Search and Scrape Instagram Profiles by Category and Keywords

This guide shows you how to find and scrape thousands of Instagram profiles containing specific keywords in their bio.

You will also learn how to target profiles belonging to specific Instagram categories.

Native Instagram search has severe limits. Searching profiles using keywords returns a dozen results. Searching hashtags returns posts instead of profiles.

We solve this problem using Google. Google indexes Instagram pages, so you can easily hunt for specific bio keywords or pull profiles from exact Instagram categories.

📌 Quick Links

• Why This Method Works
• The Real Limitation: Google Search Cap
• The Google Method Explained
• Search Instagram Profiles using Keywords
• Search Instagram Profiles using Instagram Categories
• Clean Results
• Scrape Full Instagram Profiles Data
• Pricing
• Conclusion

Why This Method Works

Instagram restricts advanced bio keyword searches. However, profile pages are public. Google indexes many of these pages and searches inside them. Google acts as a search engine for Instagram bios.

This works because we separate discovery from extraction. First, use Google to discover profile URLs at scale. Second, use our Instagram Profile Scraper to pull structured data from each profile.

Using Google acts as a filtering mechanism. Google prioritizes indexed, linked, and visible profiles. You mostly get businesses, influencers, and active creators. High visibility translates to higher quality targets for your lead list building.

The Real Limitation: Google Search Cap

One Google query yields a maximum of 250 to 350 results. You cannot bypass this limit by scraping harder. You bypass it by changing the search angle.

Because a single query caps results, the solution involves multiplying search angles. You will use the Datablist Google Bulk Queries scraper to extract results from hundreds of queries.

This method lets you scrape several thousand Instagram profiles using keywords. It costs less than alternative platforms. You can get 4,000 Instagram profile URLs for $10.

The Google Method Explained

Google Query

Google provides operators to force searches on specific websites and to discard URLs containing specific paths.

Combining these operators creates a query returning only Instagram Profiles.

"Keyword" -inurl:/p/ -inurl:/reel -inurl:/channel -inurl:/guides -inurl:/explore site:instagram.com

Query explanation:

• "Keyword" forces an exact match.
• -inurl:/p/ removes standard posts.
• -inurl:/reel removes reels.
• -inurl:/guides removes guides pages.
• -inurl:/explore removes expore pages.
• site:instagram.com restricts the URL to Instagram.

Generating Query Variations

LLMs provide a simple way to generate alternative keywords. You can use them to generate a list of Google queries to paste into the Datablist Google Queries scraper.

My favorite LLMs for this:

• ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• Claude

Scraping & Cleaning

Google returns up to 300 results per query. One hundred variations yield up to 30,000 potential results. Many results overlap. After cleaning and deduplication, you retain a large unique dataset.

Each keyword hits a slightly different cluster of profiles. Overlap occurs. Deduplication removes redundant profiles. The remaining list forms a strong core of unique profiles discovered from multiple angles.

Search Instagram Profiles using Keywords

Now that you understand the method, let’s apply it to search Instagram profiles using keywords.

Google searches for text inside profile pages. This method works well for keyword-based searches because Google returns profiles containing the keywords in their description/bio.

If your main keyword is "fitness coach", you can expand to other keywords such as:

• personal trainer
• strength coach
• online fitness coach
• weight loss coach
• gym coach
• bodybuilding coach

Each variation unlocks new profiles.

Notes: Adapt the prompt to get more keywords or generate variations on other angles.

Once you have the list of categories, use an LLM to generate the queries.

Open Datablist and click on "Start from data source" in the sidebar.

Select the Google Search Queries data source.

Paste the queries generated from the prompt. Adapt the search settings to target localized profiles or specific countries.

Run the Google Queries scraping. And follow the cleaning, deduplication, and enrichment steps detailed later.

Search Instagram Profiles using Instagram Categories

Another use of this method is to search Instagram profiles using categories instead of keywords.

Instagram business accounts use categories. These accounts often match the profiles you want to reach.

💡 Get Business Category Name in English

Visit Instagram Business pages to get examples of category names. If your browser uses another language, Instagram shows translated category names. For Google search, always use the English category label. To force English, add ?locale=en or ?hl=en to the profile URL while logged out or browsing in private mode. See our force a language when visiting a Instagram Profile.

Instagram has thousands of hierarchical categories. Each category and its subcategories provide useful Google query variations.

Example:

• Broad category = Apparel & Clothing
• Subcategory = Women’s Clothing Store
• Sub-subcategory = Sustainable Women’s Clothing

Each level unlocks new search angles. We ask an LLM to generate hundreds of related categories and feed them into Google Search.

Once you have the list of categories, generate the queries.

Open Datablist and click on "Start from data source" in the sidebar.

Select the Google Search Queries data source.

Paste the queries. Adapt the search settings if targeting localized profiles.

Run the scraping tool. Afterwards, follow the cleaning, deduplication, and enrichment steps.

Clean Results

The Google Bulk Queries Scraper returns some irrelevant results and duplicated profiles alongside the correct data.

