Use PowerShell to Execute SharePoint Search Queries

In this example, I’m narrowing my search to one library and a search term.
At a high level, the script searches the FoodSite for the word GoodTaco.

function Query-SPSearch {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$WebApplicationPath,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$KeywordQuery,
        [Parameter()][Int32]$Count = 10
    )
 
    $QueryXml = @"
 
<QueryPacket xmlns="urn:Microsoft.Search.Query" >
    <Query>
        <Context>
            <QueryText type="STRING">$KeywordQuery</QueryText>
        </Context>
        <Range>
            <Count>$Count</Count>
        </Range>    
        <IncludeSpecialTermResults>false</IncludeSpecialTermResults>
        <PreQuerySuggestions>false</PreQuerySuggestions>
        <HighlightQuerySuggestions>false</HighlightQuerySuggestions>
        <IncludeRelevantResults>true</IncludeRelevantResults>
        <IncludeHighConfidenceResults>false</IncludeHighConfidenceResults>
    </Query>
</QueryPacket>
"@
    $ServicePath = "/_vti_bin/search.asmx"
    $SearchWS = New-WebServiceProxy -Uri ($WebApplicationPath + $ServicePath) -UseDefaultCredential
    $Results = $SearchWS.QueryEx( $QueryXml )
    # we excluded all other result sets, but just in case get the one we want:
    $Results.Tables["RelevantResults"]
}
 
Query-SPSearch -WebApplicationPath "https://sharepointed.com/sites/foodsite" -KeywordQuery "GoodTaco AND path:https://sharepointed.com/sites/foodsite/tacos" -Count 20 | Format-Table Title, Author, Path