The most critical mistake an agency can make after optimizing a client’s profile is assuming the editor’s view is what the world actually sees. Knowing how to view your linkedin profile as someone else is an essential quality assurance process because a perfectly crafted headline can appear awkwardly truncated on mobile, a key case study in the “Featured” section might have a broken thumbnail, and privacy settings could be hiding crucial information from the target audience. This guide provides the practical steps to stop flying blind, diagnose these hidden issues, and ensure the strategic narrative you’ve built for your client is precisely what their prospects experience in the wild.
You’re seeing all the backend fields, the draft posts, the full, un-truncated text. You see it through the biased lens of someone who already knows the narrative you’re trying to build. This is a dangerous trap. When you send a final approval link to your client, you can’t just send a screenshot from your logged-in view. You need to show them their profile through the eyes of their target audience. This is about building trust, demonstrating your value, and ensuring the strategy you’ve developed is actually being executed in the wild.
In 2025, a leader’s LinkedIn profile is a core business asset. For agencies managing these assets, flying blind is not an option. Here’s a strategic guide on how to see what others see and what to look for when you do.
The Built-in Feature: Your First Line of Defense
LinkedIn does provide a native, built-in tool to see a public-facing version of a profile. It’s the quickest and easiest way to get a baseline reading, and it should be the first step in any profile audit.
How to Use It:
- Navigate to the client’s profile that you are managing.
- Underneath their headline and dashboard, you should see a button or link that says “View profile as.” (Alternatively, you can click on the “Me” icon in the top navigation bar, select “View Profile,” and then find the “Edit public profile & URL” option on the right-hand side, though the first method is more direct).
- Clicking this will typically show you what your profile looks like to the general public – that is, someone who is not logged into LinkedIn or is not one of your connections.
What This View Reveals:
- Public Information: You’ll see exactly which sections of the profile are visible to non-connections. Has the client set their “Experience” or “Education” details to be private? This view will tell you instantly.
- A Clean Look: It strips away all the editing buttons and private dashboards (“Who’s viewed your profile,” etc.), giving you a clean, uncluttered view of the final product.
The Critical Limitation:
This public view is useful, but it is fundamentally flawed for a comprehensive agency audit. Why? Because it doesn’t show you what the profile looks like to a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-degree connection. A prospect who is a 2nd-degree connection might see shared connections, which is a powerful social proof element that is completely invisible in the public view. The visibility of contact information and other details can also change based on the viewer’s relationship to the profile. Relying solely on the public view is like proofreading only the cover of a book.
The “Connection View” Workaround: The Gold Standard for Agencies
To get a truly accurate picture, you need to simulate the experience of a real prospect. The most reliable way to do this is by using a dedicated, secondary LinkedIn account for testing purposes.
The Strategy:
- Create a Dedicated Test Profile: Your agency should have a “clean” LinkedIn profile that is not extensively networked. This profile acts as your “mystery shopper.” (A note of caution: be mindful of LinkedIn’s terms of service regarding multiple accounts. This is often best accomplished by using a junior team member’s profile who is not connected to the client).
- The 2nd/3rd-Degree View: Before connecting with your client’s profile, use this test account to search for and view their profile. This is your “cold outreach” perspective. You’ll see exactly what a new prospect sees: how many shared connections you have (if any), what the call-to-action button says (“Connect,” “Follow,” or “Message”), and how your intro comes across to a near-total stranger.
- The 1st-Degree View: Now, send a connection request from your test account to the client’s profile and have it accepted. Go back and view the profile again. This is your “warm network” perspective. What has changed? Is more contact information visible now? Can you see more of their activity feed? This is crucial for clients who rely on nurturing their existing network.
This two-step workaround is the single most effective way to QA a profile optimization project and catch issues that the built-in tool misses.
The Agency’s QA Checklist: What to Look For
Okay, so you’re now viewing the profile as an outsider. What should you be looking for? Here is a strategic checklist for your agency’s process.
- 1. The Three-Second Gut Check (Above the Fold):
- Banner & Profile Picture: Do they load correctly? Are they crisp and professional? Does the banner image clearly communicate the client’s brand or value proposition, or is it a generic stock photo?
- The Headline: This is critical. How does it look on both desktop and mobile? The mobile app truncates headlines after about 80 characters. Is the most compelling part of your client’s value proposition visible before the cut-off? Does it read as a powerful, client-centric statement?
- 2. The Narrative Flow (The “About” Section):
- Read the “About” section from top to bottom. Does it tell a clear and compelling story?
- Is it a wall of text, or is it broken up with white space and bullet points, making it scannable?
- Most importantly, is it written for the target audience, or is it a self-serving corporate bio?
- 3. The Proof & Credibility (Featured & Recommendations):
- How does the “Featured” section look to an outsider? Are the thumbnails for the linked articles or case studies displaying correctly? This is your client’s portfolio—it needs to be visually perfect.
- Scroll down to the “Recommendations.” Are the most powerful, story-driven recommendations visible, or are they hidden behind a “show more” click? The order and visibility can sometimes appear different to outsiders.
- 4. The Path to Conversion (Contact Info & CTA):
- Is it painfully obvious how a prospect should get in touch?
- Click the “Contact Info” link. Is the correct email address, website, or phone number visible based on the viewer’s connection level? Often, leaders want their email visible to 1st-degree connections but not the general public. Verify that these settings are correct.
- 5. The Digital Body Language (Activity Feed):
- What does the client’s recent activity look like? Is it a ghost town? Or is it a series of low-effort company post shares?
- A strong profile shows a leader who is actively engaging in their industry—commenting thoughtfully on others’ posts, sharing insights, and participating in conversations. This “digital body language” is a key part of the overall impression.
Conclusion: Stop Guessing and Start Seeing
For an agency, managing a client’s LinkedIn presence is a position of immense trust. Your job is to be the expert, to see the details they miss, and to ensure that the strategy you’ve sold them on is flawlessly executed. Viewing their profile from an external perspective is a strategic imperative.
It allows you to move from “I think it looks good” to “I have verified that it looks good to your ideal prospect.” This simple shift elevates your service, deepens client trust, and ensures that the powerful profiles you build perform powerfully out in the world. Stop guessing and start seeing. Your clients, and their results, will thank you for it.