Before enriching each Instagram profile, you must clean web scraping data online by removing useless results and duplicates.

Clean Step 1 - Remove Non-Profile Results

Expand the Result URL column and check for patterns failing to match Instagram Profiles. Use the filtering tools to delete items lacking profile characteristics.

For example, here we got Instagram URLs starting with /popular. We need to remove those.

Use the filtering tool to list items using a list of terms.

Then delete the items.

In this example, we also got Profile URl with an extra path at the end /reels/.

We will remove it to get the Instagram profile URL.

Click on Clean and Find & Replace.

Find /reels/ and replace with empty string.

Clean Step 2 - Remove Duplicates

Overlap confirms strong profiles appear in multiple searches. Deduplication ensures you retain one copy. Use the Clean - Duplicates Finder tool to find and remove duplicates.

Open the Duplicate Finder by clicking on the Clean -> Duplicate Finder link. Select the Result URL as the identifier. Items sharing a profile URL will match.

In the next screen, select the URL preprocessor and enable the "Ignore Query Params" setting. This setting ensures two similar profile URLs match despite containing extra tracking query parameters.

Once you have the list of duplicates, click on Drop Conflicting Values.

Refresh with new settings.

Check the preview and click Auto Merge.

Scrape Full Instagram Profiles Data

The Google Queries Scraper returns only the discovery layer: result title, URL, and snippet. This step yields profile URLs without extracting structured Instagram data.

The next step is enrichment. Enrichment connects to each profile URL and extracts structured data directly from Instagram. To get the full dataset, use our Instagram Profile Scraper.

Data points you extract:

• Bio
• Public email
• Followers count
• Following count
• External link
• Category

This lets you filter by follower count, filter by email presence, and segment influencers versus small creators.

Click on Enrich and and search for the Instagram Profile Scraper.

Select Instagram Profile Scraper.

Select the Instagram scraper you prefer. Check the setting description to learn more about the fields extracted by each scraper.

Map the input with the Result Link containing the Instagram Profile URL.

Add the scraper outputs to your collection with the Add all XXX outputs to collection.

The Instagram profile data points are added to your collection as new columns.

Run the scraper on the first 10 items. If the initial results look good, your scraping configuration is correct. Run the scraper on the remaining profiles.

Pricing

Here are what you need to know about the pricing:

• Datablist Google Queries scraper costs 2.5 credits for 10 Google results.
• Datablist offers a monthly subscription starting at $25/month alongside credit packages. With the first credit package, you get 1000 credits for $1.
• Cleaning and deduplication are included in the subscription.
• Our Instagram Profile enrichment starts at 1 credit per profile, giving you 1000 profiles for $1.

💡 Clean before you enrich Every profile you enrich costs credits. If you enrich duplicates or bad URLs, you burn money for nothing. Remove junk and duplicates first. Then spend credits only on solid, unique profiles.

Pricing Example

• 400 profiles scraped from Google = $1
• Enrich 400 profile URLs with our Instagram Profile Scraper = $0.40
• Total cost = $1.40

Other Real Examples

Here are two easy copiable examples:

• Find and scrape Yoga Influencers
• Find Niche Micro Influencers
• Find Coaches in Specific Niches

Example #1 - Find and Scrape Yoga Influencers

If you want to build a list of yoga-related influencers, yoga studios, or yoga coaches, follow this concrete workflow.

Step 1: Generate Keyword and Category Variations

We want yoga-related keywords commonly found in bios and Instagram business categories related to yoga.

You receive variations such as yoga instructor, certified yoga teacher, wellness studio, and holistic wellness coach. Each term becomes a new search angle.

Step 2: Generate All Google Queries

Once you have your list of keywords and categories, generate Google queries automatically.

You can paste all these queries into the Datablist Google Queries Scraper.

Step 3: Scrape, Clean, and Deduplicate

Each query returns up to 250 results. Generating 80 yoga variations yields 16,000 raw URLs. After removing non-profile URLs and deduplicating, you retain several thousand unique yoga-related Instagram profiles.

Step 4: Enrich and Segment

Once cleaned, run the Instagram Profile Scraper enrichment. Now you can filter influencers with over 10,000 followers, keep profiles with public emails, separate yoga studios from solo instructors, and segment by bio keywords like "online classes".

Example #2 - Find Niche Micro Influencers

Building a list of niche micro-influencers requires a tailored workflow. Suppose your niche is "vegan skincare". You need small creators in a specific segment, avoiding generic beauty influencers.

Step 1: Generate Niche Keyword and Category Variations

We need two types of variations: bio keywords commonly used by micro-influencers in this niche, and Instagram business categories related to this niche.

You receive variations such as vegan skincare blogger, clean beauty creator, cruelty free skincare, eco beauty influencer, plant based skincare expert, and sustainable beauty advocate.

Each variation becomes a new discovery angle.

Step 2: Generate All Google Queries

Use the standard Google pattern:

"Keyword" -inurl:/p/ -inurl:/reel -inurl:/channel -inurl:/guides -inurl:/explore site:instagram.com

Generate one query per keyword and category. You now possess dozens of search angles targeting small creators in this niche.

