What is AI Sourcing?
AI Sourcing in Gem helps talent teams find the highest-quality prospects all in one place, without ever having to leave Gem. By combining advanced filters with AI-driven qualifications, it revolutionizes traditional sourcing, helping you build a high-caliber, curated pipeline faster and more efficiently.
Starting a new search
You can start a new AI Sourcing search by navigating to the AI Sourcing page in Gem, then selecting the + New Search button — either in the middle of the page or in the top-right corner.
A pop-up will appear, in which Gem will take you through a 4-step workflow to set up your search:
- Set up
- Define talent pool
- Add criteria
- Summary & settings
Step 1. Set up
Fill out these three initial fields to kick off your search:
- What job are you sourcing for?: Select the position you’re sourcing for (Gem will only show active jobs in your ATS).
- Job description: If the job you have selected does not already have a job description, you can then give Gem a description of the role. If you have already created a role intake doc or other job description outside of Gem, you can paste it here. Otherwise, describe your ideal candidate profile when it comes to their current or past titles, location, years of experience, or desired skills.
Once you’ve filled out these fields, select Next to proceed.
Step 2. Define talent pool
Use filters like job title, location, and years of experience to shape your talent pool — the set of eligible profiles Gem AI will evaluate, score, and rank. These filters help define any must-have qualifications, such as past experience, education, or specific job titles, ensuring only candidates who meet your criteria are considered. You can apply as many or as few filters as needed to refine your search and focus on the most relevant prospects. Filters include:
- Job titles: Filter by “Is/Contains,” “Current title only,” and use Boolean “OR/AND” to include multiple title variations within a single query.
- Location: Filter by city, metro, state/province, and country, and exclude specific regions using a “NOT” option.
- Experience & tenure: Months at current company and overall years of experience (custom date range).
- Companies: Select from default presets and team presents, filter by “Current company only,” include companies from specific industries, of a certain size, backed by certain investors, and allow Gem to find similar companies to those you have already selected.
- Education: Filter by school, degree, and field of study; use Boolean “OR/AND” to include multiple degree and field-of-study variations within a single query.
- Keywords: Get even more granular by filtering for specific keywords.
- Spoken languages: Use Boolean “OR/AND” to include multiple language variations within a single query.
- Last contact: Use the dropdown to filter by contact history (e.g., in the past three months, none in the past three months, never, etc.).
- Exclude Projects: Use the dropdown to filter out candidates who belong to specific Gem Projects.
As your filters are applied, you’ll be shown the approximate size of your defined talent pool:
Note: Gem AI performs best with a well-defined talent pool. If your search includes more than 20,000 candidates, you may encounter less relevant results. Adjust filters strategically to maintain a strong balance between specificity and reach.
For a deeper dive into filtering best practices, see Gem AI Sourcing: Filters Best Practices.
Step 3. Add criteria
Gem AI analyzes your talent pool based on the criteria you set, surfacing only the most qualified candidates. You can:
- Copy and paste must-have and nice-to-have qualifications directly from your job description.
- Manually enter key criteria to refine how candidates are ranked.
These criteria should be concise, single-line statements about your ideal candidate similar to what you might include in a job description, such as experience with a specific technology, process, or application.
For tips on optimizing your criteria, see Gem AI Sourcing: Scoring Criteria Best Practices.
Step 4. Summary & settings
Before Gem AI begins your search, you’ll be shown a summary of your search criteria. Name your search and select a default Project to associated with the search if you’d like. Then review the details, make any necessary adjustments to the filters or criteria, and select ✦ Activate Search to proceed.
Reviewing AI Sourcing search results
Once Gem AI completes the sourcing process, you can start reviewing candidates. Simply navigate to the AI Sourcing page and select the Start Reviews button next to your search to begin evaluating prospects.
On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a list of prospects, ranked by how well they match your search criteria
In the center, the selected prospect’s profile is displayed along with their Gem AI match score (e.g., “100% Match,” “65% Match”) and their work experience (with any relevant keywords highlighted), helping you assess fit at a glance. From a profile, you’ll be able to see other information, including:
- Resumes (if applicable).
- Activity feed: A full history of past interactions with the prospect and a space to add public or private notes.
- Scorecards (if applicable).
- Applications (if applicable).
- “Last updated” icon (⟳): Shows how recently the profile’s data was refreshed.
On the right, the Gem Extension allows you to take actions such as adding candidates to Projects or Sequences, and sending one-off messages. Here’s where you’ll also mark the candidate as “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe” — making it easy to quickly review and move on to the next prospect. (Use the → arrow beside the prospect’s name to navigate to the next candidate.)
Note: Enabling Feedback Mode allows you to specify why you’re passing on a candidate. This input helps optimize future search results. It is not used for AI model training.
Once you’ve finished reviewing the prospects Gem AI has surfaced, you can take bulk actions on the candidates you’re interested in:
- Select the Yes tab at the top of the page to view all approved prospects.
- Select Bulk action at the top of the list.
- Choose from options such as:
- Bulk add to Sequence: To kick off outreach campaigns.
- Bulk add to Project: To organize candidates for future engagement.
This allows you to efficiently move top prospects into your hiring workflow and start connecting with them right away.
Editing your search
If you need to make changes to your search, you can do so from the AI Sourcing page. Locate your search by name, then select the View Search Details button.
Your filters and criteria will be displayed, just as they were in the original search, including the option to add, edit, or remove criteria. When complete, select Apply changes to restart the search.
➡️ Next, you’ll use the Gem Chrome Extension in Gmail!
- What is AI Sourcing?
- Starting a new search
- Step 1. Set up
- Step 2. Define talent pool
- Step 3. Add criteria
- Step 4. Summary & settings
- Reviewing AI Sourcing search results
- Editing your search