Research

LinkedIn Outreach Research

First-party research on LinkedIn outreach, from a dataset of 180,155 matured connection requests sent between January 2025 and August 2026. Every study states its sample, its denominators, and its limitations. All figures are free to quote with attribution.

Measured47.8% vs 25.5%

Do LinkedIn Connection Notes Work?

Among accepted LinkedIn connections, 47.8% replied when the request carried a note against 25.5% when it did not. Acceptance was inconclusive.

Acceptance and reply rates for 19,516 LinkedIn connection requests sent with a note against 160,639 sent without one, 8 January 2025 to 6 August 2026, all matured at least 30 days.
Measured27.1%

LinkedIn Outreach Benchmarks 2026

Across 180,155 matured LinkedIn connection requests, 27.1% were accepted, 27.6% of accepted replied and 2.0% of accepted booked a meeting.

Acceptance, reply and meeting rates across 180,155 LinkedIn connection requests sent between 8 January 2025 and 6 August 2026 and given at least 30 days to mature.
Measured32.2% → 22.0%

LinkedIn Acceptance Held Steady While Reply Rates Fell

Between 2025 and 2026 connection acceptance rose from 26.3% to 28.1% while the share of accepted connections that replied fell from 32.2% to 22.0%.

Acceptance and reply-of-accepted rates for 101,191 LinkedIn connection requests sent in 2025 against 78,964 sent in 2026, both matured at least 30 days.
Measured32.0% → 26.7%

The Volume Tax: LinkedIn Acceptance Rate by Daily Connection Volume

Acceptance peaked at 32.0% for accounts averaging 10 to 19 invites a day and fell to 26.7% at 20 to 29, where 89.6% of requests were sent.

Acceptance and reply rates by the sending account's average daily connection-invite volume, across 180,155 matured LinkedIn connection requests, 8 January 2025 to 6 August 2026.
Measured25.4 hours

How Long a LinkedIn Connection Request Takes to Be Accepted

Median time to acceptance was 25.4 hours across 53,142 accepted requests with a usable interval. 46.7% were accepted within a day and 92.0% within 30 days.

Time from send to acceptance across 53,142 accepted LinkedIn connection requests, and time from acceptance to first reply across 12,911 replies, all with a usable interval, 8 January 2025 to 6 August 2026.

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