# LinkedIn is sunsetting the Profile API `location` field in favor of `geoLocation` LinkedIn is removing the top-level `location` field from `/v2/me` and `/v2/people`. Integrations that still read the legacy field can begin receiving an empty or null value and need to request `geoLocation` plus its decorated Bing Geo entity instead. This is separate from LinkedIn’s Ads Legacy Geo cutoff already tracked by BTN. Profile and compliance integrations can fail more quietly: the request may still succeed while a field the application expects simply disappears or becomes null. - Status: Active - Published: 2026-08-31T06:10:33+12:00 - Updated: 2026-08-31T06:10:33+12:00 - Categories: Web Development, Marketing & Distribution, Developer Tools - Tags: API migration, Bing Geo, LinkedIn, Profile API - Canonical HTML: https://beyondthe.news/dossiers/linkedin-profile-api-location-field-sunset-geolocation-v2-me-people ## What changed LinkedIn's August 2026 developer release notes say the top-level `location` field is being removed from the v2 Profile API responses returned by `/v2/me` and `/v2/people`. Partners that rely on the legacy location object may begin receiving an empty or null value. LinkedIn directs integrations to the already available `geoLocation` field and, when they need the human-readable location name, to request the decorated Bing Geo entity using a projection such as `geoLocation(geo~,autoGenerated)`. LinkedIn lists the change alongside its wider Bing Geo migration, but it is distinct from the August 31 Legacy Geo retirement for Ads Targeting that BTN already covers. ## Why it matters This is a quiet breaking change because an HTTP request can remain successful while application data disappears. Profile enrichment, CRM synchronization, compliance archives and other integrations that assume `location` always contains a display value can begin storing nulls, suppressing geography-based logic or rendering blank fields without throwing an obvious API error. Builders should therefore treat field-shape migrations as schema changes, not only watch for endpoint retirement or HTTP failures. ## The replacement is a different structured field LinkedIn is moving Profile API geography from the old top-level `location` representation to `geoLocation`, which references the platform's Bing Geo taxonomy. Applications that only need the structured value can use the new field directly; those that need the display name must request the decorated geo entity rather than expecting the old location string/object. ## Old clients can fail silently LinkedIn warns that partners relying on `location` may begin receiving an empty or null value. That means ordinary uptime monitoring can remain green while downstream records lose geography. Schema-level assertions and representative API-response tests are more useful than relying only on HTTP status codes. ## This is not the same migration as Ads Legacy Geo BTN's existing LinkedIn dossier #185 covers the 1,000-segment cap and the hard retirement of Legacy Geo identifiers used for Ads Targeting. The Profile API change affects `/v2/me` and `/v2/people` response fields instead. Both are part of LinkedIn's broader move toward Bing Geo, but they break different integrations in different ways. ## Compliance integrations receive the same warning LinkedIn's Compliance Program release notes independently call out the Profile `location` field sunset and the migration to `geoLocation`. That matters for partners that archive or monitor regulated-member activity because their stored profile snapshots and parsing logic can depend on the same legacy field. ## Key details - LinkedIn says the top-level `location` field is being removed from `/v2/me` and `/v2/people`. - Partners relying on the field may begin receiving an empty or null value. - The supported replacement is the `geoLocation` field. - A display name can be retrieved by decorating the referenced Bing Geo entity, for example with `projection=(geoLocation(geo~,autoGenerated))`. - The change is documented in both LinkedIn Marketing Developer and Compliance Program release notes. - The Profile API field sunset is distinct from the August 31 Legacy Geo Ads Targeting cutoff already covered by BTN. ## Builder takeaways - Search response parsers, database mappings and templates for reads of the top-level LinkedIn `location` field and move them to `geoLocation`. - Add a contract test that fails when required profile fields unexpectedly become null even if LinkedIn returns HTTP 200. - If your application needs the location display name, request the decorated `geo~` entity and test its nested response shape rather than merely renaming one JSON key. - Backfill or version stored profile schemas carefully if geography is used in CRM segmentation, compliance archives or analytics. - Keep the Ads Targeting geo migration on a separate checklist; fixing Profile API `location` does not fix Legacy Geo campaign payloads. ## What to watch - When LinkedIn removes the legacy field completely rather than allowing a mixed period of empty/null responses. - Whether other profile fields that still use older location taxonomy are migrated to Bing Geo on separate timelines. - SDK or schema updates that remove `location` from generated models. - Reports of downstream partner breakage caused by successful API responses containing null geography. - Further consolidation of LinkedIn profile, ads and compliance geography around one Bing Geo schema. ## Uncertainties - LinkedIn's current August release notes describe the field as being removed and warn that null/empty responses may begin, but do not state one universal moment when every partner will stop seeing the legacy value. - The exact impact depends on which Profile API fields an approved LinkedIn application is permitted to access. - Bing Geo decoration changes the response shape as well as the field name, so migration effort varies by parser and storage model. ## Sources - [Recent Marketing API Changes](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/integrations/recent-changes) — LinkedIn / Microsoft Learn · primary_documentation · 2026-08-01T00:00:00+12:00. Primary August 2026 developer release notes documenting the Profile `location` removal, possible null/empty responses and `geoLocation` replacement. - [Compliance Program Release Notes](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/compliance/release-notes) — LinkedIn / Microsoft Learn · primary_documentation · 2026-08-01T00:00:00+12:00. Independent LinkedIn developer documentation surface repeating the Profile.location sunset and Bing Geo migration for compliance integrations.