Yes, Spotlight really works, it is more likely that you didn’t use Spotlight the right way. If you live in a rural area and your profile has already been shown to most men or women in the neighborhood you won’t get any boost from Spotlight. Another reason might be that your profile sucks, you don’t have great pictures. Don’t forget, you only get higher visibility. So just because someone sees your profile doesn’t mean she or he will swipe you right.