Expand a search term

Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere until you open a search. Only operators the chosen engine supports are shown.

Also on this page: plain English to search · other languages and translation.

Describe it in plain English

Say what you want. The tool turns it into a search with the right operators for your engine. Example: PDF reports about school board surveillance contracts from government sites since 2024, not Wikipedia.

The first step is rules-based and works in any browser. It catches file types, site types, named sites, dates and exclusions. The optional AI step asks your browser’s built-in model for more ideas, then our rules remove any operator your engine does not support.

Search in other languages

Pages in the local language often hold records English searches miss. Pick languages and Chrome translates your term on your device. Needs desktop Chrome 138 or later.

Translate foreign text

Translations run on your device. The first use of a language downloads a small language pack. Machine translation can miss names and legal terms, so check anything important with a person who reads the language.

How do I use it?

  1. Type your term. Use the words you would normally search for. Two to five words work best.
  2. Pick a goal. The goal changes the extra words, questions and site filters. For example, “Look into a company” adds registry and filing searches.
  3. Pick your engine. Operators your engine does not support are left out, so every row does what it says.
  4. Run the rows that fit. Press Search to open one in a new tab, or Copy to paste it into your own search box. Compare what each one finds.

You can also link straight to a search, for example search-term-expander.html#q=plate+reader&g=news&e=bing.

What does each list do?

  • Closest phrasings. Your exact phrase, a reversed word order for short terms, and your words swapped one at a time for near-synonyms from a hand-written list.
  • Cast a wider net. OR groups that search for any of a word’s synonyms at once, such as ("license plate" OR "number plate" OR tag) reader.
  • Add a word. Words that steer the engine toward guides, reports, lawsuits, filings or documentation, depending on your goal.
  • Ask it as a question. Question forms match forum threads, explainers and answer pages.
  • Narrow with operators. Title and body searches, government and school sites, file types, date limits where supported, and an exclusion for Wikipedia.
  • Name variants and handles. Only for the public-name goal. It tries first-last, last-first and initials, and common username patterns.

Our word list is small and written by hand. It covers common research, records, security and news words, so a niche term may get fewer synonyms. The AI button is the way to fill that gap.

How does the optional AI button work?

It uses the AI model built into your browser, so your term never leaves your device. Chrome’s Prompt API lets a web page ask a model that Chrome downloads and runs locally. It is listed as Chrome 148 for the web Chrome for Developers: Prompt API (read 22 Oct 2026).

Small on-device models are fluent but can invent phrases or drift off topic. Use the AI list as ideas to test, not as facts.

Can I send my term to ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant?

Yes. The “Send it to an AI assistant” box builds a prompt and opens ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok or Copilot with it in the address. The prompt asks for 20 search queries written for the engine you picked, and it lists only the operators that engine supports. You can edit the prompt first.

Treat the answers like any AI output: useful ideas, not verified facts.

How does plain-English search work?

Say what you want and the tool builds the search, then checks it against your engine’s rules. The first step is rules-based, so it works in any browser. The optional AI step adds more ideas.

  • What the rules catch. File types (PDF, Word, spreadsheet, slides), site types (government, university, military), named sites (Reddit, GitHub, LinkedIn and a few more), a few countries, dates (since 2024, before 2023, in 2025, last year) and leave-outs (“not Wikipedia”).
  • What you see. A short list of what the tool understood, then up to three searches: everything you asked for, a looser one, and one that needs the topic in the page title.
  • What the AI adds. Up to five more queries from the built-in model. Every query is then cleaned. An operator your engine does not support is removed, intext: becomes inbody: on Bing and Brave, and unbalanced quotes or brackets are fixed. Cleaned queries are marked.
  • Dates. Only Google has date operators. On other engines the tool tells you to use the engine’s Time filter.

It reads simple requests well and complicated ones badly. If a result looks wrong, edit the search before you run it.

Can I search and read in other languages?

Yes, on desktop Chrome. It translates on your device, so neither your term nor your pasted text is sent to us. Chrome’s Translator and Language Detector APIs are listed from Chrome 138 Chrome for Developers: Translator API (read 22 Oct 2026) Chrome for Developers: Language Detector API (read 22 Oct 2026).

  • Search terms. Choose languages and press Translate. Each translation gets a Search link, so you can look for local-language pages, registries and news.
  • Foreign text. Paste text, and the tool detects the language and translates it into the one you choose. The detector works on a subset of languages and is weak on single words and short phrases Chrome for Developers: Language Detector API (read 22 Oct 2026).
  • Language packs. Chrome lists 39 supported language codes and says the list may change. It hides which pairs are already downloaded, so the first use of a pair starts a download Chrome for Developers: Translator API (read 22 Oct 2026).
  • Limits. Desktop Chrome only, not on phones or in other browsers. Translations run one after another, so long text takes a while.

Machine translation can miss names, legal terms and local spellings. For anything you will publish or act on, ask someone who reads the language to check it. Our world public records guide lists where records live in each country.

Which operators work in each search engine?

Google, Bing and Brave share the core set, and only Google has date operators. This is the table the tool follows. We re-checked it against each engine’s own help pages in October 2026.

