Google X-Ray search finds people on the internet without needing a LinkedIn Recruiter licence. This tool builds the search string for you — no Boolean knowledge needed.
1
Pick your platform(s)
Select one or more platforms. Each has a different strength:
Platform
Best for
What Google finds
💼 LinkedIn
All professional roles
Profile headline, skills section, job titles
🐙 GitHub
Software engineers
Bio, README files, pinned repos
📚 Stack Overflow
Developers — best tech signal
Top tags show actual skills used, reputation = expertise
🎨 Behance
UI/UX and visual designers
Portfolio project pages — see work quality immediately
When multiple platforms are selected, the output panel shows a separate "Open ↗" button for each — each platform gets its own optimised query.
For LinkedIn, choose the correct region from the dropdown. India is the most-indexed globally. UK and Canada subdomains are also well indexed. US LinkedIn is largely blocked by Google — use GitHub or Stack Overflow instead for US hiring.
2
Add job title(s)
Type the title as candidates write it on their profiles, then press Enter — it becomes a chip. Add as many as you need. All titles are OR-combined in the search string.
💡 Tip: Add abbreviations and alternate spellings people actually use — "Product Manager", "PM", "Product Lead" all get you different profiles.
The title field has autocomplete — start typing and 80+ common titles appear as suggestions.
3
Set seniority (optional)
Click the Seniority field to see all levels — Junior, Mid-level, Senior, Staff, Principal, Lead, Manager, Director, VP. Click any to add it as a chip. Add multiple levels to OR-combine them.
✅ Adding Senior + Lead finds both "Senior Software Engineer" and "Lead Software Engineer" profiles.
💡 Leave empty to see all levels.
Important: Seniority is only applied to LinkedIn and GitHub — it is automatically skipped for Stack Overflow and Behance where it would reduce results without helping.
4
Add skills — keep it lean
Use the skills field autocomplete — type any skill and suggestions appear from a 1,400+ skill database. Press Enter or click to add.
Must-have (AND) — the 2–3 non-negotiable skills. Every extra AND halves your result pool. More than 3 on LinkedIn = near-zero results.
Nice-to-have (OR) — everything else. The candidate only needs one of these to appear in results.
Type a city or country in the Location field and press Enter — add multiple locations for OR logic (finds candidates in any of them).
Target companies — adds companies to the AND conditions. Great for finding candidates with a specific pedigree combination (e.g. "worked at both Google and a startup").
Exclude keywords — removes noise instantly. Add "Recruiter", "Fresher", "Student", "Intern" to filter ~30% of irrelevant profiles from results.
6
Open in Google
The Open in Google button activates as soon as you fill in any field. It is a real link — click it and Google opens with 100 results per page.
If you selected multiple platforms, the output panel shows a separate Open ↗ button for each platform — open them one by one in separate tabs.
To get email addresses, install Apollo.io, ContactOut, or Hunter.io (free Chrome extensions). Open a LinkedIn profile from your results — the extension surfaces the email and phone number automatically.
Copy search string copies the raw Boolean string to your clipboard. Paste it directly into any search engine.
7
Variations and Search History
Google caps X-Ray to ~10–30 results per query. Click Variations to generate 5 alternative versions of your query — each returns a fresh batch of profiles. Together that's 50–200+ unique candidates per session.
Search History auto-saves every search you run. Click Reuse to reload a previous search instantly. Use Export CSV to download your full search history with all fields (title, skills, location, platform, search string, URL) for reporting or sharing.
Pro tips
🔁
Beat the 10-result cap
Use Variations to generate 5 alternative queries. Each returns a fresh batch — 50–200+ unique profiles from one session.
🌏
India subdomain is best
in.linkedin.com/in/ is the most-indexed LinkedIn subdomain globally. Start here even for non-India hires to gauge result volume.
📊
Watch the strength meter
Aim for "Balanced". Too many AND skills → zero results. Too few → thousands of irrelevant profiles. The meter tells you which way you are.
🔍
Stack Overflow for technical depth
SO profiles show top tags (actual skills) and reputation. A developer with 500+ Python answers is demonstrably proficient — better signal than a self-reported skill.
🚫
Exclusions are underused
Add "Recruiter", "HR Manager", "Hiring" to excludes — removes 20–30% of noise from LinkedIn results instantly.
🎯
Use SkillMapper first
Not sure what skills to search for? Use SkillMapper (Step 1) to identify the right role title and skills, then click "Search in TalentXRay" — it pre-fills everything here.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I only getting 10 results?
Google limits X-Ray to ~10–30 results per query. Use Variations to generate 5 different versions — each returns a fresh batch. Together you get 50–200+ unique profiles per session.
Why does US LinkedIn return almost no results?
LinkedIn blocks Google from indexing US profiles to push companies toward LinkedIn Recruiter (their paid product). For US hiring use GitHub or Stack Overflow. India, UK, and Canada subdomains are still well-indexed.
How do I get email addresses from profiles?
TalentXRay finds profiles — contact extraction needs a Chrome extension. Install Apollo.io, ContactOut, or Hunter.io (all free). Open a LinkedIn profile from results and the extension surfaces the email automatically.
Why do my searches return zero results?
Too many AND (must-have) skills is the most common cause. Remove 2–3 from must-have and move them to nice-to-have. Also try removing location — many profiles do not explicitly state their city.
Why does seniority not appear in my Stack Overflow search?
Stack Overflow and Behance profiles do not contain job title prefixes like "Senior" or "Lead" in indexed text. Applying seniority there would return zero results. The tool automatically skips seniority for those platforms and applies it only to LinkedIn and GitHub where it works.
Will Open in Google work on my computer?
If you are running the file directly from your computer (file:// in the address bar), the link may not open due to browser security restrictions on local files. Once deployed on a website (https://) it works perfectly. In the meantime, use Copy search string and paste it into Google manually.
Want a custom version for your team?
TalentXRay can be set up with your company branding, role presets specific to your industry, and integrated into your hiring workflow. Typical turnaround 48–72 hours.