Automate LinkedIn Company Search & AI Scoring with n8n and Google Sheets

What This Automation Does

This workflow searches LinkedIn companies using set filters, gets company details, scores companies with AI, and adds good companies to a Google Sheets CRM.

It solves the pain of spending too much time manually finding good leads on LinkedIn.

The result is a cleaner, scored list of companies, ready for sales follow-up.

How the Workflow Works: Inputs, Processing, and Output

Inputs

• Company search criteria like industry, location, and company size.
• Positive and negative indicators for AI scoring.
• API keys for Ghost Genius, Google Sheets, and OpenAI.

Processing Steps

1. The Set Variables node collects target criteria and scoring indicators.
2. The Search Companies node calls the Ghost Genius API to find LinkedIn companies matching criteria.
3. The Extract Company Data node splits the response into individual companies.
4. The Process Each Company node works through each company one by one with a short wait to avoid API limits.
5. The Get Company Info node retrieves detailed info like website and followers.
6. The Filter Valid Companies node removes companies without websites or under 200 followers.
7. The Check If Company Exists node looks in Google Sheets to avoid duplicates.
8. If new, the AI Company Scoring node uses OpenAI to give each company a score from 0 to 10, based on fit.
9. A wait node pauses to respect Google Sheets limits.
10. The Add Company to CRM node appends the qualified company info and score to Google Sheets.
11. The workflow loops back to process the next company until done.

Outputs

• Updated Google Sheets CRM with new, scored companies.
• A better, easier-to-use list of leads.

Tools and Services Used

• Ghost Genius API: Searches LinkedIn companies and gets company data.
• OpenAI API: Scores companies for relevance using GPT-4.1.
• Google Sheets: Stores and manages the CRM data.
• n8n: Orchestrates the entire workflow.

Beginner Step-by-Step: How to Use this Workflow in n8n

Import the Workflow

1. Download the workflow file using the Download button on this page.
2. Inside the n8n editor, click your profile icon, then select “Import from File.”
3. Choose the downloaded file to add the workflow.

Configure Credentials and Variables

1. Open the imported workflow and locate the Set Variables node.
2. Enter your target industry keywords, location IDs (from Ghost Genius location finder), company size, and product/service descriptions.
3. Add your Ghost Genius API key in the dedicated HTTP Request node headers.
4. Set up OpenAI API credentials in the AI Company Scoring node.
5. Authorize Google Sheets in the corresponding nodes by connecting your Google account.
6. If needed, update Google Sheets document IDs or sheet names in the Google Sheets nodes.

Test and Activate the Workflow

1. Run the workflow manually once using the Start manual trigger node to test everything.
2. Check the Google Sheets CRM to see new companies added.
3. When satisfied, activate the workflow toggle to run it regularly or on-demand.

Consider using self-host n8n for more control if running this workflow often.

Customization Ideas

• Change company size filters in the Set Variables node to target specific business sizes.
• Adjust follower count thresholds in the Filter Valid Companies node to make lead quality stricter or looser.
• Edit positive and negative indicators in the variables to refine how AI scoring judges company fit.
• Switch Google Sheets to Airtable or another CRM by replacing Google Sheets nodes with API calls.
• Increase pages fetched in the Search Companies node to pull more results, respecting API limits.

Potential Errors and How to Fix Them

• Error: “HTTP Request failed with status 401 Unauthorized”.
  Cause: Ghost Genius API key is wrong or expired.
  Fix: Update the API key in HTTP headers and confirm it’s active.
• Error: “Google Sheets append operation failed due to quota limits”.
  Cause: Too many requests hitting Google Sheets API limit.
  Fix: Increase delay in wait nodes, reduce batch size.
• Error: AI scores look wrong or unrelated.
  Cause: AI prompt indicators missing or not clear.
  Fix: Improve positive and negative indicators in Set Variables node.

Pre-Production Checklist

• Confirm Ghost Genius API key is active and correctly set.
• Make sure Google Sheets CRM is copied and OAuth2 is connected.
• Check OpenAI API key validity in n8n.
• Run test with a small data page to verify company retrieval.
• Check CRM manually for duplicates before fully running.
• Review AI scoring for logical and expected results.

Summary

✓ Saves hours weekly by automating LinkedIn lead finding.

✓ Delivers cleaned, scored company data directly into a Google Sheets CRM.

✓ Avoids duplicates and improves lead quality consistently.

→ Enables faster, smarter sales prospecting using AI and automation.