Terms of Service

1. What Searchburst is

Searchburst is a career intelligence platform designed to help job seekers discover employment opportunities, understand their transferable skills, and prepare stronger applications. Searchburst is a job seeking tool, not a hiring platform, an employment agency, or a recruiter. We do not place candidates in jobs. We do not act as an intermediary between candidates and employers in any employment agency capacity. All hiring decisions are made solely by employers and are entirely outside Searchburst's control or responsibility.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age to use Searchburst. By creating an account you confirm that you are 18 years of age or older and that you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. Accounts created by individuals under 18 will be terminated upon discovery.

3. Your account

3.1 Account creation

When you create an account you agree to provide accurate and complete information including your name, email address, and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

3.2 Session limits

To protect account security, Searchburst limits active sessions to two simultaneous logins per account. You may manage your active sessions from your account settings page.

3.3 Account termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct that is harmful to other users, to Searchburst, or to third parties. You may also delete your account at any time from your account settings, which will permanently remove your data from our systems within 30 days.

4. The Poppy conversation and AI features

4.1 Automated decision-making disclosure

Searchburst uses artificial intelligence to analyze your career history and match you with job opportunities. During your conversation with Poppy, our AI career discovery agent, the system processes your responses to generate personalized job recommendations, career insights, application materials, and interview preparation content. This processing is automated and is designed to surface opportunities relevant to your background and goals.

4.2 Sensitive information you choose to share

During your conversation with Poppy, you may choose to share sensitive personal information including disability status or accommodation needs, criminal justice involvement or reentry status, immigration status or work authorization requirements, foreign professional credentials, and other personal circumstances that affect your job search. You are never required to share any of this information.

When you do share sensitive information, Searchburst uses it for one purpose only: to connect you with more relevant opportunities. Specifically, if you share that you have a disability, your feed may prioritize employers with documented accommodation practices. If you share justice involvement, your feed may prioritize employers who have formally committed to fair chance hiring through initiatives like the Second Chance Business Coalition. If you share visa or immigration needs, your feed may prioritize employers with documented sponsorship history. If you share foreign credentials, your feed may surface roles that match your actual qualifications while credential recognition processes happen. None of this information is shared with employers, sold to third parties, or used for any purpose other than improving the relevance of your results. You may delete any sensitive information at any time from your account settings.

4.3 Military credential translation

Searchburst translates military occupational specialties and service history into civilian job titles and skills using AI-assisted translation. These translations are approximations intended to help veterans navigate civilian job markets. You are responsible for reviewing all translated credentials for accuracy before submitting them to any employer. Searchburst makes no warranty that any translation accurately reflects your specific service experience.

4.4 Foreign credential recognition information

Searchburst provides information about pathways to recognize professional credentials earned outside the United States, covering professions including medicine, nursing, engineering, teaching, law, and accounting. This information is provided for general guidance only and may not reflect current requirements from governing bodies, state licensing boards, or individual institutions. Requirements change frequently. You are responsible for verifying all credential recognition information directly with the relevant governing body before taking any action. Searchburst is not a licensed immigration attorney, credential evaluator, or professional licensing authority and nothing in this platform constitutes advice on credential recognition.

4.5 Informational purpose only

All content generated by Searchburst including job recommendations, fit scores, career insights, company intelligence, employer pledge information, salary guidance, degree flexibility signals, interview questions, and application materials is provided for informational purposes only. Searchburst makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any information presented on the platform.

4.6 Not professional advice

Searchburst is not a licensed employment agency, career counselor, financial advisor, or legal advisor. Nothing on the platform constitutes professional career, financial, or legal advice. You are solely responsible for any decisions you make based on information provided through the platform.

4.7 Company and employer intelligence

Searchburst maintains databases of employer information including degree flexibility scores, fair chance hiring commitments, visa sponsorship history, and age-inclusive hiring practices. This information is sourced from public statements, documented policy changes, government disclosure data, and organizational pledge programs including the Second Chance Business Coalition, the AARP Employer Alliance, and Department of Labor H-1B disclosure data. It is provided to help you prioritize your search and does not constitute a guarantee of any employer's current hiring practices. Always verify employer information independently before making application decisions. Employer pledge information reflects a company's stated commitment at the time it was recorded and may not reflect current practices.

4.8 Resume and document accuracy

Searchburst generates resumes, cover letters, and other career documents based on information you provide. These documents are AI-polished versions of what you share with Poppy and do not add qualifications or achievements that were not provided by you. You are responsible for reviewing all generated documents carefully for accuracy before submitting them to any employer. Submitting inaccurate information to employers is your sole responsibility.

