What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for recruiting agencies (small businesses) on 2026-09-10

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-09-10

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best recruiting agencies for small businesses

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Robert Half mentioned
   Robert Half: my first pick for office, admin, accounting/finance and general IT roles.
2. Express Employment Professionals recommended
   Express Employment Professionals: best for hourly, light industrial, warehouse and front-office roles.
3. Insight Global mentioned
   Insight Global or TEKsystems: for technical or IT hires.
4. Randstad mentioned
   Randstad, Adecco or ManpowerGroup: when you need a lot of hourly or seasonal workers at once.
5. Dover mentioned
   Dover or Hunt Club: for startups or companies hiring about 2-5 roles at once.
6. Korn Ferry mentioned
   Korn Ferry: only if you're hiring a senior executive.
7. Fees mentioned
   - Fees: contingency usually runs 15-30% of first-year salary.
8. Workable mentioned
   - Software instead: if you'd rather recruit yourself, tools like Workable, Zoho Recruit or Breezy cost far less than an agency.
9. Zoho mentioned
   - Software instead: if you'd rather recruit yourself, tools like Workable, Zoho Recruit or Breezy cost far less than an agency.
10. Zoho Recruit mentioned
    - Software instead: if you'd rather recruit yourself, tools like Workable, Zoho Recruit or Breezy cost far less than an agency.
11. Rankings mentioned
    - Rankings: many "best agency" lists are written by agencies or vendors, so treat their rankings with some caution.

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

For most small businesses, the right agency depends on the kind of role you're filling. This is the order I'd give them in: 1. **Robert Half**: my first pick for office, admin, accounting/finance and general IT roles. It's one of the largest staffing firms, founded in 1948 with 400+ locations, so it probably has an office near you. It does temp, temp-to-hire and direct hire. The downside is price: direct-hire fees run about 20-30% of salary and contract markups 50-100%, which is the high end of the industry. ([South review](https://www.hireinsouth.com/post/robert-half-review), [RemotePeople review](https://remotepeople.com/providers/robert-half-review/)) 2. **Express Employment Professionals**: best for hourly, light industrial, warehouse and front-office roles. It has about 850 locally owned franchise offices, which tends to suit small employers who want a local contact. It covers temp, temp-to-hire ("evaluation hire") and full-time placement. Note that what I found about Express came from franchise listings, not client reviews. ([1851 Franchise](https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info)) 3. **Insight Global or TEKsystems**: for technical or IT hires. Both have strong US networks for tech staffing. ([Golden Technology comparison](https://goldenitinc.com/comparing-it-staffing-robert-half-vs-teksystems-vs-insight-global-vs-golden-technology/), [Pete Gabi guide](https://www.petegabi.com/blog/best-recruiting-agencies-usa-employers-2026/)) 4. **Randstad, Adecco or ManpowerGroup**: when you need a lot of hourly or seasonal workers at once. These big generalists all show up on the 2026 top-agency lists. ([Pete Gabi guide](https://www.petegabi.com/blog/best-recruiting-agencies-usa-employers-2026/)) 5. **Dover or Hunt Club**: for startups or companies hiring about 2-5 roles at once. Dover does fractional recruiting (a part-time recruiter for hire), usually $75-150 an hour or $3k-10k a month. For several hires that can cost much less than paying 20-30% per placement. Hunt Club finds candidates through referrals. Most of the pricing figures come from Dover's own blog, so check them against real quotes. ([Dover](https://www.dover.com/blog/fractional-recruiter-costs), [Floodgate](https://floodgatemedical.com/feeds/blog/recruitment-agency-startup)) 6. **A local boutique or flat-fee recruiter**: often the best value for roles paying roughly $50k-90k. For example, a $55k hire at a 20% contingency fee costs $11,000, but a flat-fee firm might charge $2,000-3,000. If you only hire once or twice a year, a standard contingency agency is fine because you only pay if someone is hired. ([ISG Partners](https://www.isgpartners.com/blog/flat-fee-vs-contingency-recruiting), [Workflow Consulting](https://www.workflowconsultingco.com/post/flat-fee-recruiting-vs-traditional-recruiting-for-small-businesses-explained)) 7. **Korn Ferry**: only if you're hiring a senior executive. Its retained search is excellent but usually more than a small business needs. ([People Managing People](https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/services/best-recruiting-firms/)) **Tips before you sign:** - **Fees:** contingency usually runs 15-30% of first-year salary. Always ask for a replacement guarantee, typically 60-90 days. - **Software instead:** if you'd rather recruit yourself, tools like Workable, Zoho Recruit or Breezy cost far less than an agency. ([Capterra](https://capterra.com/recruiting-software/s/small-businesses/)) - **Rankings:** many "best agency" lists are written by agencies or vendors, so treat their rankings with some caution. Sources: - https://www.hireinsouth.com/post/robert-half-review - https://remotepeople.com/providers/robert-half-review/ - https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info - https://goldenitinc.com/comparing-it-staffing-robert-half-vs-teksystems-vs-insight-global-vs-golden-technology/ - https://www.petegabi.com/blog/best-recruiting-agencies-usa-employers-2026/ - https://www.dover.com/blog/fractional-recruiter-costs - https://floodgatemedical.com/feeds/blog/recruitment-agency-startup - https://www.isgpartners.com/blog/flat-fee-vs-contingency-recruiting - https://www.workflowconsultingco.com/post/flat-fee-recruiting-vs-traditional-recruiting-for-small-businesses-explained - https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/services/best-recruiting-firms/ - https://capterra.com/recruiting-software/s/small-businesses/

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Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.