Your post goes live and strangers like it in 60 seconds. No, you’re not special - the machine is testing you.
I dug in with my AI research agent and the receipts are clear 🕵️ - auto-likes and auto-comments exist, they’re banned, and they still slip through because some of it looks human and the detection isn’t perfect.
First, why those instant non-follower impressions happen at all - LinkedIn test-distributes every new post to a small circle beyond your followers. If people pause or comment, it widens the pipe fast. LinkedIn’s own engineers have written about this - dwell time matters: https://engineering.linkedin.com/blog/2020/improving-feed-relevance-with-dwell-time
How the fake gravy gets poured on top:
- Engagement pods - groups coordinate early likes/comments to juice reach. Think quick, clustered reactions, often with generic comments. Primer and pros-cons here: https://www.podawaa.com/blog/linkedin-engagement-pods and here: https://expandi.io/blog/linkedin-engagement-pods/
- Automation suites with AI replies - scheduling plus tools that nudge or simulate engagement. Some draft “smart” comments for you so you can spray faster. Roundups and examples: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/linkedin-automation-tools/ and creator assistants like Taplio: https://taplio.com/
- Custom browser automation plus LLMs - power users run Playwright or Selenium to click like, paste short AI comments, and randomize timing. It’s an arms race. High-level background, not a how-to: https://www.browserstack.com/guide/puppeteer-vs-selenium and on bot detection: https://bob.cs.ucdavis.edu/assets/dl/fp-inconsistent.pdf
Yes, it’s against policy. LinkedIn literally forbids bots: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement#section8.2 - and they’ve said they’ll go harder at fake engagement: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-vows-to-take-action-against-engagement-pods-fake-engagement/804970/ - but they won’t nuke everyone instantly. At this scale, over-enforcement breaks real users, so they demote patterns and restrict the worst offenders.
API reality check - you can post via tools, but likes/comments are gated to approved partners. That’s why n8n’s LinkedIn node only posts: https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.linkedin/ and why the Social Actions API is locked behind special scopes: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/community-management/shares/network-update-social-actions
The catch: it “works” until it doesn’t. Accounts get throttled. Feeds learn to ignore templated noise. And low-quality engagement rarely turns into revenue - just louder vanity metrics.
My take - keep the automation on posting, not on faking love. Earn comments with a sharp hook and one specific question, then show up fast and reply like a human. That signal travels farther than a pile of pod likes.
Curious - in your first 10 minutes, who shows up? If you want, I can audit a week of your posts and map the first 60 minutes to see if it’s pods, hashtags, or real second-degree reach.