Index › Talent acquisition › Background screening › Enterprise › September 2026 Edition

Background screening for enterprise buyers

Asked as “background check provider”, and as “employment screening service”, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. 45 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

First Advantage

Contested

38% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 50 categories →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

GoodHire38%ContestedStanding →Mid-market

Checkr43%Clear leaderStanding →Enterprise

First Advantage38%ContestedThis page

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for an enterprise B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

First Advantage9%47endorsed leader

HireRight19%53accepted challenger

Checkr6%49accepted challenger

Accurate Background13%30accepted challenger

Sterling24%34accepted challenger

Mitratech AssureHire0%10accepted challenger

Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

GoodHire10%20accepted challenger

ScoutLogic0%10accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Checkr vs GoodHire Checkr vs Certn GoodHire vs Certn

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

First Advantage38%

HireRight27%

Checkr18%

Accurate Background4%

Sterling2%

Mitratech AssureHire2%

GoodHire0%

ScoutLogic0%

02What they warned about

Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2 and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

HireRight

19%

10 of 53 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“Paid $2.6 million in 2012 for failing to ensure accuracy, not providing consumers copies of reports, and failing to reinvestigate disputes” MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt

Sterling

24%

8 of 34 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“A lead plaintiff sued Sterling BackCheck ... for systematically failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure accuracy” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt

Instant Checkmate

100%

5 of 5 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 5 hard negative

“Be cautious of any "instant" or "consumer self-service" background check platforms (e.g., Instant Checkmate, BeenVerified)... not designed for employment screening” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt

TruthFinder

100%

4 of 4 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“Paid $5.8 million in 2023 settlement for deceiving consumers about criminal record accuracy and failing to comply with FCRA requirements” MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: twelve of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

65 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 989 links across 273 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

checkr.com

vendor site · Checkr43 answers · 61 citations · 10 models

vetty.co

vendor site · Vetty33 answers · 37 citations · 8 models

bib.com

32 answers · 34 citations · 9 models

expertinsights.com

24 answers · 24 citations · 9 models

bestrecruitingtools.com

20 answers · 20 citations · 8 models

fadv.com

18 answers · 22 citations · 8 models

mitratech.com

vendor site · Mitratech17 answers · 18 citations · 8 models

pin.com

vendor site · Pin16 answers · 16 citations · 8 models

verifiedfirst.com

vendor site · Verified First14 answers · 14 citations · 8 models

goodhire.com

vendor site · GoodHire13 answers · 15 citations · 7 models

backgroundchecker.com

12 answers · 19 citations · 6 models

gartner.com

vendor site · Gartner12 answers · 15 citations · 8 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

checkr.com/resources/articles/best-background-checks

36 answers · 9 models

bib.com/blog/best-background-screening-companies-comparison

32 answers · 9 models

vetty.co/blog/best-background-check-companies-for-employers-in-2026-complet…

32 answers · 8 models

expertinsights.com/compliance/the-top-background-check-solutions

24 answers · 9 models

bestrecruitingtools.com/blog/best-background-check-software-enterprise-2026

20 answers · 8 models

mitratech.com/resource-hub/blog/top-2026-background-check-vendors

16 answers · 8 models

pin.com/blog/background-check-tools-recruiters

16 answers · 8 models

fadv.com/article/background-check-providers

14 answers · 8 models

gartner.com/reviews/market/background-check-software

12 answers · 8 models

verify.turingcerts.com/guides/background-check-vendor-comparison

12 answers · 4 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best background check provider for an enterprise B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which employment screening service would you recommend to a large B2B company with thousands of employees?”Comparative“What are the top enterprise-grade background check providers and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best background check provider for a large company that needs predictable total cost across thousands of users?”Scale-constrained“We are a 5,000 person company with SSO, SOC 2 and procurement review requirements evaluating a background check provider. What should we look at?”Negative“Which background check providers should a large enterprise avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5Checkr

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, First Advantage, HireRight

HireRightChanged

Two alternatives

Accurate Background, First Advantage

Checkr

Four alternatives

Accurate Background, First Advantage + Sterling, HireRight, ScoutLogic

Checkr

Two alternatives

First Advantage, HireRight

no first choiceagainst: ADP, First Advantage, HireRight, Spokeo, US Search

GPT-5.4 miniFirst Advantage

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, HireRight

First AdvantageHeld

Two alternatives

Checkr, HireRight

no first choiceCheckr

One alternative

GoodHire

no first choiceagainst: AppFolio\u2019s tenant screening service, Instant Checkmate, RentGrow, TruthFinder

Gemini 3.5 FlashCheckr, First Advantage

Two alternatives

HireRight, Verified First

Checkr, First AdvantageHeld

Two alternatives

Accurate Background, HireRight

First Advantage

Four alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, Cisive, HireRight

First Advantage

Three alternatives

ADP Screening and Selection Services, Checkr, Vetty

no first choiceagainst: BeenVerified, First Advantage, General Information Services (GIS) / e-Background-checks.com, HireRight, Instant Checkmate, Spokeo, Sterling, TruthFinder, Whitepages

Perplexity SonarHireRight

Five alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, First Advantage, Mitratech AssureHire, Sterling

First AdvantageChanged

Three alternatives

Checkr, HireRight, Sterling

Checkr

Six alternatives

Accurate Background, Certn, First Advantage, HireRight, Mitratech AssureHire, Sterling

First Advantage, Mitratech AssureHireno first choiceagainst: Bchex, Checkr, GoodHire, Sterling, Verified First

Grok 4.1 FastSterling

Six alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, First Advantage, HireRight, Mitratech AssureHire, ScoutLogic

First AdvantageChanged

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, HireRight

Checkr

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, First Advantage, HireRight

