The most visible employer of record services in Germany, October 2026

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

Leader

Deel

54Heralded Score, range 44–68

Most cited source

europa.eu

24citations

From ChatGPT

Where engines disagree most

Oyster

1/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Gemini, not on Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews 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
1 Deel US New entry 54 , range 44–68 54#1
54
  • : score 54 · #1
63% 21% First reading
2 Remote US New entry 50 , range 42–65 50#2
50
  • : score 50 · #2
58% 20% First reading
3 Oyster US New entry 36 , range 30–45 36#3
36
  • : score 36 · #3
34% 7% First reading
4 Rippling US New entry 34 , range 21–44 34#4
34
  • : score 34 · #4
25% 11% First reading
5 Papaya Global IL New entry 30 , range 8–39 30#5
30
  • : score 30 · #5
16% 9% First reading
6 RemoFirst US New entry 21 , range 6–37 21#6
21
  • : score 21 · #6
13% 8% First reading
7 Multiplier SG New entry 19 , range 6–36 19#7
19
  • : score 19 · #7
14% 6% First reading
8 Atlas US New entry 6 , range 2–31 6#8
6
  • : score 6 · #8
9% 0% First reading
9 WorkMotion DE New entry 5 , range 2–31 5#9
5
  • : score 5 · #9
5% 4% First reading
10 G-P US New entry 5 , range 2–30 5#10
5
  • : score 5 · #10
7% 1% 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 europa.eu Regulator 15.0% 1 of 4 14 Not read
2 youtube.com Social 11.7% 2 of 4 9 Not read
3 deutsche-rentenversicherung.de Regulator 3.3% 1 of 4 5 Not read
4 reddit.com Community 10.0% 2 of 4 5 Not read
5 auslandsjob.de Directory 10.0% 3 of 4 2 12
6 lano.io Vendor site 8.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
7 tk.de Vendor site 8.3% 2 of 4 1 Not read
8 teamed.global Vendor site 6.7% 2 of 4 3 7
9 adtsolution.com Consultancy 3.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
10 arbeitsagentur.de Regulator 5.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

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

Each engine's top three

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