Should you add a note to a LinkedIn connection request?
Add one when you have a specific, honest reason to connect, and on a free account save your three notes a month for the people who matter most. That is where two vendor data sets point, read alongside LinkedIn's own limits. Both come from companies that sell LinkedIn automation, so treat them as vendor data.
| Study | Sample | Period | What it found |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Growth Machine A/B test | 9,000 marketing managers, brand directors and CMOs at large companies, split into three matched groups | Not stated; article updated 12 March 2026 | Acceptance 31% (no note), 29% (sales note), 32% (vague note). Qualified calls booked 3.77%, 6.62% and 5.1%. |
| Expandi platform data | 13.2 million connection requests from 13,302 accounts | 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026 | Replies to connection notes fell from 3.5% to 2.2% of requests sent. Acceptance held at 28% to 30% in most months. |
The short version: in LGM's test, a note barely changed whether people accepted. LGM's reading is that a clear, honest note changed who accepted, and that showed up later in qualified calls booked.
What did La Growth Machine's 9,000-lead test find?
The honest sales note lost two points of acceptance and booked the most calls. La Growth Machine (LGM), which sells LinkedIn and email automation, split 9,000 marketing managers, brand directors and CMOs at large companies into groups matched on persona and company segment. It ran the outreach from three sender profiles: a male founder and CEO, a male country manager and a female brand manager.
- Group A: no note.
- Group B: an honest sales note, written in French, saying what the company does, naming client brands and asking whether the person had projects that needed an agency.
- Group C: a vague note giving the sender's role and saying they would like to connect, with no reason and no ask.
| Group | Acceptance | Qualified calls booked |
|---|---|---|
| A: no note | 31% | 3.77% |
| B: honest sales note | 29% | 6.62% |
| C: vague note | 32% | 5.1% |
Acceptance moved within three points. Calls booked moved more: the sales note's call rate was about 1.75 times the no-note rate (6.62% against 3.77%). LGM's reading is that the note worked as a filter, so the people who accepted were the ones interested in the offer. Its article puts it bluntly: "The acceptance rate is a KPI of minor importance."
What the LGM test doesn't tell you
It is one vendor's test on one audience, and the article leaves out details you would want before copying it:
- No test date. The article is dated 12 March 2026 but doesn't say when the test ran.
- No group sizes or significance test. It gives the 9,000 total, not how many people were in each group.
- An unclear base for calls. It doesn't say whether 6.62% is per person invited or per accepted connection.
- One audience. Marketing leaders at large companies, whom LGM describes as heavily prospected. LGM itself says acceptance rates vary by audience, sender and note.
- A summary that overstates it. The TL;DR box at the top says pitching in a request reduces acceptance by 50%. The test in the same article shows 29% against 31%.
LGM's general advice is still to skip notes unless you have something worth saying. Its own test shows what something worth saying looks like: a plain statement of what you do and one direct question.
Why are replies to connection notes falling?
Expandi, which measured the fall, lists possible causes but says its data cannot pin one down. In Expandi's data, the share of connection requests that got a reply to the note fell from 3.5% in May 2025 to 2.2% in April 2026, a 37% relative drop. Expandi, a LinkedIn automation vendor, published the figures on 19 May 2026 from 13.2 million connection requests sent through 13,302 accounts on its platform.
Three other numbers from the same report matter here:
- Acceptance held at 28% to 30% in eleven of the twelve months, with one dip to 25% in November 2025.
- Replies to outbound messages held at 10% to 11% across the year, 10.4% on average. Expandi counts welcome messages, follow-ups, InMails and emails in this figure, not only messages sent after connecting.
- Expandi lists possible causes for the fall: more generic note templates, changes in how LinkedIn shows notes to recipients, or people getting used to them. It says its data does not isolate the cause.
Read the 2.2% with care. Expandi divides note replies by all connection requests sent, and the report doesn't say what share of those requests carried a note. What it does show is that replies to outbound messages held steady while replies to notes shrank. Expandi's own summary is that "connection notes are returning less".
When to add a note, and when to skip it
Add a note when it carries a real reason; skip it when it would be filler or when your free notes are used up. LinkedIn's help page on notes, checked 20 October 2026, limits free accounts to three a month at up to 200 characters each. Two older LinkedIn pages, Invitation limit reached and InMail vs personalized invitations, say five. Premium members can add notes to every request.
