Guideline pages, plus templates and lists |
[niche] "submit a guest post" | Submission forms and pages, plus vendors selling posts |
[niche] "guest post by" | Guest posts already published, which shows the site accepts them |
[niche] "become a contributor" | Contributor programmes, mostly on larger publications |
Two additions narrow any of them: -site:pinterest.com (or any domain) removes a site that keeps appearing, and after:2025-01-01 keeps pages from after a date.
Which footprints return real leads
We ran each footprint for personal finance, gardening and SaaS on 12 October 2026 (Google US) and sorted the top 10 results by hand. A result counted as a lead if it was a site's own submission page, or a guest post it had published, in that niche. Lists of "sites that accept guest posts", vendors selling placements, job boards, Pinterest, Quora and off-topic pages did not.
| Footprint | Personal finance | Gardening | SaaS | Leads (of 30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
intitle:"write for us" | 6 | 9 | 9 | 24 |
inurl:write-for-us | 7 | 8 | 9 | 24 |
"write for us" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
"guest post guidelines" | 4 | 6 | 5 | 15 |
"submit a guest post" | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
"guest post by" | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
"become a contributor" | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
- The three "write for us" searches overlap heavily. They returned largely the same pages, especially in gardening and SaaS, so one of them is usually enough.
- "guest post by" behaves differently by niche. In personal finance and gardening it surfaced published guest posts on real blogs; in SaaS it returned lists and SEO guides about guest posting.
- Vendors show up everywhere. Guest post sellers, marketplaces and "200+ sites" lists appeared across footprints, sometimes in the top two results.
- "Write for us" does not mean free. Some submission pages in the results were paid placements, one with its price in the page title.
Method: one Google US search per footprint and niche via the Serper API on 12 October 2026, top 10 organic results, each judged by hand from its title and address; pages were not opened.
How Google reads these searches
Google's search help lists quotes for an exact phrase, site:, the minus sign to exclude a word, before: and after: for dates, and filetype:, and it notes: "Do not put spaces between the operator and your search term." intitle: and inurl: are not on that list, but both returned matching pages in our test. Google's own site: documentation adds that a page showing up for an operator search is not guaranteed, so treat results as a sample, not a full list.
After you find a site
- Read the guidelines. Check topics, link rules and whether there is a fee.
- Check a recent guest post. If the newest one is years old, the page may be stale.
- Pitch a specific topic. Use the guest post pitch template, and read the guest posting guide for the rest.
Searching by hand only finds sites with a submission page; a blog without one never shows up. MentionAgent finds blog posts in your niche whether or not they invite submissions, finds the editor's email and drafts a pitch about that post, for you to approve or auto-send, from $99/mo.
Find blogs without a write-for-us page
MentionAgent finds blogs in your niche, emails the person who runs each one and brings you their reply to approve. From $99/mo, no per-link fees.
See how MentionAgent worksFrequently asked questions
What are guest post search operators?
They are Google searches that combine your niche with a phrase sites use on their submission pages, such as "write for us" or "guest post guidelines", sometimes with an operator like intitle: or inurl:, to find blogs that accept guest posts.
Which guest post footprint works best?
In our test across personal finance, gardening and SaaS, intitle:"write for us" and inurl:write-for-us each returned 24 usable leads out of 30 results, and a plain "write for us" returned 23. "become a contributor" was weakest, with 9.
Does Google still support intitle: and inurl:?
Google's search help lists quotes, site:, the minus sign, before:, after: and filetype: as its popular operators, and does not list intitle: or inurl:. Both still returned matching pages in our test on 12 October 2026.
How do I find guest posts that are recent?
Add after: with a date, for example gardening "guest post by" after:2025-01-01. Google documents before: and after: for finding pages by date.
Are sites found with these searches free to post on?
Not always. Several "write for us" pages in our results were paid placements, and some results were vendors selling guest posts on other sites. Read each page's guidelines for a fee before you pitch.