Candidate assessment for small business buyers
Asked as “pre-employment assessment platform”, and as “skills testing tool for hiring”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 42 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
TestGorillaBy 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.
01The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
Show the three products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
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.
One product takes 71% of first choices here, so the chart would put seven markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. Zero products carry a negative rate above 25% in this category. Jump to the standing
02What they warned about
Nine of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.5 Flash and Llama 4 Maverick 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.
Harver71%
5 of 7 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“Overpriced "Enterprise" Features (e.g., Harver) ... **Why to Avoid:** Users often question whether the "premium pricing" justifies the features” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
SHL83%
5 of 6 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“Labeled "overkill" and "prohibitively expensive" for SMBs” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Criteria Corp21%
5 of 24 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“Some platforms, like Criteria, are designed for mid-sized to enterprise companies and require a minimum of 500 or even 2,000+ employees. These are not suitable for small businesses” Mistral Small, negative prompt
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator100%
4 of 4 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 4 hard negative
“Many "free" personality tests rely on outdated theories (like Myers-Briggs) that have been largely debunked by modern HR science as predictors of job performance.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, 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
61 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. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 863 links across 236 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
vendor site · Hirevire27 answers · 45 citations · 9 models
vendor site · TestGorilla27 answers · 44 citations · 8 models
vendor site · TestTrick26 answers · 33 citations · 10 models
26 answers · 26 citations · 10 models
vendor site · JobCannon22 answers · 29 citations · 9 models
vendor site · People Managing People21 answers · 23 citations · 8 models
19 answers · 33 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Bryq19 answers · 23 citations · 9 models
19 answers · 22 citations · 9 models
vendor site · FirstHR17 answers · 19 citations · 7 models
17 answers · 17 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Testlify15 answers · 24 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.
26 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 9 models
21 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 8 models
16 answers · 7 models
16 answers · 7 models
14 answers · 8 models
14 answers · 8 models
12 answers · 7 models
12 answers · 8 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 pre-employment assessment platform for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which skills testing tool for hiring would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top assessment platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best pre-employment assessment platform for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a pre-employment assessment platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which assessment platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Traitify by CrosschqLinkedIn Skill Assessments, TestDomeChangedBryqTestGorilla, Truffleno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
Canditech, TestGorilla, TruffleTwo alternatives
Codility, The Predictive IndexThree alternatives
Criteria Corp, TestGorilla, TruffleThree alternatives
Criteria Corp, Toggl Hire, VervoeGPT-5.4 miniTestGorillaagainst: Harver, HireVueTestGorillaHeldTestGorilla, TestlifyTestGorillaagainst: SHLno first choicenothing named
One alternative
WonderlicTwo alternatives
Codility, Criteria CorpSix alternatives
Codility, Criteria Corp, HackerRank, HiPeople, Indeed Hiring Platform, The Predictive IndexGemini 3.5 FlashTestGorillaCanditechChangedagainst: TestGorillaTestGorillaagainst: Hogan Assessments, SHLTestDomeagainst: TestGorillaTestGorillaagainst: Enneagram, Myers-Briggs Type Indicatoragainst: CliftonStrengths, Criteria Corp, DISC, Hogan Assessments, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, SHL, TestGorilla
Four alternatives
Criteria Corp, Objective Management Group, Toggl Hire, VervoeTwo alternatives
Objective Management Group, Toggl HireFour alternatives
JobCannon, TestDome, Toggl Hire, TruffleTwo alternatives
Toggl Hire, springhireSeven alternatives
Alva Labs, CodeSignal, Coderbyte, Criteria Corp, HackerRank, The Predictive Index, VervoePerplexity SonarTestGorillaTestGorillaHeldagainst: Google Forms, TestTrickTestGorillaTestGorillaagainst: Criteria Corpno first choiceagainst: Harver, Mindtickle, Objective Management Group
Six alternatives
Codility, Criteria Corp, GoodHire, HackerRank, JobCannon, The Predictive IndexTwo alternatives
Codility, HackerRankFive alternatives
FlexiQuiz, Spark Hire, Testlify, Vervoe, WilloTwo alternatives
EmployTest, Toggl HireGrok 4.1 FastTestGorillaTestGorillaHeld15Five, Small Improvements, TestGorillaTestGorillaTestGorillaagainst: Harver, Hogan Assessments, SHL, The Predictive Index
Four alternatives
Criteria Corp, Testlify, Toggl Hire, VervoeThree alternatives
