Also, keep a curated list of headhunters that you respect.

I once was talking to a headhunter about a position he had (IIRC). I wasn't interested, but mentioned someone else he should look at. When he found out where my contact was currently working, he said, "Oh, they're a client. I can't recruit from there."

He went on my list. A headhunter with ethics about not stealing employees from his own customers? That's good enough to make him someone I want to talk to when I'm in the market.

Keep adding to the list on the (rare) occasion that a headhunter does something that catches your notice. Takes five minutes a year, if you're lucky. When you're next looking for a job, it can save you days.

there are good recruiters out there; if you find one they'll probably get you several jobs over your career. The baseline is so shockingly low that you'd think more recruiters would put in the exceeding low level of required effort that would put them in the top 5%. Go figure...

This. I have been polite and responded to every recruiter. I realized that not a single job I’ve taken has come from a recruiter inbound. Yes I am fortunate. But now recruiters get a polite but definitely auto-responded email.