The most visible HR and payroll tools in Europe, October 2026

October 2026 · 105 questions asked from 7 countries · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 420 answers read

Leader

Gusto

34Heralded Score, range 31–37

Most cited source

forbes.com

13citations

From Google AI Mode, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

Factorial

1/4engines put it in their top three

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

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 Gusto US New entry 34 , range 31–37 34#1
34
  • : score 34 · #1
23% 12% First reading
2 Factorial ES New entry 31 , range 24–34 31#2
31
  • : score 31 · #2
21% 7% First reading
3 Personio DE New entry 30 , range 19–33 30#3
30
  • : score 30 · #3
19% 7% First reading
4 Rippling US New entry 26 , range 14–32 26#4
26
  • : score 26 · #4
16% 7% First reading
5 BambooHR US New entry 22 , range 12–31 22#5
22
  • : score 22 · #5
17% 4% First reading
6 PayFit FR New entry 12 , range 8–25 12#6
12
  • : score 12 · #6
11% 5% First reading
7 Sage HR GB New entry 10 , range 7–22 10#7
10
  • : score 10 · #7
11% 4% None First reading
8 ADP RUN US New entry 9 , range 6–17 9#8
9
  • : score 9 · #8
11% 3% First reading
9 OnPay US New entry 8 , range 6–15 8#9
8
  • : score 8 · #9
8% 4% First reading
10 Nmbrs New entry 8 , range 6–14 8#10
8
  • : score 8 · #10
8% 3% 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 forbes.com Media 3.1% 3 of 4 2 8
2 peoplemanagingpeople.com Media 2.1% 3 of 4 11 Not read
3 smallbusiness.co.uk Media 2.6% 3 of 4 3 Not read
4 startups.co.uk Media 2.4% 4 of 4 5 Not read
5 culture-rh.com Media 1.9% 3 of 4 5 14
6 fitsmallbusiness.com Media 1.7% 1 of 4 3 10
7 gosmallbusiness.co.uk Media 1.0% 1 of 4 1 Not read
8 litrg.org.uk Media 1.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read
9 techradar.com Media 1.0% 2 of 4 2 Not read
10 cnbc.com Media 0.7% 2 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
Handmatig personeelsbeheer of HR-software voor middelgrote bedrijven? Dutch AFAS Software and Personio, tied
Wat zijn alternatieven voor spreadsheets om medewerkers bij te houden? Dutch AFAS Software and Personio, tied
Wat zijn alternatieven voor het handmatig berekenen van de salarisadministratie voor een klein bedrijf? Dutch No brand recommended
Ik heb een bedrijf met 10 medewerkers. Hoe kan ik de salarisadministratie en het verlof beheren? Dutch Loket.nl and Nmbrs, tied
Ik geef leiding aan een HR-team en zoek tijdregistratie voor 200 medewerkers. Wat zijn mijn opties? Dutch AFAS Software
best hr and payroll software for small businesses English Gusto and OnPay, tied
pay employees and manage hr for small businesses English Employes
how can a small business pay employees and manage hr English Deel, Gusto, Intuit QuickBooks Workforce Elite, Intuit QuickBooks Workforce Payroll + Simple Start, Loket.nl, Nmbrs, QuickBooks Online Payroll Elite and Rippling, tied
how to run payroll and keep employee records up to date English Employes
payroll software vs hr software for small businesses English Rippling

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