This is definitely the case for me at least. I spent a lot of time in the New England woods as a kid and had lots of tick bites. Nowadays I am more cautious, but when I occasionally do get a bite I have a strong reaction at the site and usually find the tick very quickly that way because it’s itchy and inflamed.
I don't know if I just taste bad to ticks or if I'm just lucky. I always find them just crawling around on me without ever tunneling in. Which is good because that is just a horrifying thought. (Live rural Southern Ontario, have both dog and black legged ticks here).
I once had a dream that a tick was on me, and woke in the middle of night to find ticks on the back of my neck. Yowza.
