The most visible employer of record services, October 2026

October 2026 · 15 questions asked in English, worldwide · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 60 answers read

Leader

Deel

59Heralded Score, range 47–72

Most cited source

irs.gov

20citations

From ChatGPT

Where engines disagree most

Rippling

2/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Gemini and Google AI Overviews, not on Google AI Mode and ChatGPT

Brands

Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
– Velocity Global US Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
0% 0% First reading
– WorkMotion DE Unranked Too few answers Not measured
–
  • : Unranked
2% 2% None First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. AI gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
1 irs.gov Regulator 16.7% 1 of 4 14 Not read
2 youtube.com Social 18.3% 2 of 4 14 Not read
3 reddit.com Community 20.0% 3 of 4 11 12
4 linkedin.com Social 13.3% 2 of 4 11 Not read
5 nativeteams.com Vendor site 10.0% 3 of 4 2 Not read
6 dol.gov Regulator 5.0% 1 of 4 4 Not read
7 hireoverseas.com Consultancy 8.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
8 bamboohr.com Vendor site 6.7% 4 of 4 2 1
9 remotepass.com Vendor site 6.7% 4 of 4 4 Not read
10 dupple.com Media 3.3% 1 of 4 2 8

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best employer of record services for startups English Deel, Oyster, RemoFirst, Remote and Rippling, tied
hire employees abroad without a local entity English Deel, Multiplier and Remote, tied
how to hire remote employees in another country English No brand recommended
how to run international payroll for remote employees English Deel, Papaya Global, Remote and Rippling, tied
employer of record vs contractor for remote hires English Deel and WorkMotion, tied

Each engine's top three

Google AI Mode

No brand named in at least three answers.

Method

Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.

For the AI side, each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured