LinkedIn Mentions
How to tag people and companies in LinkedIn posts and comments
Overview
LinkedIn uses a special mention format to tag people and companies in posts and comments. Unlike platforms like Twitter where you can simply use @username, LinkedIn requires a specific format that includes the account’s URN (Uniform Resource Name).
Mention Format
To mention someone on LinkedIn, use this format in your copy field:
@[Display Name](urn)
For example:
- Person:
@[John Doe](urn:li:person:ABC123xyz) - Company:
@[Acme Inc](urn:li:organization:123456)
When the post is published, LinkedIn will convert these into clickable profile links and notify the tagged accounts.
Finding URNs
Use the Mention format by username endpoint to look up URNs by LinkedIn username.
The username is the part after /in/ or /company/ in a LinkedIn profile URL:
linkedin.com/in/johndoe→johndoelinkedin.com/company/acme-inc→acme-inc
Example Request
curl -X GET "https://app.tryordinal.com/api/v1/linkedin/johndoe/mentions" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Example Response
{
"user": {
"username": "johndoe",
"urn": "urn:li:person:ABC123xyz",
"type": "User",
"displayName": "John Doe",
"firstName": "John",
"mentionFormat": "@[John Doe](urn:li:person:ABC123xyz)",
"firstNameMentionFormat": "@[John](urn:li:person:ABC123xyz)"
},
"organization": null
}
The response includes pre-formatted mentionFormat strings that you can copy directly into your post content.
Looking up profiles by URN
If you already have a URN and need to resolve it to a username, name, or profile picture, use the Get LinkedIn profile by URN endpoint.
Example request
curl -X GET "https://app.tryordinal.com/api/v1/linkedin/profile/urn:li:person:ABC123xyz" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Example response
{
"urn": "urn:li:person:ABC123xyz",
"username": "johndoe",
"name": "John Doe",
"profileImageUrl": "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/photo.jpg",
"type": "User"
}
This works for both person and organization URNs.
Using Mentions in Posts
Include the mention format directly in your post copy:
{
"title": "Product Launch",
"publishAt": "2026-01-20T14:00:00.000Z",
"status": "Scheduled",
"linkedIn": {
"profileId": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
"copy": "Excited to announce our partnership with @[Acme Inc](urn:li:organization:123456)!\n\nHuge thanks to @[John Doe](urn:li:person:ABC123xyz) for making this happen."
}
}
Using Mentions in Engagements
Mentions also work in team engagement comments and reposts:
{
"channel": "LinkedIn",
"engagements": [
{
"type": "Comment",
"profileId": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002",
"copy": "Great insights @[Jane Smith](urn:li:person:XYZ789abc)! What do you think about this?",
"delaySeconds": 300
}
]
}
First Name vs Full Name
For personal profiles, you can choose to display just the first name:
| Format | Result on LinkedIn |
|---|---|
@[John Doe](urn:li:person:ABC123) |
John Doe |
@[John](urn:li:person:ABC123) |
John |
The mention lookup endpoint provides both mentionFormat (full name) and firstNameMentionFormat (first name only) for convenience.