Free recruiter sourcing tool
Add the titles, skills, location, and exclusions that matter. This free Boolean search generator returns two clean, copy-ready strings: one for LinkedIn or your ATS, and one for Google X-Ray.
Free. No sign-up. Built for recruiters.
Last updated: July 27, 2026
Fill in the fields and strings update in real-time
Paste into LinkedIn, LinkedIn Recruiter, or an ATS keyword field.
Your string will appear here as you type...Paste into Google to find public LinkedIn profile pages.
Your X-Ray string will appear here as you type...A Boolean search builder turns recruiter inputs into a structured query using AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks, and parentheses. It helps you expand title variations, require essential skills, remove obvious noise, and adapt the output for different search platforms without writing the syntax by hand.
Enter the main job title and two or three variations qualified candidates may use.
Place non-negotiable qualifications under “must-have” and relevant alternatives under “nice-to-have.”
Add a location only when needed. Exclude obvious mismatches, but keep the NOT list short.
Use the standard string on LinkedIn or your ATS and the X-Ray version on Google. Review the first 20 results, then adjust.
Turn sourced candidates into structured shortlists with AI phone or video interviews, scorecards, and ranked comparisons.
A Boolean search string combines keywords with operators such as AND, OR, and NOT.
Example:
(“software engineer” OR “frontend developer”)
AND React
AND TypeScript
AND (Next.js OR GraphQL)
NOT (intern OR junior)The logic is simple. Choosing the right titles, synonyms, and exclusions is the part that takes judgment.
LinkedIn requires AND, OR, and NOT in uppercase. LinkedIn officially supports quotation marks and parentheses, but not wildcards such as * or grouping with brackets. Google uses different syntax for exclusions and site-specific search.
Use these as starting points, not permanent templates. Titles and terminology change by company and region.
For a new role, build the title group first. Add the must-have skill group next. Run the search before adding nice-to-haves or exclusions. Shorter strings are easier to debug.
This builder creates separate LinkedIn or ATS and Google X-Ray strings because one syntax should not pretend to work everywhere.
A clever-looking string can still return a poor candidate pool. Test the results, not the punctuation.
If the results are mostly irrelevant, tighten one required group. If the pool is tiny, remove a nice-to-have before removing a genuine requirement. Native filters can handle location, seniority, company, and education more cleanly than one enormous keyword string.
Boolean search finds keyword evidence. It does not verify skill depth, interest, availability, or job fit. Those questions belong in screening.
Long strings are hard to debug and may remove candidates who use different wording. Start with titles and must-have skills. Add other groups only when they improve the results.
Connecting every preferred tool with AND can make a strong candidate invisible. Group alternatives with OR when one of several skills would work.
NOT can remove noise, but it can also remove good profiles that mention an excluded term in an old role or education section.
Use parentheses around alternatives: ("account executive" OR "sales executive" OR AE).
LinkedIn uses NOT recruiter. Google typically uses -recruiter. An ATS may have its own rules. Use the output made for the platform and test it.
A profile that mentions Snowflake once is not automatically a Snowflake engineer. Look for related work signals, then confirm the experience during screening.
Fast, consistent formatting from structured recruiter inputs. You still need to choose good titles, skills, and exclusions.
Good at suggesting synonyms and alternative titles from a detailed prompt. May mix platform syntax or produce a string that looks correct but behaves poorly.
Full control when an experienced sourcer knows the platform. Slower, easier to mistype, and harder to hand off consistently.
Use the builder for structure. Use your knowledge of the role to judge the inputs. If you use ChatGPT for synonyms, review each term before adding it.
Boolean search works well when you know the titles and skill signals that matter. It works less well when:
Yes. You can build and copy LinkedIn or ATS and Google X-Ray strings without signing up.
Yes. LinkedIn supports uppercase AND, OR, and NOT, quotation marks for exact phrases, and parentheses for grouping. LinkedIn does not officially support wildcards, braces, brackets, angle brackets, plus signs, or minus signs for Boolean queries.
Google X-Ray search uses the site: operator to search pages from a specific website. Recruiters commonly use site:linkedin.com/in/ with titles and skills to find public LinkedIn profile pages indexed by Google.
No. It can return only pages that Google has indexed and can show. Private profiles, blocked pages, new profiles, and recent changes may be missing.
LinkedIn supports the word NOT for exclusions. Google uses a minus sign directly before the unwanted word or phrase. The builder creates a separate string for each search environment.
Many applicant tracking systems support basic Boolean operators, but the exact behavior varies. Paste the standard string into the ATS keyword field, run a small test, and check the platform's search documentation if the results look wrong.
First, confirm that AND, OR, and NOT are uppercase and that each group has balanced parentheses and quotation marks. Then simplify the query and add one group at a time. If the platform offers native filters for title, location, seniority, or company, use those filters instead of forcing every condition into the keyword field.
Start with the title group and genuine must-have skills. Check the results before adding nice-to-haves or exclusions. This gives you enough signal to see how qualified candidates describe themselves without starting with thousands of profiles.
There is no ideal character count. Use the shortest string that returns a workable, relevant pool. If the query becomes difficult to read, split it into two searches or move suitable criteria into native filters.
Review the first 20 to 30 results and track the share that broadly fits the role. For team use, also track profiles reviewed, qualified prospects found, response rate, and interviews booked by search version. Result count alone is not a quality metric.
It can suggest titles, synonyms, and a first draft. The output still needs a human check because Boolean syntax and search behavior vary by platform. A structured generator is more consistent for repeat searches.
No. It filters profiles by words and phrases. It cannot tell whether the candidate has deep experience, wants the role, communicates well, or meets your full hiring rubric. Use the search to find prospects, then assess fit through resume review and structured screening.
Sourcing finds possible candidates. Screening tells you who is worth the next conversation. InterviewFlowAI can move sourced or inbound candidates into structured phone or video interviews, then return transcripts, scorecards, and a ranked shortlist for review.
For niche roles or several client mandates, see how InterviewFlowAI supports recruitment agencies.