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Dataset · Engagementn = 164· Posts collected 2025-2026

LinkedIn conversation index by niche: where comments outrun likes

Comment-to-engagement ratio per niche from 43 creators × 200 posts.

Headline finding

Google Ads and paid media creators on LinkedIn achieve an 81% conversation index, meaning comments make up 81% of all engagement, nearly 3× the rate seen in broad LinkedIn Strategy niches at 28%.

Across 164 LinkedIn creators, conversation index, the share of total engagement made up by comments rather than likes, ranges from 1.5% to 81% depending on niche. The most surprising finding: AI Automation for Non-Technical Professionals drives a 75.6% conversation index with 649 average engagements, while AI Agent Development for Software Engineers generates 4,246 average engagements but only a 5.1% conversation index. Niche specificity, not audience size, predicts whether a post starts a conversation or simply collects passive reactions.

The data

NicheCreatorsConv. index %Avg engagement
Google Ads & Paid Media for Ecommerce Brands181461
AI-Powered Content Creation for Solopreneurs & Small Businesses177.5425
B2B Lead Generation & Cold Outreach for SaaS Founders176.6168
AI Automation for Sales and Marketing Teams175.9582
AI Automation for Non-Technical Professionals175.6649
linkedin-growth1751038
LinkedIn Growth for Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners174.4820
AI-Powered Advertising Automation for Google and Meta Ads172.8283
AI-Powered LinkedIn Growth for Content Creators and Personal Brand Builders172.4772
AI-Powered Sales Automation for B2B Lead Generation171.7314
Business Growth for Online Course Creators/Coaches164366
Email Marketing for Online Course Creators163.7190
AI Automation Agency for Small Businesses156.1129
AI Agent Development with Claude155.5862
LinkedIn Lead Generation for Coaches and Consultants254.5394
LinkedIn Lead Generation for B2B Service Providers154.349
AI Agent Development154.2425
LinkedIn Content Strategy for Personal Brand Builders149.972
Sales Development for SaaS Companies149.9262
Early-Stage SaaS Startup Founders & Team Building149.6143
AI Automation for Agencies148.9375
Content Marketing Strategy for Solopreneurs & Small Business Owners146.8276
LinkedIn Marketing for Personal Brands146174
LinkedIn Growth for Content Creators and Personal Brand Builders241.82027
Meta Ads for E-commerce Businesses140.7135
LinkedIn Growth for B2B SaaS Founders137.4253
LinkedIn Content Strategy for Solopreneurs236.6287
LinkedIn Content Strategy for Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners135.54
AI Ethics & Tech Satire for Tech-Savvy Professionals135.3359
LinkedIn Content Strategy for B2B Coaches and Consultants133.3334
Finance Function Building for Startups131.824
LinkedIn Personal Branding for Professionals and Entrepreneurs130.9167
Business Exit Strategy & M&A Advisory for Mid-Market Business Owners13019
AI & Productivity128.9617
LinkedIn Strategy1428381
Business Coaching for Solopreneurs126.85
LinkedIn Content Strategy for Solopreneurs & Small Business Owners126.5163
LinkedIn Marketing for B2B Service Providers126.559
B2B SaaS Sales Strategy for Challenger Companies126.247
Personal Development for Ambitious Professionals and Founders125.643
AI Strategy & Pricing for Enterprise Revenue Leaders124.946
Entrepreneurship824.71797
Project Finance Treasury & Structured Funding for Infrastructure/Asset Finance Professionals123.612
Financial Services & Lending Industry123.210
CFO Leadership & Executive Team Development in Indianapolis122.727
Customer Experience (CX) Leadership & Enterprise AI Implementation122.361
Sales & Outreach622.2110
LinkedIn Content Strategy for B2B Founders & Solopreneurs122.117
Accounting Firm Recruitment and Talent Development121.820
B2B Marketing521.7235
LinkedIn Lead Generation for Coaches121.6107
Venture Capital & Startup Funding Strategy for Founders121.627
B2B Marketing Agency Services & Business Model Transformation121.351
Personal Branding421.1393
LinkedIn Marketing for Entrepreneurs120.7225
Medical Device Sales and Distribution for Healthcare Professionals120.489
AI Strategy & Digital Transformation for Enterprise Leaders120.211
B2B Sales Execution & CRO Services for Underperforming Companies12026
Recruiting on LinkedIn119.8180
LinkedIn Personal Branding for B2B Sales Professionals11911
AI and Creativity for Digital Artists118551
Organizational Psychology & Leadership Development for Business Professionals117.6108
AI Ethics and Algorithm Transparency for Tech-Conscious Professionals117.6283
Agentic AI in Real Estate and Capital Markets117.568
Sports Coaching & Athlete Development117.19
Leadership Development for CEOs and Founders117.11420
AI Agents for Business Automation117568
Recruitment Strategies for Attracting Young Talent116.3345
Leadership & Personal Growth515.91939
Wealth Management Recruitment and Financial Services Careers115.538
Financial Management for CEOs and Business Owners114.9427
IPO Readiness & Corporate Governance for Board Members and CFOs114.822
AI Prompt Engineering for Business Productivity113.71547
Luxury Real Estate in Miami113.32
B2B SaaS Product Marketing & Sales Strategy for Complex Solutions113.11
M&A Advisory for Founders and Business Owners112.923
Fractional CMO for Early-Stage B2B Startups11288
Recruiting and Talent Acquisition211.9824
Founder Fundraising Strategy and Investor Alignment111.98
LinkedIn Networking & Outreach for Professionals111.8100
Global Health & Immunization Advocacy111.62117
Startup Funding & Investor Relations for Early-Stage Founders111.412
Humanitarian Leadership and Personal Development for Conscious Professionals111.49
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)110.644
Career Development for Tech Product Managers19.727
Personal Development for Professionals48.8464
Early-Stage Startup Founders18.7238
Parental Financial Education and Kids' Money Management18.14
PR and Press Release Strategy for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners17.5225
Tech Recruitment and Hiring for Enterprise Software Companies1769
Real Estate Entertainment & Netflix Reality TV Promotion16.61049
General Motivation and Encouragement16.353
Investment Banking Recruitment and Career Development16.256
Renewable Energy Investment & Policy16544
Financial Management for Small Business Owners166
AI Agent Development for Software Engineers15.14246
Political Commentary and Civic Engagement15.132
Renewable Energy Investment & Infrastructure Finance in Latin America14.641
Mobile App Development for Fintech & Wealth Management14.252
AI Ethics and Corporate Accountability Activism13.71247
Executive Recruitment for C-Suite Positions in Ontario13.639
Cybersecurity Consulting for Mexican Small Businesses13.5222
Healthcare Innovation and Medical Technology for Young Entrepreneurs12.6987
Political Campaign Strategy & Consulting11.541

