LinkedIn recommendation generator

Generate warm, specific LinkedIn recommendations in seconds. Pick your relationship, their role, three traits, and one specific moment — get a 200-word recommendation that doesn't sound generic. No sign-up.

How to use the recommendation generator

1. Pick your relationship with the person (manager, peer, client, mentor, etc.)
2. Add their first name and role so the recommendation refers to them naturally
3. Pick up to 3 traits to highlight — concrete behaviors, not adjectives
4. Add one specific moment or result (this is what makes the recommendation credible)
5. Click generate, then copy the result and paste it into LinkedIn

You can regenerate as many times as you want. The output is a starting draft — read it once, edit one line in your own voice, then send.

Why most LinkedIn recommendations fall flat

The default LinkedIn recommendation is something like:

"Sarah is an amazing person to work with. She always exceeds expectations and is a true asset to any team. I highly recommend her."

Three sentences, zero specifics. It could apply to anyone. It tells the reader nothing.

Compare that to:

"I worked with Sarah for two years on Stripe's payments platform team. The clearest thing about her is how she handles pressure: when our migration had a critical bug at 11pm the night before launch, she didn't panic, didn't blame anyone, just calmly drew the architecture on a whiteboard and walked us through three options. We shipped on time. I'd hire her again tomorrow."

Same length. Wildly different impact. The second one is credible because it's specific.

This tool is designed to push you toward the second kind, not the first.

What makes a great LinkedIn recommendation

Open with how you know them

Generic openings ("It is my pleasure to recommend...") signal a template. Real recommendations open with context: how long you worked together, in what capacity, on what.

Name two or three concrete traits

Not "smart" or "hardworking." Concrete: "asks the question nobody else wants to ask," "writes the cleanest test cases on the team," "spots the underlying problem when everyone else is debating the symptom."

Include one specific moment

Pick the single most impressive thing they did. Describe it briefly. The reader should walk away with a mental image of the person doing the thing.

Close with a confident statement

"I'd hire her again tomorrow." "He'd be the first call I make for this role." "She'd be a hire any team would be lucky to make."

Not "I would highly recommend without reservation." Confident, plain English.

How long should it be

150 to 250 words. Under 100 feels lazy. Over 300 loses the reader. The tool generates recommendations in this range by default.

When to write a recommendation

When someone asks you

The most common case. They sent the request, you owe them a thoughtful reply within a week. Don't dash it off in two minutes.

When you want to surprise them

LinkedIn lets you write a recommendation without being asked. The recipient gets a notification, accepts it, and it appears on their profile. This is a strong gesture — use it when someone genuinely deserves it.

When you're hiring

A great recommendation works both ways. Writing one for a candidate you wanted to hire (but couldn't, for budget reasons) is a way to genuinely help them — and they'll remember it.

Templates for asking someone to write you a recommendation

If you're on the receiving end, ask explicitly. Vague "would you mind writing me a recommendation?" requests get vague recommendations.

Better:

"Hey [name], I'm refreshing my LinkedIn profile and would love a recommendation from you. Would you be willing to write a short one focused on [specific trait, e.g. how I handled the X migration]? 150-250 words is plenty. Happy to draft something for you to edit if that's easier."

Three things make this work: you tell them what trait to highlight, you give them a length target, and you offer to draft. Most people will accept the offer to draft because writing recommendations is hard.

For longer templates by relationship type (manager, peer, client), see step 4 of our LinkedIn Profile Course.

Tips for using the tool effectively

1. Pick traits that you've actually seen them demonstrate. The tool can write about any trait you give it, but the recommendation only reads as credible if the trait is real.
2. The accomplishment field is optional, but it's the difference between okay and great. Spend an extra minute filling it in.
3. Regenerate twice, take the best one. The first output is usually fine. The second is sometimes sharper. After three, you're past diminishing returns.
4. Edit one line. Add a turn of phrase only you'd use, an inside joke, a specific timestamp ("on the Tuesday we shipped"). One personal detail makes the whole thing yours.
5. Send the draft to them first if it's a big role. For exec-level recommendations, share the draft with the person before posting publicly so they can flag anything off.

Related tools

• LinkedIn Headline Generator — Write 5 headline variations for any role
• LinkedIn Summary Generator — Generate your About section
• LinkedIn Profile Optimizer — AI suggestions for your headline and about
• LinkedIn Profile Course — Full 6-step course to optimize your profile end to end