Glasa research for American staffing agencies · October 2026
Employers ask AI which staffing agency to use. Is yours in the answer?
We asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Mode 10 questions employers ask, from “Top staffing agencies in California” to “Which staffing agencies in the US are best for light industrial and warehouse staffing?”. They named 82 firms, 36 once. The most-named appeared in 33 of 46 answers.
Get the full report ↓- 50 of 50
- AI answers · 10 questions × 5 engines, 28 Oct 2026
- 46 / 50
- answers where a named staffing or recruiting firm was found
- 82
- different firms named in those 46 answers
- 45 / 50
- answers cite at least one source; 120 domains in total
Most-named staffing and recruiting firms
Answers naming each firm out of the 46 answers where a named firm was found (of 50 collected). Industry bodies (Staffing Industry Analysts, American Staffing Association), award programs, job boards, publications and review sites removed with exclusion lists; name variants merged (Manpower counted under ManpowerGroup). Group brands such as Aerotek, TEKsystems and Allegis Group are counted separately, as the answers name them.
| Staffing firm | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity | Copilot | Google AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Half | 7 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Randstad | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Aerotek | 5 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Adecco | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Insight Global | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Express Employment Professionals | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| TEKsystems | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| ManpowerGroup | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Kelly Services | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Korn Ferry | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
What we found
Five national firms lead
Robert Half (33), Randstad (30), Aerotek (27), Adecco (22) and Insight Global (21) are the most-named, out of 46 answers that name a firm. Robert Half appears in 72% of them; 36 of the 82 firms were named once.
The question changes the list
Executive search firms (Korn Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds Associates, Spencer Stuart and Egon Zehnder) appear in 13 answers, including all 5 answers to the permanent placement and executive search question. Korn Ferry got 5 of its 12 mentions there.
Recruiting-software blogs and a Forbes list lead the sources
The most-cited domain is noon.ai, an AI recruiting software company, mostly for its own lists of staffing agencies (13 of 45 answers with sources). forbes.com follows with 10; pin.com (6) and ismartrecruit.com (4) are also recruiting software sites.
Each engine has its own picks
Robert Half was named in 9 of Gemini's 10 answers and 3 of Copilot's 10. Aerotek, TEKsystems and their parent Allegis Group together appear in 34 of 46 answers, more than Robert Half (33).
“TEKsystems and Insight Global are suited to high-volume hiring; Kforce and Robert Half are often strong for direct-hire technology roles.”
“On the other hand, employers frequently complain about high markup costs, inconsistent candidate quality when agencies rely too heavily on automated keyword screening, and a lack of deep cultural alignment with the company.”
“Ask prospective agencies for examples of similar technical roles they have successfully filled in your local market.”
Where AI gets its answers
Number of the 50 answers that cite each domain. 45 answers cited at least one source; 120 domains in total.
| Source | Answers citing | Type |
|---|---|---|
| noon.ai | 13 / 50 | Other |
| forbes.com | 10 / 50 | News |
| clutch.co | 7 / 50 | Review site |
| pin.com | 6 / 50 | Other |
| frontlinesourcegroup.com | 5 / 50 | Firm website |
| ismartrecruit.com | 4 / 50 | Other |
| kore1.com | 4 / 50 | Firm website |
| 4cornerresources.com | 3 / 50 | Firm website |
| apollotechnical.com | 3 / 50 | Firm website |
| hirewithnear.com | 3 / 50 | Firm website |
What this means for you
Get on the lists AI reads
Forbes is named in 12 of 50 answers and forbes.com is cited in 10, mostly for its rankings of recruiting and temp staffing firms. If you are on a ranking or award list, say so on your site.
Be where AI looks
Lists published by recruiting software companies are among the most-cited pages: noon.ai in 13 answers and pin.com in 6, more than any agency's own site (frontlinesourcegroup.com, 5). Check how your agency is listed and described there.
Give AI pages to cite
Agency sites get cited too: frontlinesourcegroup.com, kore1.com and 4cornerresources.com in 5, 4 and 3 answers. Markups come up in 15 answers; a clear page on your rates and terms gives AI something to quote.
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How we ran the research
10 unbranded questions an employer would ask: who to use in the US and in California, temporary workers, a local agency vs a national firm, cost, IT and tech recruiting, light industrial and warehouse staffing, permanent placement and executive search, and reviews.
Each question was run once per engine in the Glasa product through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Mode, market set to United States, on 28 October 2026 (12:15–13:55 UTC); 40 answers that failed in the product's queue were re-queued, some of them several times, and collected the same day.
50 of 50 answers were collected. Firm mentions were extracted from the answer texts by Glasa's research script and merged by name; counts are answers mentioning a firm, not occurrences. Industry bodies, award programs, job boards, publications and review sites were removed with exclusion lists.
Sources are the URLs each engine cited in its answer, grouped by domain. A firm counts only when it is named in the answer's own text; titles of cited pages (reference lists and inline citation captions) do not count.
One run on one day. AI answers change between runs, accounts and locations, so treat the counts as a snapshot, not a ranking of agency quality. Being named by AI says nothing about an agency's fees, candidate quality or compliance. Mentions were identified by Glasa's research script from the answer texts; small differences in spelling or abbreviation can shift a count by one or two.
All 10 questions
- Who are the best staffing agencies in the US?
- Can you recommend a reputable staffing agency in the US to help my company hire temporary workers?
- A local staffing agency vs a national staffing firm in the US: which should my business use for hiring?
- How much does a staffing agency in the US cost in 2026 and which firms are worth it?
- How do I choose a trustworthy staffing agency in the US? Which ones are well reviewed?
- Top staffing agencies in California
- What do employers say about staffing agencies in the US? Which have the best reviews?
- Which staffing agencies in the US are best for IT and tech recruiting?
- Which staffing agencies in the US are best for light industrial and warehouse staffing?
- Which staffing agencies in the US are best for permanent placement and executive search?
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