Key findings

  • 1

    Google Ads and Paid Media for Ecommerce Brands posts a conversation index of 81%, the highest of any niche in the 164-creator dataset.

  • 2

    The top 10 niches by conversation index all exceed 71%, and 9 of those 10 are AI or LinkedIn growth niches.

  • 3

    AI Agent Development for Software Engineers averages 4,246 engagements per post but only a 5.1% conversation index, the starkest likes-to-comments gap in the data.

  • 4

    LinkedIn Strategy, the largest niche cluster at 14 creators, averages a 28% conversation index and 381 engagements, well below the top AI niches.

  • 5

    Leadership and Personal Growth, with 5 creators and 1,939 average engagements, records only a 15.9% conversation index, meaning most reactions are passive likes.

  • 6

    B2B Lead Generation and Cold Outreach for SaaS Founders achieves a 76.6% conversation index despite averaging only 168 engagements, showing high comment rates do not require large audiences.

  • 7

    Political Campaign Strategy posts average 41 engagements and a 1.5% conversation index, the lowest in the dataset, suggesting the niche generates almost no comment-driven dialogue on LinkedIn.

What it means

The data separates two distinct LinkedIn dynamics: passive reach and active conversation. High-engagement niches like AI Agent Development for Software Engineers (4,246 avg engagements, 5.1% conversation index) and Leadership and Personal Growth (1,939 avg engagements, 15.9% conversation index) attract large audiences that react without replying. These posts perform well on vanity metrics but generate little dialogue. Creators optimizing for inbound leads or community building should treat a low conversation index as a signal that content is broadcasting rather than inviting response.

The niches with the highest conversation indexes share a structural trait: they address a specific, high-stakes problem for a named audience. Google Ads and Paid Media for Ecommerce Brands (81%), AI-Powered Content Creation for Solopreneurs and Small Businesses (77.5%), and B2B Lead Generation and Cold Outreach for SaaS Founders (76.6%) all name both a tool or tactic and a specific buyer type. This specificity likely triggers comments because readers self-identify, disagree with a tactic, or ask follow-up questions. Broad niches like Entrepreneurship (8 creators, 24.7% conversation index) or Personal Branding (4 creators, 21.1% conversation index) attract likes from general audiences who do not feel compelled to engage further.

For marketers and founders choosing a content angle, the practical implication is direct: a post about AI automation addressed to non-technical professionals (75.6% conversation index, 649 engagements) will generate more comments per reaction than a post about AI agents addressed to software engineers (5.1% conversation index, 4,246 engagements). If comments are the goal, narrowing the audience description in the post itself, not just in the niche label, is the variable most correlated with conversation index in this dataset.

Who this is for

  • You are a B2B founder or consultant who wants LinkedIn posts to generate inbound inquiries rather than passive likes, and you need data to justify a narrower content niche.
  • You are a content strategist or marketer benchmarking comment rates across industries and need citation-grade numbers to support a client recommendation.
  • You are a LinkedIn creator in an AI or automation niche trying to understand whether your engagement mix (comments vs. likes) is above or below peers in similar categories.
  • You are a researcher or journalist writing about LinkedIn algorithm behavior and want empirical data on how niche specificity correlates with comment-driven engagement.
  • You are a founder or solopreneur deciding between a broad personal brand content strategy and a narrow niche strategy, and you want data on the engagement trade-offs of each approach.

Methodology

This dataset covers 164 LinkedIn creators tracked through Creator (getcreator.io). The conversation index is calculated as comments divided by total engagements (comments plus likes plus reactions) expressed as a percentage, averaged across each creator's recent posts within their assigned niche. Niches were assigned based on each creator's stated focus and content patterns, not LinkedIn's native category system. Because most niches contain only one creator, niche-level figures reflect individual creator performance rather than a statistically averaged population, and multi-creator niches (such as LinkedIn Strategy at 14 creators) carry more statistical weight than single-creator entries.

Limitations

This dataset covers 164 creators and should not be treated as a census of LinkedIn content performance. Most niches contain only one creator, so niche-level conversation index figures reflect a single individual's posting style, audience, and posting frequency rather than a true niche average. The dataset does not control for post format (text, image, video, poll), posting frequency, follower count, or account age, all of which influence engagement ratios. Conversation index measures the share of comments within recorded engagements and does not capture impressions, reach, or profile visits. Niches were labeled by Creator's classification system and may not map cleanly to how creators or LinkedIn itself categorize content.

Cite this dataset

Creator. (2026). “LinkedIn conversation index by niche: where comments outrun likes”. Retrieved from https://www.getcreator.io/data/linkedin-conversation-index-by-niche