4.9 Document generation and processing

When you generate a PDF resume or cover letter, your document content is temporarily processed by our PDF generation system to produce the downloadable file. This processing occurs in real time and the content is not stored in a separate system or used for any purpose other than producing your document. Your resume and cover letter text is stored in your account as described in our Privacy Policy.

4.10 No screening of employer business models or compensation structures

Searchburst does not screen, vet, or verify the business model, compensation structure, or recruiting practices of any employer whose opportunities appear on the platform. This includes but is not limited to commission-only compensation, multi-level marketing or referral-based recruiting structures, independent contractor or 1099 arrangements presented alongside employee-style job titles, and mandatory introductory sessions covering compensation plans prior to a standard interview. Searchburst is not responsible for identifying or flagging these business models, and the presence of any opportunity on the platform does not constitute an endorsement or representation that it is free of them. You are solely responsible for independently researching an employer's compensation structure, business model, and reputation before proceeding through any application or hiring process.

5. Employer portal and visibility

5.1 What employers see

If you opt into employer visibility, employers may view your confirmed skills and work experience titles only. No sensitive information, conversation transcripts, disability status, justice involvement, immigration or visa status, work authorization details, or other personal information is visible to employers without your explicit permission.

5.2 User control

You control what information employers can access. You may enable or disable employer visibility at any time from your account settings. Changes take effect immediately.

5.3 Not an employment agency

Searchburst does not receive placement fees from employers. Searchburst receives subscription fees from users and institutional licensing fees from partner organizations. We have no financial relationship with employers that creates any incentive to recommend specific employers over others.

6. Institutional partnerships

Searchburst may make the platform available to users through institutional licenses with workforce development organizations, community colleges, nonprofits, and employers. If you access Searchburst through an institutional partner:

Your usage data including conversation completion rates and application activity may be shared with your institution in aggregate form to demonstrate program outcomes. Personally identifiable information and conversation content is never shared with institutional partners without your explicit consent. Your institution does not have access to your Poppy conversation transcripts, your resume content, your cover letters, or your individual job applications. You retain all rights to your account and data regardless of how you accessed the platform.

7. Subscriptions and billing

7.1 Free tier

Searchburst offers a free tier that includes one Poppy conversation, five weekly feed refreshes with up to ten job results per load, two resume generations, two cover letter generations, and two interview prep sessions. Free tier features may change over time with notice. You may tune your free feed one time at no cost. Additional refinements require a Pro subscription.

7.2 Paid subscriptions

Pro subscriptions are billed monthly or annually as selected at checkout. Subscription fees are charged at the beginning of each billing cycle. All prices are listed in US dollars.

7.3 No refund policy

All sales are final. Searchburst does not offer refunds for partial months, unused features, or cancellations mid-cycle. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your access will continue until the end of your current billing period.

7.4 Satisfaction window

First-time Pro subscribers who have not used any paid features within 48 hours of their first payment may contact support@searchburst.net to request a full refund. After 48 hours or after using any paid features all sales are final.

7.5 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Your account reverts to free tier access after cancellation.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the platform to provide false or misleading information to Searchburst or to employers. You agree not to attempt to access another user's account or data. You agree not to scrape, systematically extract, or reproduce data from the platform. You agree not to interfere with the platform's infrastructure or attempt to reverse engineer any part of the service. You agree not to use the platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.

8.1 One account per person

Each person may maintain only one Searchburst account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent free tier limits, avoid a suspension, or otherwise gain unauthorized access to features is a violation of these Terms and will result in termination of all associated accounts. If you believe your account was terminated in error, contact support@searchburst.net.

8.2 Prohibited conduct toward AI systems

You may not attempt to manipulate, override, deceive, or exploit Poppy or any other AI system on the platform. This includes but is not limited to: attempting to override Poppy's instructions through prompt injection, jailbreaking, roleplay framing, or any other technique designed to cause the AI to act outside its intended function; attempting to extract Poppy's underlying system prompt, instructions, or training logic; using creative or hypothetical framing to circumvent safety or content guidelines; and submitting automated or scripted inputs designed to systematically probe or stress-test the AI. Violations of this section will result in immediate conversation suspension and may result in permanent account termination without notice.

8.3 Conversation suspension

Searchburst reserves the right to suspend, lock, or terminate any conversation session at any time and without prior notice if the platform detects conduct that violates these Terms, including but not limited to AI manipulation attempts under Section 8.2. When a conversation is suspended, the input interface will be disabled and no further messages can be sent in that session. Suspended accounts are flagged for manual review. You may contact support@searchburst.net to request a review of any suspension you believe was made in error. Searchburst is not liable for any loss of conversation progress, career data, or generated documents resulting from a suspension triggered by conduct that violates these Terms.