Step 3: Scrape, Clean, and Deduplicate

Paste all queries into the Datablist Google Queries Scraper. This tool returns hundreds or thousands of profile URLs. Next, remove URLs failing to match profiles and remove duplicates. Overlap happens frequently. Strong profiles appear in multiple queries.

Step 4: Enrich and Filter Micro Influencers

Run the Instagram Profile Scraper enrichment.

You can now:

• Filter by follower count between 1,000 and 20,000
• Keep profiles with public emails
• Search bios for words like "UGC", "collab", or "DM for partnership"
• Segment by country or language

You now own a clean CSV of niche micro-influencers ready for outreach.

Example #3 - Find Coaches in Specific Niches

Broad terms like "business coach" produce generic results. Narrow niches offer better opportunities. Examples include Notion productivity coaches, ADHD business coaches, or breathwork coaches for entrepreneurs. Follow these steps to build your lead list.

Step 1: Expand the Niche into Bio Keywords

Start with your narrow niche.

You receive results like ADHD productivity coach, neurodivergent entrepreneur mentor, focus coach for founders, and executive function coach. Each keyword opens a new search path.

Step 2: Add Instagram Business Categories

Ask for related Instagram business categories. These include Business Coach, Mental Health Service, Consultant, and Education. Combine categories and bio keywords to maximize coverage.

Step 3: Generate and Scrape Google Queries

Build one Google query per keyword and category using the same pattern. Scrape all queries in batch using the Datablist Google Queries Scraper.

Step 4: Clean and Enrich

Remove non-profile URLs and deduplicate overlapping results. Enrich profiles to extract the bio, category, followers, and email. You can filter by exact niche keywords in the bio, filter by minimum follower count, and tag profiles by sub-niche. This process turns a tiny niche into a structured and qualified list of coaches ready for partnerships, research, or lead generation.

Conclusion

This workflow gives you a simple and repeatable way to find and scrape Instagram profiles using keywords and Instagram categories.

Here is the full process from start to finish:

1. Generate keyword variations.
2. Build Google queries.
3. Scrape results using the Google Queries Scraper.
4. Remove non-profile URLs.
5. Deduplicate the list.
6. Enrich Instagram profiles.

FAQ

Is Instagram scraping with Google legal?

Instagram scraping depends on how you collect and use data. For collecting profiles, we only access publicly available profile pages indexed by Google. You hold responsibility for complying with local laws and Instagram’s terms. Always use the data ethically and avoid spam.

Can I search Instagram profiles directly inside Instagram using keywords?

No. Instagram restricts advanced keyword searches inside bios. You can search usernames or hashtags, but you cannot search bio text at scale. We use Google to bypass this limitation.

Why not use an Instagram search tool instead of Google?

Most Instagram search tools are expensive. They often limit results and restrict keyword depth. You still hit result caps. Using Google queries alongside a no-code scraping tool gives you control over search angles. You multiply keywords and scale discovery for a lower cost.

How many Instagram profiles can I find with this method?

One Google query returns up to 250 results. Generating 100 keyword variations uncovers up to 25,000 raw URLs. After removing duplicates, you retain several thousand unique Instagram profiles. Adding more search angles increases your dataset. The Datablist Google Queries Scraping data source limits results to 90,000. For more data, create multiple collections and split your queries into batches.

Why do I need to deduplicate results?

Overlap happens naturally. Strong profiles rank for many keyword variations. Failing to remove duplicates wastes enrichment credits, wastes time reviewing duplicate profiles, and distorts your data. Deduplication keeps your list clean and cheaper to process.

What data can I extract from Instagram profiles?

With the Instagram Profile Scraper enrichment in Datablist, you extract the bio, public email, followers count, following count, external link, and category. This data lets you filter, segment, and qualify leads before outreach.

Can I filter Instagram profiles by country?

To target profiles in specific countries, define the country in the Google scraping settings or use localized keywords. The Instagram Profile Scraper extracts profile country data, allowing you to filter the final dataset.

Can I find micro influencers with this method?

Yes. After enrichment, filter by follower count. For example, select 1,000 to 10,000 followers for micro-influencers. You can also search bios for terms like "UGC", "collab", or "DM for partnership".

Is this method only for influencers?

No. You can use it to find local businesses, find niche coaches, build B2B prospect lists, and identify creators in specific segments. Any profile featuring relevant keywords in their bio appears in the search.

Why use Datablist instead of doing everything manually?

Copying and pasting Google results manually wastes time. Datablist automates AI web scraping at scale. It runs hundreds of Google queries simultaneously, collects URLs, removes duplicates, enriches profiles, and exports a clean CSV. It turns a tedious task into a structured workflow.

Can I export the Instagram profiles to CSV or Excel?

Yes. After cleaning and enrichment, export your collection to CSV or Excel. This allows you to import data into a CRM, share files with your team, launch outreach campaigns, and analyze the dataset.