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Associate and Employer Mapping

3 min read Apr 11, 2026

Overview

Associate and employer mapping identifies the professional network surrounding a subject: current and former employers, colleagues, business partners, clients, and co-directors. Professional connections are among the most reliably documented relationships available in open sources because they are deliberately disclosed on platforms like LinkedIn and in company filings.

LinkedIn Network Analysis

LinkedIn is the primary source for professional relationship mapping. A subject's connections, endorsements, and mutual contacts reveal the structure of their professional network even without direct connection to the subject.

Key data points to collect from a LinkedIn profile:

  • Current and previous employers with dates — builds an employment timeline

  • Colleagues listed as connections — visible on public profiles as mutual connections

  • Endorsers — individuals who have endorsed skills are confirmed connections

  • Post interactions — commenters and likers on posts are real connections who chose to engage publicly

  • Group memberships — shared professional or industry groups indicate peer relationships

Search for colleagues at the same organisation:

site:linkedin.com/in "Example Company" "London" "engineer"
site:linkedin.com/in "Example Company" "Head of" OR "Director" OR "Manager"

Company Co-Directorship Mapping

Individuals who have served as co-directors of the same company share a documented formal relationship. Mapping co-directorships across multiple companies reveals business networks and investment relationships that would not be visible from social platforms alone.

Find all companies where a subject is or has been a director:

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]
└─$ curl -s "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/$OFFICER_ID/appointments" -u $COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY: | jq '.items[] | {company: .appointed_to.company_name, number: .appointed_to.company_number, role: .officer_role, appointed: .appointed_on, resigned: .resigned_on}' 
{
  "company": "EXAMPLE VENTURES LTD",
  "number": "12345678",
  "role": "director",
  "appointed": "2018-03-15",
  "resigned": null
}

For each company returned, fetch the full officer list to find co-directors:

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]
└─$ curl -s "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/$COMPANY_NUMBER/officers" -u $COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY: | jq '.items[] | {name: .name, role: .officer_role, appointed: .appointed_on}' 
{
  "name": "JONES, Sarah Elizabeth",
  "role": "director",
  "appointed": "2018-03-15"
}

A co-director found here becomes a new node in the network. Run the same appointment lookup on their officer ID to find additional shared companies and further connections.

Shared Shareholders and Persons with Significant Control

Beyond co-directorships, shared shareholding in the same company indicates a financial relationship. The Persons with Significant Control register in the UK discloses individuals who hold more than 25 percent of shares or voting rights in a company.

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]
└─$ curl -s "https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/$COMPANY_NUMBER/persons-with-significant-control" -u $COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY: | jq '.items[] | {name: .name, natures_of_control: .natures_of_control, nationality: .nationality}'

Patent and Publication Co-Authorship

Academic and technical professionals leave a record of collaboration in published research and patent filings. Co-authors on papers and co-inventors on patents are confirmed professional associates with a documented working relationship.

Search patent databases by inventor name:

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]
└─$ curl -s "https://api.lens.org/patent/search" -H "Authorization: Bearer $LENS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"query":{"match":{"inventor.name":"$NAME"}},"include":["inventors","title","publication_date"]}'

For academic publications, search Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, or OpenAlex by author name. Co-authors on multiple papers represent sustained collaborative relationships rather than one-off connections.

Conference and Event Appearances

Conference speaker lists, panel compositions, and event attendee lists are frequently published and indexed. Subjects who appear at the same events repeatedly are likely to have a professional relationship worth exploring. Search for the subject's name alongside event or conference terms relevant to their industry.

References