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X-ray search (aka X-ray sourcing or X-ray recruiting) is a technique for surfacing potential candidates on specific websites by using outside search engines like Google. In this context, ‘X-ray’ refers to seeing information on profiles inside of a semi-closed platform. Earlier this year, LinkedIn started reducing what useful profile data public search indexers can see, as first revealed by global sourcing guru Marcel van der Meer. Those in the know didn’t need X-ray vision to see this one coming.
Sourcing Superheroes have been using X-Ray Search for years, but LinkedIn may be adding some kryptonite to the mix.
So is X-ray search dead when it comes to LinkedIn? Not completely, as it can still turn up helpful information, but it does appear to be losing its depth. With hackles raised by GPT tools scraping data from places like Reddit and others, it seems likely that even more sites will begin limiting what can be reached without a login. This will impact recruitment sourcing more, as well as people-aggregation tools they use which rely on spidering data from outside.
As X-ray loses some of its effectiveness, it will likely require those who have relied on it heavily to start re-skilling to get
