Leader
58Heralded Score, range 29–73
The most visible employer of record services, October 2026
Brands
| Rank | Brand | Rank change | Heralded Score All | AI | Search | Score trend | Mentioned | Recommended | By engine | Mentioned by | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | | Unranked | Too few answers | Not measured | 34#11 | –
| 2% | 2% | | First reading | |
| – | | Unranked | Too few answers | Not measured | 40#4 | –
| 6% | 1% | 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 and Search give each brand’s score and rank on that side alone. 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 | | Regulator | 16.7% | 1 of 4 | 14 | Not read |
| 2 | | Social | 18.3% | 2 of 4 | 14 | Not read |
| 3 | | Community | 20.0% | 3 of 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 4 | | Social | 13.3% | 2 of 4 | 11 | Not read |
| 5 | | Vendor site | 10.0% | 3 of 4 | 2 | Not read |
| 6 | | Regulator | 5.0% | 1 of 4 | 4 | Not read |
| 7 | | Consultancy | 8.3% | 2 of 4 | 2 | Not read |
| 8 | | Vendor site | 6.7% | 4 of 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | | Vendor site | 6.7% | 4 of 4 | 4 | Not read |
| 10 | | Media | 3.3% | 1 of 4 | 2 | 8 |
Questions asked
| Question | Language | Most recommended |
|---|---|---|
| What are the best employer of record services for hiring abroad? | English | |
| Hiring employees in another country without a local entity | English | No brand recommended |
| How can a startup legally hire a developer in another country? | English | No brand recommended |
| How do I pay and provide benefits to employees abroad? | English | No brand recommended |
| Employer of record vs. setting up a local entity for international hiring | English | No brand recommended |
| Employer of record vs. hiring contractors for remote teams | English | No brand recommended |
| Alternatives to opening a subsidiary to hire abroad | English | No brand recommended |
| Alternatives to paying international employees as freelancers | English | |
| I run a 30-person software company and want to hire two engineers in another country. What service should I use? | English | |
| I lead HR at a company with remote staff in several countries and need compliant contracts and payroll. | English | |
Each engine's top three
Related leaderboards
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.