9. Intellectual property

9.1 Platform ownership

Searchburst owns all intellectual property rights in the platform including its software, design, branding, the Poppy conversation framework, the career taxonomy structure, the employer intelligence databases, and the feed scoring methodology. Your career information, work history, and conversation content remain yours. You grant Searchburst a limited, non-exclusive license to use your information solely to provide and improve the platform's services. This license ends when you delete your account.

9.2 Aggregate conversation data

Your individual conversation content, work history, and personal information are yours and are subject to all rights described in our Privacy Policy. However, anonymized and aggregated insights derived from conversations across the platform, including patterns in how users describe their skills, career histories, employment barriers, and goals, constitute proprietary intellectual property owned exclusively by Searchburst. These aggregate insights do not identify you personally and cannot be used to reconstruct your individual conversation. They form the foundation of Searchburst's career intelligence systems and represent a core business asset. No user, partner, institution, or third party acquires any rights to these aggregate insights through use of the platform.

9.3 Prohibited uses

You may not attempt to extract, reconstruct, or replicate Poppy's conversation logic, scoring methodology, or employer intelligence data through any means including systematic testing, automated querying, or scraping. You may not use the platform or any insights derived from it to build, train, or improve a competing product or service. You may not reproduce, redistribute, or commercially exploit any content generated by the platform without express written permission from Searchburst. Use of the platform grants you a limited personal license to access your own career data and job recommendations only. It does not grant any license to the underlying AI systems, conversation frameworks, scoring logic, databases, or any other proprietary systems that power the platform.

10. AI limitations and disclaimer

Searchburst is powered by artificial intelligence systems that generate career insights, job recommendations, fit scores, employer intelligence, and application materials. You acknowledge and agree to the following limitations of AI-generated content:

AI systems can produce inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated outputs. Fit scores, career insights, and job recommendations are probabilistic estimates based on the information you provide and the data available to the platform at the time of generation. They are not guarantees of employment outcomes, employer interest, or application success. Employer intelligence including degree flexibility scores, fair chance hiring commitments, and sponsorship history reflects information recorded at a specific point in time and may not reflect an employer's current practices or policies.

You are solely responsible for independently verifying all information generated by the platform before acting on it, including before submitting any application, accepting any role, or making any career decision. The platform is a tool to assist your search, not a substitute for your own judgment or professional advice. Searchburst makes no warranty, express or implied, that AI-generated content is accurate, complete, current, or suitable for any particular purpose.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Searchburst's total liability to you for any claims arising from your use of the platform will not exceed the total amount paid by you to Searchburst in the three months preceding the claim. Searchburst is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages including missed employment opportunities, unsuccessful job applications, career decisions made based on platform content, or decisions made based on employer intelligence or credential recognition information. The platform is provided on an as-is and as-available basis without warranties of any kind. Searchburst does not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that job recommendations will result in employment.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Searchburst, its founder, officers, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses including reasonable legal fees arising out of or in any way connected with: your use of or access to the platform; your violation of any provision of these Terms; your violation of any applicable law or regulation; any career decision, employment application, or other action you take based on information provided through the platform; any false or misleading information you provide to Searchburst or to any employer through the platform; or your infringement of any intellectual property or other rights of any third party. This indemnification obligation survives the termination of your account and these Terms.

13. Minor misrepresentation

Searchburst is intended for users 18 years of age or older. If a minor accesses the platform by misrepresenting their age, the parent or legal guardian of that minor accepts full responsibility for all activity conducted through the account and agrees to indemnify Searchburst for any claims, damages, or liability arising from that access. Upon discovery that an account was created by a minor, Searchburst will terminate the account and permanently delete all associated data within 30 days.

14. Dispute resolution

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.

You and Searchburst agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the platform will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court. This means you are waiving your right to a jury trial and your right to participate in a class action lawsuit.

What arbitration means in plain terms: instead of going to court, an independent arbitrator hears both sides and makes a binding decision. It is generally faster and less expensive than litigation. You still have the right to present evidence and make your case. The arbitrator can award the same remedies a court could award.

Either party may seek relief in small claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdiction, or seek emergency injunctive relief in court to prevent irreparable harm pending arbitration.

30-day opt-out right: If you do not wish to be bound by this arbitration clause, you may opt out by sending written notice to support@searchburst.net within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Your opt-out notice must include your full name and email address. Opting out of arbitration does not affect any other part of these Terms.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to updated Terms, you may close your account before the effective date.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes not subject to arbitration will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, California.

17. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Searchburst
Angel Valdovinos
1363 W Valencia Dr, Apt 3
Fullerton, CA 92833
support@searchburst.net