HireRight

Two alternatives

Checkr, First Advantage

no first choiceagainst: Accurate Background, Cisive, Creative Services Inc., First Advantage, General Information Services, HireRight, National Public Data, Sterling, e-Background-checks.com

Mistral SmallFirst Advantage, HireRight

One alternative

Checkr

HireRightChanged

Two alternatives

First Advantage, Sterling

Checkr

Four alternatives

First Advantage, HireRight, Mitratech AssureHire, Sterling

First Advantage, HireRightno first choiceagainst: General Information Services (GIS) / e-Background-checks.com, HireRight, IDScan.net, Instant Checkmate, Sterling, TruthFinder

DeepSeek V4 FlashCheckr, First Advantage

Two alternatives

HireRight, ScoutLogic

First AdvantageChanged

Four alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, HireRight, ScoutLogic

Checkr, First Advantage

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, HireRight, ScoutLogic

Accurate Background

One alternative

Checkr

against: First Advantage + Sterling, SmartFastBackgroundChecksno first choiceagainst: HireRight, Sterling/First Advantageagainst: Accurate Background, BeenVerified, Checkr, First Advantage, HireRight, InfoTrack, Instant Checkmate, National Public Data, Sterling

Llama 4 Maverickno first choiceCheckrChanged

Four alternatives

Accurate Background, Certn, First Advantage, HireRight

no first choiceCheckr

Two alternatives

ClearChecks, GoodHire

no first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashCheckster

Two alternatives

GoodHire, Sterling

First Advantage, HireRightChanged

One alternative

ScoutLogic

First Advantage

Four alternatives

Checkr, GoodHire, HireRight, Sterling

against: Accurate BackgroundAccurate Background

Two alternatives

GoodHire, Sterling

no first choiceagainst: BackgroundChecks.com, Checkr, GoodHire, PublicDataResources / BackgroundCheck.info, Sterling

Kimi K2First Advantage, HireRight

Two alternatives

Checkr, Sterling

First Advantage + SterlingChanged

Two alternatives

Checkr, HireRight

First Advantage

Four alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, HireRight, Sterling

BackgroundChecker.com

Two alternatives

Checkr, GoodHire

against: Accurate Background, HireRight, Sterling/First Advantageno first choiceagainst: General Information Services (GIS) / e-Background-checks.com, HireRight, Sterling

GLM 4.7 FlashXHireRight

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, First Advantage

HireRightHeld

Three alternatives

First Advantage, ScoutLogic, Sterling

First Advantage, HireRight

Five alternatives

Certn, Checkr, DISA Global Solutions, Mitratech AssureHire, ScoutLogic

First Advantage

One alternative

HireRight

no first choiceagainst: DISA Global Solutions, General Information Services (GIS) / e-Background-checks.com, HR‑Revolution LLC, HireRight, National Public Data, Sterling

MiniMax M2.5DISA Global Solutions, First Advantage

Three alternatives

Accurate Background, Checkr, HireRight

HireRightChanged

Two alternatives

ADP, Sterling

Checkr

Six alternatives

Accurate Background, First Advantage, HireRight, Mitratech AssureHire, ScoutLogic, Sterling

First Advantage, HireRight

One alternative

Checkr

no first choiceagainst: ADP Screening and Selection Services, Advanced Background Check Inc., HireRight, Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:31	yes	9	8 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:47	yes	3	6 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:38	yes	15	23 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:01	yes	20	4 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:17	yes	33	29 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 19:02	yes	9	9 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:01	yes	27	30 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:24	yes	5	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:17	no	0	24 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:26	yes	9	18 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:31	yes	8	47 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:33	yes	7	18 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:52	yes	15	11 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:01	yes	3	6 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:55	yes	12	48 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:31	yes	20	6 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:59	yes	43	18 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:30	yes	5	4 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 21:12	yes	24	22 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:48	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:35	yes	5	16 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 20:39	yes	15	36 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:40	yes	24	101 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:29	no	0	36 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:17	yes	16	9 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:12	yes	6	10 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 22:07	yes	16	53 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:58	yes	20	9 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:14	yes	18	16 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:16	yes	8	7 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:36	yes	13	28 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:43	yes	5	3 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:47	no	0	35 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:55	yes	19	34 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:02	yes	30	57 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:00	yes	5	18 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:07	yes	18	9 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:49	yes	3	7 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 22:07	yes	28	59 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 21:45	yes	20	6 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:52	yes	42	20 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:50	yes	5	4 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:35	yes	27	31 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:34	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:15	no	0	34 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:19	yes	27	36 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:30	yes	23	30 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:46	yes	21	45 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:46	yes	18	12 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:37	no	0	9 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:02	yes	11	28 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:48	yes	20	12 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:49	yes	19	13 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 19:33	no	0	9 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:44	yes	20	28 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:50	yes	5	4 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:50	yes	10	38 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:26	yes	29	41 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:01	yes	29	74 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:37	yes	14	18 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:17	yes	28	13 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:35	yes	2	5 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:06	yes	12	24 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:59	yes	20	8 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:14	yes	46	22 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:14	yes	13	10 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:43	yes	29	31 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:46	yes	5	4 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:12	no	0	18 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 20:01	yes	15	27 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:26	yes	25	44 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:38	yes	22	46 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

Accurate read as Accurate Background

Unresolved, counted raw

Advanced Background Check Inc.

AppFolio\u2019s tenant screening service

AuthBridge

BackgroundChecker.com

Equifax

Experian

HR‑Revolution LLC

IDScan.net

InfoTrack

PreCheck / IntelliCorp

PublicDataResources / BackgroundCheck.info

SmartFastBackgroundChecks

Tech Mahindra

TransUnion

Xref

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Background screening for enterprise buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in talent acquisition