OperatorGoogleBingDuckDuckGoBrave
"exact phrase", -word, ORYesYesQuotes and - onlyYes
site:YesYesYesYes
filetype:YesYespdf, doc(x), xls(x), ppt(x), htmlYes
intitle:Yes (works; not in Google’s operator pages)YesYesYes
Body textintext: (works; undocumented)inbody:Noneinbody:
before: / after:YesNoNoNo
inurl:Broken (Oct 2026)Not listedDocumented, not used hereNot listed

Sources: Google Search Help (checked 18 Oct 2026), Google Search Central (updated 10 Dec 2025), Microsoft, Advanced search keywords (checked 7 Oct 2026), DuckDuckGo Help, advanced syntax (checked 7 Oct 2026), Brave Search Help, Search Operators (checked 7 Oct 2026). Google’s inurl: failure is reported by GIJN / Henk van Ess (14 Oct 2026). For the full list, including Yandex and Baidu, see the Google dorking reference.

Why does the AI run in your browser instead of a free AI service?

Free hosted AI services now want a key, and a key cannot be hidden in a static web page. We checked Pollinations, a popular free service that used to answer plain browser requests. Its current docs say most endpoints need a key, and they tell developers not to put raw publishable keys in new browser integrations Pollinations API docs (read 22 Oct 2026).

Running the model on your device avoids both problems. There is no key to leak, no bill and no third party that sees your search. The cost is that only some computers can do it, which is why the AI step is optional.

How do I get better results from the expanded searches?

  • Change one thing at a time. Run the plain phrase, then one variant, so you can tell which change helped.
  • Use OR groups for names and spellings. A company, a place or a product often has several names.
  • Use site: for the source you trust. A site:gov or site:edu search drops most spam.
  • Save what works. Use Copy all or download the list as a text file for your notes.
  • Try a second engine. Results differ a lot between Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and Brave. Our search engine landscape explains why.

Sources

  1. Chrome for Developers: Prompt API (read 22 Oct 2026)
  2. Pasquale Pillitteri: Gemini Nano in the browser (2026)
  3. Chrome for Developers: Translator API (read 22 Oct 2026)
  4. Chrome for Developers: Language Detector API (read 22 Oct 2026)
  5. Pollinations API docs (read 22 Oct 2026)
  6. u2l.ai: Grok prompt link generator (read 22 Oct 2026)
  7. u2l.ai: Copilot prompt link generator (read 22 Oct 2026)
  8. u2l.ai: Perplexity prompt link generator (read 22 Oct 2026)
  9. prefillprompt on GitHub (read 22 Oct 2026)
  10. Issue 8827: Claude URL prompt submission stopped working (read 22 Oct 2026)
  11. Google Search Help (checked 18 Oct 2026)
  12. Google Search Central (updated 10 Dec 2025)
  13. Microsoft, Advanced search keywords (checked 7 Oct 2026)
  14. DuckDuckGo Help, advanced syntax (checked 7 Oct 2026)
  15. Brave Search Help, Search Operators (checked 7 Oct 2026)
  16. GIJN / Henk van Ess (14 Oct 2026)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a search term expander?

It turns one search term into many: other ways to say it, OR groups, extra words, questions and operators such as site: and filetype:. You run the ones that fit and compare results. Different wording often surfaces pages that your first search missed.

Does the Search Term Expander use AI?

The main lists do not. They come from a hand-written word list and fixed rules, so they work in every browser and give the same answer each time. An optional button adds AI suggestions, but only when your browser has a built-in model, such as Chrome 148 or later on a desktop that meets the hardware needs. You can also send a ready-made prompt to ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok or Copilot.

Is my search term sent anywhere?

No. The expansion and the built-in AI step run in your browser, and nothing is sent to Max Intel. Your term goes to a search engine only when you press a Search link, and to an AI company only if you press one of the Open in buttons. Each goes only to the service you chose.

Why is the AI button missing or greyed out?

The built-in model needs desktop Chrome 148 or later, about 22 GB of free disk space, and a GPU with more than 4 GB of video memory or a CPU with 16 GB of RAM. It does not run on Android or iOS. If your device cannot run it, the rules-based suggestions still work.

Which search operators does each engine support, and why is there no inurl:?

Google, Bing and Brave support site:, filetype:, intitle: and a body-text operator (intext: on Google, inbody: on Bing and Brave). DuckDuckGo supports site:, intitle: and filetype: for a short list of formats. Only Google has before: and after:. The tool never suggests inurl: because Google stopped running it reliably in October 2026 and Bing and Brave do not list it. It uses site: with a path instead.

Can it search in other languages?

Yes, on desktop Chrome 138 or later. Pick languages and Chrome translates your term on your device, so you can search each one. You can also paste foreign text and have it detected and translated to English. Chrome supports 39 language codes, and the first use of a language downloads a small language pack.

Can I use it to look up a person?

Use it for public names, such as officials, authors and company officers, and only for lawful research. The person option suggests name variants and common handle patterns. A handle match proves nothing until you confirm it is the same person.

Next step

Want ready-made searches for a keyword? Open the Dork Generator. Need the rules behind each operator? Read the Google dorking reference.

Dork Generator Google dorking reference Search engine landscape AI SEO guide