How to build a LinkedIn prospect list as an SDR (B2B)

An SDR spends too much of the day copying names out of LinkedIn. This guide moves that step to an API call and keeps LinkedIn for what it does well: the connection request and the reply.

TL;DR

• Size the list first with a free count, then pull only the rows you will work this week.
• Enrich the people you will contact, so the email and LinkedIn URL arrive together.
• It takes about 20 minutes and spends about 50 records on the example below, which fits inside the Free plan's 1,000.

Prerequisites

• A LeadOcean API key from app.leadocean.io, exported as $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY. The Free plan has no card and allows 5 requests a second.
• curl and jq, or any HTTP client.
• A target profile: titles, country and company size. Write it down before you query.

Step 1: Define who the SDR is chasing

Start with a buyer, not a keyword. Pick one title family, one country and one headcount band.

For this example the buyer is a Sales Development Representative in the US, at companies with 51 to 200 people. The enum strings are exact, so check them before you use them. Job levels are C-Team, Director, Manager, Other, Staff and VP.

curl -s "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/enums/job_level" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" | jq '.data.values'

Step 2: Size the list for free

A count costs nothing. Send count=true as a query parameter with limit 1, and the body stays flat JSON.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/people/search?count=true&limit=1" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": ["Sales Development Representative"],
    "country": ["US"],
    "employeeRange": ["51-200"]
  }' | jq '.meta'

meta.total is capped at 100,000, and data comes back empty with meta.countOnly true. If the number is too big to work, narrow it. If it is under a few hundred, widen the title.

Step 3: Pull a first batch

Pull one page of 25. A search page of 25 is 25 records, so keep limit small until you trust the filters.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/people/search" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": ["Sales Development Representative"],
    "country": ["US"],
    "employeeRange": ["51-200"],
    "limit": 25
  }' > batch1.json

jq -r '.meta.nextCursor // "no more pages"' batch1.json

To get the next page, send the same body with "cursor" set to that value. One search pages to 10,000 rows, then meta.depthCapped turns true. Narrow the filters instead of walking further.

Step 4: Enrich the people you will contact

Search finds the person. Enrich adds the work email and the profile link. Enrich takes exactly one of linkedin_url, email, phone or person_id, and reveal_email returns the address.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/people/enrich" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"person_id": "PERSON_ID_FROM_SEARCH", "reveal_email": true}'

A person we hold nothing for is a 404 and costs nothing. Read email_status before you send: there is no refund for bounces.

If you already have a LinkedIn URL from a prospect who replied, enrich from that instead.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/people/enrich" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe-example"}'

Step 5: Split the work between email and LinkedIn

Use email for the first touch to anyone with verified status. Use LinkedIn for people without a safe address, and for the second touch on everyone else.

A simple weekly rhythm for one SDR:

1. Monday: pull 100 rows, enrich the top 50.
2. Tuesday to Thursday: email first, then a LinkedIn connection note on day 3.
3. Friday: count again with a tighter filter and refill the queue.

The app has no sequencer or Chrome extension. Send from your own tool and keep LeadOcean as the data source. For a company-first view, see account-based sales development.

Step 6: Export the batch when it is bigger than a page

Past a few hundred rows, export instead of paging. POST /v1/exports takes up to 50,000 rows a request and 500,000 a day. Bulk CSV export is not on Free, so this step needs Solo ($97 a month) or higher.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.leadocean.io/v1/exports" \
  -H "x-api-key: $LEADOCEAN_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filters": {
      "title": ["Sales Development Representative"],
      "country": ["US"],
      "employeeRange": ["51-200"]
    },
    "limit": 500
  }'

You can do the same from the Exports page in the app: filter builder, column picker, a price preview, then a CSV download. If you used Sales Navigator for this before, the Sales Navigator export guide covers what that route allows.

What you get

The free count for the Step 2 audience, run through the LeadOcean MCP tool leadocean_count_leads on 2026-10-21 with title Sales Development Representative, country US and employeeRange 51-200.

{
  "total": 1630,
  "totalIsExact": true,
  "totalAll": 6470,
  "distinctCompanies": 936,
  "credits": 0
}

total counts people with a verified, catch-all-valid or catch-all email. totalAll is the same filters with no email condition. The 1,630 people work at 936 companies. The count spent no records.

A search row carries the person's id at meta.source_ids.person_id, the LinkedIn profile_url when held, and the flags has_email, email_status and email_type. It never carries the address itself; Step 4 does that. About a fifth of people have no LinkedIn URL, so enrich those by person_id.

For more on getting email from a profile, see how to use LinkedIn for B2B sales.

Troubleshooting

FAQ