Which wildcard character is used to represent zero or more characters when searching for a specified pattern using a LIKE operator?

The wildcard character used to represent zero or more characters when searching for a specified pattern using the LIKE operator is the percent sign (%). This character enables flexibility in query results, allowing for a broader match of data. For instance, if you wanted to find any entries in a database that begin with 'A' and can have any sequence of characters following it, you would use 'A%' in your query. This returns all records that start with 'A', regardless of what follows.

The underscore (_) wildcard character represents a single character rather than zero or more, which is often useful for more specific pattern matching. The less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols do not function as wildcards in SQL pattern matching; they serve other purposes in expressions and comparisons. Hence, the correct answer clarifies the specific use case for pattern searching in SQL with the LIKE operator, emphasizing the importance of the percent sign in database queries.