LinkedIn Creator Discovery sorts creators by job and industry. It opens wide in early 2027

LinkedIn said on 28 September 2026 that it is testing Creator Discovery, a search tool inside its Creator Marketplace. Brands in the test can filter people by content type, industry, job function, audience make-up and Top Voices status.

Creator Discovery opens to every advertiser in early 2027

The beta runs now with a limited group. LinkedIn expects to open the tool to all advertisers in early 2027. Brands outside the test keep the marketplace as it stands, which lists creators, their earlier posts and publisher material.

LinkedIn says 63 per cent of business buyers read creators first

The company makes its case with its own numbers. It says 63 per cent of business buyers turn to creators early in the buying process. It also says 80 per cent of marketers name finding the right person as the hardest part of the work. Both figures come from LinkedIn, not from an outside study. Its own research already put the start of a business purchase 124 days before the first sales call.

Thought Leader Ads beat plain image ads, on LinkedIn numbers

LinkedIn reports that Thought Leader Ads, which push a creator post to a paid audience, get a 252 per cent higher click rate than a single image ad. It gives 45 per cent more clicks at the awareness stage and 48 per cent at conversion. BrandLink, which places ads inside creator and publisher video, gets 130 per cent higher video completion. All of these are the company counts.

Agencies still lose part of the money before it reaches the creator

Better search does not fix the money question. A recent audit found that up to 65 per cent of a creator budget stops before the creator. A filter helps a brand pick a name. It says nothing about what that name is finally paid, or who takes a cut on the way.

From early 2027 the filters become part of the standard marketplace, so a brand can screen by job function before it writes to anyone. Until that date only the test group sees them, and everyone else keeps searching by hand.