Told a recruiter my number first for the first time in six searches and the offer still landed above range

Every search before this one I dodged the salary question, gave the "what's the range for this role" line back like I was told to. This time I just said my number, a real one I'd researched, no hedging. Recruiter didn't flinch, and the offer came in eight percent over what I asked for. I don't think saying it first helped, exactly — but not saying it clearly was never protecting me either.