What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for recruiting agencies (small businesses) on 2026-10-14

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-10-14

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
   Several of the "top 10 RPO firms" and "Robert Half review" pages that rank are published by recruiting firms ranking themselves.
2. flat-fee mentioned
   flat-fee shops charge $5K-$30K per hire depending on seniority (AIHR (https://www.aihr.com/hr-glossary/recruitment-fees/), Hyring (https://hyring.com/blog/recruitment-agency-fees-usa/)).
3. LaSalle Network mentioned
   Regional specialists - LaSalle Network (https://thelasallenetwork.com/) in Chicago (accounting, admin, call center, tech;
4. Trustpilot mentioned
   Reported terms are a 70-75% contract markup and 30-35% permanent fee - the premium end - and client-side satisfaction is noticeably weaker than their candidate-side reputation, with Trustpilot around 2.1/5 and complaints centering on recruiter matching and follow-through (Lancer Review (https://www.
5. Zoho Recruit mentioned
   Zoho Recruit (https://www.zoho.com/recruit/) is the strongest overall small-business pick, with Breezy for visual pipeline management and AvaHR for bare simplicity (Capterra, 2,594 verified reviews (https://capterra.com/resources/best-recruiting-software-for-small-business-reviews-analysis)).
6. Breezy mentioned
   Zoho Recruit (https://www.zoho.com/recruit/) is the strongest overall small-business pick, with Breezy for visual pipeline management and AvaHR for bare simplicity (Capterra, 2,594 verified reviews (https://capterra.com/resources/best-recruiting-software-for-small-business-reviews-analysis)).
7. AvaHR mentioned
   Zoho Recruit (https://www.zoho.com/recruit/) is the strongest overall small-business pick, with Breezy for visual pipeline management and AvaHR for bare simplicity (Capterra, 2,594 verified reviews (https://capterra.com/resources/best-recruiting-software-for-small-business-reviews-analysis)).