| Situation | Add a note? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You have a specific reason: their post, a shared event, a mutual contact | Yes | LinkedIn's help page suggests saying how you found the person or what you have in common, and why you want to connect now. |
| You sell something and can say so in one honest line | Yes | In LGM's test the honest sales note booked the most qualified calls: 6.62% against 3.77% with no note. |
| Senior or heavily prospected buyers | Yes, short and direct | LGM tested on marketing leaders at large companies, and says founders and CEOs at start-ups are wary of blank requests from strangers. |
| Free account, three notes already used this month | No; connect first | Write your first message after they accept. In Expandi's data, replies to outbound messages, including follow-ups after connecting, held steady at 10% to 11%. |
| Growing a network of peers or an audience for your posts | Optional | Acceptance stayed within three points across all three LGM groups. |
| The only note you could send is a template | Rewrite it or skip it | Expandi names generic templates as one possible reason note replies fell; LGM advises against notes with nothing interesting to say. |
LinkedIn gives two more reasons to write notes. Its page on invitation restrictions lists adding a personalised message, explaining how you know the person or why you want to connect, as one way to avoid being restricted from sending invitations. And its help page on notes says the recipient can reply to your note without accepting the invitation, so a note can start a conversation even with someone who never connects.
Three connection notes you can adapt
Each note below is an example we wrote, and each fits within LinkedIn's 200-character limit for free accounts. Swap in your own details; the specific detail is what does the work.
Shared context
"Hi Meera, your post on moving onboarding calls to week one matched what we see with small agencies. I work on the same problem. Would be glad to connect."
Honest sales note
"Hi Daniel, I run a payroll service for 20 to 100 person UK firms. Saw you are hiring a finance lead, which is often when payroll gets a rethink. Open to connecting?"
Event you both attended
"Hi Ana, we were both at the Pune SaaS meetup on Thursday and I liked your question about churn in the first 90 days. Would be good to stay in touch here."
What we would leave out: links (including booking links), filler such as "I'd like to add you to my professional network", and any claim you could not back up on a call. Each takes characters that the one specific detail needs.
After they accept, the first message should pick up from the note instead of introducing you again. Our follow-up message templates cover that step, and our 30 connection request templates cover more situations.
If you use Siela's AI SDR, you choose whether it sends the message with the connection request or connects first and messages after they accept. When someone accepts, it reads their profile again and picks up from the note.
How to test notes on your own account
Run LGM's method on your own audience, with one change at a time. The steps below follow the setup LGM describes.
Build two matched lists
Same roles, industry and company size in both. LGM recommends at least 300 people in each list so the comparison is reliable.
Check your plan first
Three notes a month on a free account would take 100 months to reach 300 people. A fair test needs Premium's unlimited notes.
Change only the note
List A gets no note. List B gets a direct note with your reason and one question. Keep your profile and follow-up messages the same for both.
Judge on calls booked
Track acceptance, replies and calls booked for each list. Judge the result on calls booked, as LGM did.
Stay inside a cautious weekly pace
LinkedIn publishes no weekly invitation number, so spread both lists over several weeks. Our InMail vs connection request guide covers what to do for people who don't accept.
Frequently asked questions
Should you add a note to a LinkedIn connection request?
Add one when you have a specific, honest reason to connect. In La Growth Machine's 9,000-lead test, acceptance was similar with or without a note (29% to 32%), but an honest sales note booked 6.62% qualified calls against 3.77% with no note. On a free account, save your three monthly notes for your most important prospects.
Do LinkedIn connection requests without a note get accepted more?
Not by much in the published data. La Growth Machine's test saw 31% acceptance with no note, 29% with a direct sales note and 32% with a vague note. Acceptance alone is a weak measure: the note that lowered acceptance slightly booked the most qualified calls.
How many connection notes can you send on a free LinkedIn account?
LinkedIn's most recently updated help page, checked on 20 October 2026, says free accounts can add a personalised note to up to three connection requests a month. Two older LinkedIn help pages say five. Premium members can add notes to all of their connection requests.
Can someone reply to a LinkedIn connection note without accepting?
Yes. LinkedIn's help page on personalised invitations, checked on 20 October 2026, says that if the recipient responds to your message, they can reply without accepting your invitation. The reply appears in your messages, so a note can start a conversation even with someone who never connects.
Are replies to LinkedIn connection notes going down?
In Expandi's own platform data, replies to connection notes fell from 3.5% of requests sent in May 2025 to 2.2% in April 2026. Over the same period, replies to its users' outbound messages, a figure that includes follow-ups after connecting as well as InMails and emails, held at 10% to 11%. Expandi says its data does not isolate the cause.
Should you pitch in a LinkedIn connection request?
A short, honest line about what you do and why you are writing can work. In La Growth Machine's test, a direct sales note had two points lower acceptance than no note but booked the most qualified calls. Keep it to one reason and one easy question, under 200 characters.
Sources
- La Growth Machine: Should I add a note to my LinkedIn connection request? (updated 12 Mar 2026)
- Expandi: LinkedIn Outreach Benchmarks 2026 (published 19 May 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Personalize invitations to connect (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Invitation limit reached (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Differences between InMail Messages and personalized invitations (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Types of restrictions for sending invitations (checked 20 Oct 2026)
- Siela: 30 LinkedIn connection request templates (checked 20 Oct 2026)