CV & X-Ray Sourcing Strings
X-ray search lets you point a search engine at one specific website and search only within it — turning Google into a search bar for CV databases, portfolios and job boards that don't have great internal search of their own.
- Core operator
site:restricts a search to one domain- Best search engine
- Google, for indexing depth
- Works on
- CV databases, portfolios, GitHub, job boards
What is the site: operator?
The site: operator restricts a search engine's results to a single website, using the format site:domain.com immediately followed (no space) by your other keywords and operators. It's the foundation of X-ray search: instead of relying on a CV database's own internal search box, you search its publicly indexed pages directly through Google, combining it with the AND, OR, NOT and quotation-mark syntax covered in our operators guide.
AND (Python OR Scala) AND Manchester
Run in Google, this returns only publicly indexed LinkedIn profile pages matching the criteria — useful when you want to browse results in Google's interface, or when LinkedIn's own search has capped the number of profiles your account can view.
X-raying beyond LinkedIn
The same technique works on any site that allows its pages to be indexed by search engines, which makes it valuable for sourcing candidates who may not maintain an active LinkedIn profile — developers with public GitHub activity, designers with portfolio sites, or academics with university staff pages.
| Source | Example X-ray string |
|---|---|
| GitHub | site:github.com "machine learning" AND resume |
| Personal portfolios | site:*.dev "UX designer" AND portfolio AND Leeds |
| Job board CVs (where public) | site:indeed.com/r "electrician" AND "18th edition" |
| University staff pages | site:*.ac.uk "research fellow" AND immunology |
Filetype searching for CVs and PDFs
Adding filetype:pdf narrows a search to PDF documents specifically, which is useful when sourcing publicly shared CVs, published papers, or portfolio documents rather than webpages.
Treat results from this technique carefully: a publicly indexed PDF CV was not necessarily intended for open discovery, so verify consent and current job-seeking status before making contact, and follow UK GDPR principles around lawful basis for processing personal data when reaching out.
Combining sources in one research pass
Many sourcers run the same core keyword combination across two or three site: searches in sequence — LinkedIn, then GitHub, then a relevant job board — rather than building one enormous string, since each site indexes and formats candidate information differently.
FAQs on CV and X-ray sourcing
What is X-ray search in recruitment?
X-ray search uses a search engine's site: operator to search only within one specific website, such as a CV database or LinkedIn, surfacing publicly indexed pages directly.
Is X-ray searching CV databases legal?
X-ray search only surfaces pages already made publicly indexable, so it doesn't bypass any login or access control. Still follow each site's terms of service and applicable data protection law when contacting candidates.
Which search engine is best for X-ray search?
Google is the standard choice for its indexing depth, though Bing supports the same site: operator and can surface different indexed pages for hard-to-fill roles.
Keep building
Combine these strings with platform-specific technique in our LinkedIn boolean search guide, or check Common Search Mistakes if a string returns nothing.