You can’t do much to prevent the impact of a hard pull, but you can minimize the effects. First, you can try to limit the number of hard inquiries made. For example, don’t apply for loans you know you won’t qualify for.
You should also group your inquiries together. This measure will help ensure that they’ll fall off your report around the same time. Lenders also often view a few hard pulls in a short period as one. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), inquiries made within a range of 14 to 45 days will typically only count as a single inquiry.