To clear everything up:
blocked means you can’t see the whole profile, it does not come up if you search their name
restricted means you can’t view their stories, and your comments on their posts don’t show up for others, but you can still see your comment.
blocking drops you off their follower count
restricted keeps you on their follower account
a lot of influencers do the restricted thing because it keeps their profile follower numbers up, but they mayas well just block people because there would be no engagement anyway
ooooor… they could just remove you from their follower list, forcing you to redo low them which would actually look like new followers on their engagement numbers
please note: if you notice influencers removing you from their follower count, they are probably hoping you will refollow…and they saw it suggested here