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

Searched, and a flag up front: this query is almost entirely owned by SEO/affiliate content. Several of the "top 10 RPO firms" and "Robert Half review" pages that rank are published by recruiting firms ranking themselves. So here's what I'd actually tell you, with the sourced numbers where they exist. ## First, the honest framing For a small business, "which agency" is usually the second question. The first is whether you should use one at all. A contingency agency costs **15-25% of first-year salary**; retained search runs **25-40%**; flat-fee shops charge **$5K-$30K** per hire depending on seniority ([AIHR](https://www.aihr.com/hr-glossary/recruitment-fees/), [Hyring](https://hyring.com/blog/recruitment-agency-fees-usa/)). On a $70K role that's $10K-$17K. For most roles under ~$80K with a decent local applicant pool, that money is better spent on your own job ads. So, in the order I'd actually work through: **1. A boutique agency in your city and your niche.** This is genuinely the best answer for most small businesses and the one listicles can't give you, because it's local. Regional specialists - [LaSalle Network](https://thelasallenetwork.com/) in Chicago (accounting, admin, call center, tech; ~80,000 placements since 1998), Addison Group, Vaco, Celarity in Minneapolis for marketing - are the shape you want. Why: you get a principal who actually works your req instead of being the smallest logo in a national firm's book, and contingency terms at the 15-20% end are negotiable when you're a repeat client. Search your metro plus the function, then ask for three client references at your headcount. **2. [Robert Half](https://www.roberthalf.com/) - the default if you need finance, accounting, admin, legal, or IT, especially temp or temp-to-perm.** 300+ offices, and their contract/temp-to-perm model is the real reason to use them: you can staff a role without the risk of a direct hire. The caveat is price and service. Reported terms are a **70-75% contract markup and 30-35% permanent fee** - the premium end - and client-side satisfaction is noticeably weaker than their candidate-side reputation, with Trustpilot around 2.1/5 and complaints centering on recruiter matching and follow-through ([Lancer Review](https://www.lancerreview.com/review/robert-half), [ConsumerAffairs](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/employment/robert-half.html)). Note both of those are themselves commercial sites. Use them for speed and temp coverage, not for cheap. **3. [Insperity](https://www.insperity.com/) - only if you need HR infrastructure, not just a hire.** It's a PEO first, built for 5-5,000 employees, and recruiting comes bundled with an assigned team (HR manager, payroll specialist, recruiting specialist). That's the right buy if you're also drowning in benefits, payroll, and compliance. Two consistent knocks: it's expensive for small businesses, and multiple reviewers report service degradation and long lead times on changes ([Fit Small Business](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/insperity-review/), [Forbes Advisor](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/insperity-review/)). Don't buy a PEO to solve one open role. **4. Flat-fee or embedded RPO - but only above roughly 5-8 hires a year.** You rent a recruiter monthly instead of paying a cut of salary. [BizFirst's PartnerHire](https://www.bizfirst.net/insights/guide-rpo-embedded-recruiting-smb.html) publishes real numbers - $8,500/month per dedicated recruiter plus $1,000 per placement, never a percentage - which is the transparency you want. Market-wide, RPO runs **$3,000-$10,000 per hire or $8,000-$15,000/month per recruiter**, and the crossover where it beats contingency is around **15-25 hires a year** ([EOR HQ](https://eorhq.com/guides/rpo-cost-guide/)). Below that, retainers and setup overhead eat the savings. Most RPO firms are built for enterprise and fit small companies badly, so insist on no minimum commitment. **5. Skip the agency: an ATS plus sponsored job ads.** For most small-business roles this wins on cost. [Zoho Recruit](https://www.zoho.com/recruit/) is the strongest overall small-business pick, with Breezy for visual pipeline management and AvaHR for bare simplicity ([Capterra, 2,594 verified reviews](https://capterra.com/resources/best-recruiting-software-for-small-business-reviews-analysis)). Pair it with Indeed sponsored posts, where budgets start around $150/month though there's a reported ~$25/day minimum per sponsored job, or ZipRecruiter from about $299/month for AI matching with less filtering work. Avoid LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate - $750-$1,080 per seat with a five-seat minimum, pushing ~$50K/year - unless you're hiring senior or scarce roles; Recruiter Lite at ~$170/month is the small-business version ([Software Advice](https://softwareadvice.com/hr/indeed-for-employers-profile/vs/ziprecruiter/), [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/compare/130706-234965/ZipRecruiter-vs-LinkedIn-Recruiter)). **One to be skeptical of:** Hire Velocity appears on several SMB "top RPO" lists, but its Glassdoor rating is 2.6/5 across 155 reviews - about 32% below the staffing-industry average - with recruiters citing poor job security ([Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Hire-Velocity-Reviews-E311940.htm)). High recruiter churn directly degrades the service you buy, since your req gets reassigned mid-search. **Two things to negotiate regardless of who you pick:** a replacement guarantee of at least 90 days, and a fee cap in dollars rather than a pure percentage, so a salary negotiation doesn't silently raise your bill. Sources: - [AIHR - recruitment fees](https://www.aihr.com/hr-glossary/recruitment-fees/) - [Hyring - recruitment agency fees USA](https://hyring.com/blog/recruitment-agency-fees-usa/) - [EOR HQ - RPO cost guide](https://eorhq.com/guides/rpo-cost-guide/) - [BizFirst - RPO and embedded recruiting for SMBs](https://www.bizfirst.net/insights/guide-rpo-embedded-recruiting-smb.html) - [Capterra - best recruiting software for small business](https://capterra.com/resources/best-recruiting-software-for-small-business-reviews-analysis) - [Capterra - ZipRecruiter vs LinkedIn Recruiter](https://www.capterra.com/compare/130706-234965/ZipRecruiter-vs-LinkedIn-Recruiter) - [Software Advice - Indeed for Employers vs ZipRecruiter](https://softwareadvice.com/hr/indeed-for-employers-profile/vs/ziprecruiter/) - [Lancer Review - Robert Half](https://www.lancerreview.com/review/robert-half) - [ConsumerAffairs - Robert Half](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/employment/robert-half.html) - [Fit Small Business - Insperity review](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/insperity-review/) - [Forbes Advisor - Insperity review](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/insperity-review/) - [Glassdoor - Hire Velocity](https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Hire-Velocity-Reviews-E311940.htm) - [LaSalle Network](https://thelasallenetwork.com/)

Near this answer

The same question, recorded on other dates: 2026-10-10, 2026-10-08, 2026-10-06, 2026-10-05, 2026-10-03, 2026-10-01, 2026-09-27, 2026-09-24, 2026-09-22, 2026-09-20, 2026-09-16.

recruiting agencies, asked for other audiences: remote teams (asked 2026-10-14).

Other categories with a recorded answer: applicant tracking systems, background check services, benefits administration software, contractor management platforms.

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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.