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Free tool · Recruiters

Recruiter Boolean Search Builder

Build a broad and a narrow Boolean search from a role title, skills, and exclusions — with a deterministic query compiler for Google X-ray and LinkedIn search, and optional job-description suggestions to review.

The query builder is fully local: it compiles in your browser and keeps working when the free tools are unavailable. Optional job-description suggestions use an AI model provider — nothing is saved by default, and no search is ever run for you.

Term lists are comma or newline separated. Up to 8 terms per list (4 title alternatives), each up to 80 characters. Nothing is dropped silently — an over-long list is reported so you decide what to remove.

LinkedIn: never added to the query — use LinkedIn's own location filter. Google: added as a quoted keyword, but profile text is not a reliable geographic filter.

Always entered by you. An exclusion removes real people from every search you run, so it is never suggested automatically.

Example output

Synthetic example — illustrates the structure of a conservative Google query only, not a real generated result.

Boolean Search (synthetic example)

Broad query

site:linkedin.com/in "Account Executive" "SaaS" "London" -"recruiter"

Narrow query

site:linkedin.com/in "Account Executive" "SaaS" "London" "HubSpot" -"recruiter"

What's included

  • Site filter: site:linkedin.com/in restricts results to LinkedIn profile pages.
  • Title: Account Executive.
  • Required skills: SaaS, London.
  • Optional skills become required in the narrow query: HubSpot.
  • Excluded from both queries: recruiter.

This is a synthetic example for illustration — not a real generated result, and no search was run.

How this works

Fill in a role title and required skills (or paste a job description above for suggestions to review), choose Google X-ray or LinkedIn, and select Build search. A deterministic compiler — not the model — assembles the query. LinkedIn's main search bar supports uppercase AND / OR / NOT, quoting and grouping. The Google adapter uses site:, quoted phrases and minus exclusions; it uses the primary title, so substitute a reviewed alternative manually, and optional skills become required in its narrow query. No search is ever run for you and nothing is scraped.

Limitations

  • This tool never scrapes profiles, bypasses login, or runs a search for you.
  • LinkedIn operator support varies by surface and plan; this targets the main search bar.
  • No result-count predictions — a query's reach depends on the platform, not on this page.
  • Title alternatives are suggestions to substitute manually, not inserted into every query.
  • Editing a compiled query by hand puts it outside the compiler's guarantees.

Frequently asked questions

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Read the guide: How to use this tool →

How to create a Boolean search

To create a Boolean search, list the job title and the must-have skills, combine them with AND, OR and NOT, put exact phrases in quotes, and group alternatives in parentheses.

  1. Start with the target role and its alternative titles, such as "software engineer" and "software developer".
  2. Add the must-have skills.
  3. Add the terms you want to exclude, such as "intern".
  4. Choose the platform: Google X-ray or the LinkedIn search bar.
  5. Combine the terms with operators and read the string once before you run it.

Have the role, the must-have terms, the exclusions and the platform ready before you build the string. The builder above asks for them and compiles the query for you. It never runs the search.

What do the Boolean operators do?

  • AND: both terms must appear.
  • OR: either term can appear. Use it for alternative titles and skill names.
  • NOT: the term must not appear. Google uses a minus sign instead.
  • Quotes: match an exact phrase, such as "project manager".
  • Parentheses: group terms so that the operators work in the order you intend.

Boolean search examples

A LinkedIn search string:

("software engineer" OR "software developer") AND (Python OR Java) NOT intern

The same search as a Google X-ray string:

site:linkedin.com/in ("software engineer" OR "software developer") (Python OR Java) -intern

A reusable template: (title one OR title two) AND (must-have skill OR its other name) AND (second must-have skill) NOT (excluded term).

What is Boolean search?

Boolean search is a way of searching with the words AND, OR and NOT. AND narrows a search to results that contain both terms, OR widens it to results that contain either term, and NOT removes results that contain a term.