TestTrick, Testlify, Toggl HireFour alternatives
BambooHR, Lattice, PerformYard, TestlifyThree alternatives
EmployTest, Toggl Hire, VervoeTwo alternatives
Criteria Corp, VervoeMistral SmallTestGorillaTestGorillaHeldTestGorillaagainst: Indeed Hiring Platform, The Predictive IndexToggl Hire, Vervoeno first choiceagainst: Criteria Corp
Four alternatives
EmployTest, Testlify, Toggl Hire, VervoeOne alternative
TestlifyThree alternatives
EmployTest, JobCannon, TestGorillaDeepSeek V4 FlashTestGorillaTestGorillaHeldTestGorillaagainst: Toggl HireEmployTest, TestGorillano first choiceagainst: Criteria Corp, HireVueagainst: Criteria Corp, Harver, Koru-style measures, TestGorilla, The Predictive Index
Two alternatives
Toggl Hire, VervoeThree alternatives
Testlify, Toggl Hire, VervoeNine alternatives
Codility, Criteria Corp, EmployTest, HackerRank, JobCannon, Spark Hire, Testlify, Vervoe, WilloTwo alternatives
JobCannon, VervoeTwo alternatives
EmployTest, TestGorillaLlama 4 Maverickno first choiceTestlifyChangedTestTrickJobCannonno first choicenothing named
Five alternatives
Criteria Corp, HackerRank, SHL, TestGorilla, TestTrickFour alternatives
BlinkExam, Gappeo, QuizUp, TestGorillaFive alternatives
Canditech, EmployTest, HackerRank, TestTrick, VervoeQwen 3.7 FlashTestGorillaagainst: AonTestGorillaHeldTestGorillaTestGorillano first choiceagainst: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Two alternatives
HackerRank, VervoeOne alternative
Criteria CorpThree alternatives
Testlify, Vervoe, iMochaOne alternative
VervoeKimi K2TestGorillaTestGorillaHeldCoderPad, TestGorillaagainst: HackerRankTestGorillano first choiceagainst: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, SHL, Wonderlic
Three alternatives
Criteria Corp, Toggl Hire, VervoeThree alternatives
EmployTest, Equip, HirevireThree alternatives
CodeSignal, Criteria Corp, VervoeTwo alternatives
EmployTest, VervoeGLM 4.7 FlashXTestGorillaTestGorillaHeldConnecteam, Effy AIHirevire, TestGorillano first choiceagainst: Culture Amp, Harver, Mentimeter, iSpring Suite
Three alternatives
Criteria Corp, EmployTest, VervoeThree alternatives
Codility, HackerRank, TestDomeFive alternatives
15Five, Culture Amp, FeedbackPulse, Lattice, TeamDynamicsTwo alternatives
EmployTest, JobCannonMiniMax M2.5TestGorillaTestGorillaHeldagainst: Prerequisites, iMochaTestGorillaagainst: Google FormsTestGorillano first choiceagainst: Crossover, HiringFluency
Four alternatives
Criteria Corp, Testlify, Toggl Hire, VervoeOne alternative
Toggl HireFour alternatives
Bryq, HireVue, Spark Hire, TruffleTwo alternatives
EmployTest, HirevireBold 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 18:59 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:58 | yes | 2 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 18:52 | yes | 16 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 20:03 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 18:35 | yes | 37 | 20 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:57 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 18:03 | yes | 18 | 19 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:56 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:37 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:37 | yes | 12 | 25 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:15 | yes | 18 | 50 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:12 | yes | 8 | 23 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 18:31 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:56 | yes | 3 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 20:16 | yes | 20 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 20:55 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:52 | yes | 12 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 21:38 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-17 18:16 | yes | 29 | 53 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 18:25 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 19:55 | yes | 10 | 35 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 19:26 | yes | 18 | 53 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:21 | no | 0 | 10 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:02 | yes | 5 | 43 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 21:21 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:54 | yes | 3 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:41 | yes | 16 | 27 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:32 | yes | 20 | 11 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 21:04 | yes | 40 | 17 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:11 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:43 | yes | 22 | 21 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:24 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:54 | yes | 19 | 48 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:43 | yes | 20 | 35 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 21:19 | yes | 15 | 28 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:28 | yes | 9 | 23 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 19:47 | yes | 18 | 10 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:27 | yes | 2 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:43 | yes | 15 | 24 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:02 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:16 | yes | 35 | 17 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:18 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-17 18:59 | yes | 26 | 67 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:28 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:49 | yes | 19 | 58 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:31 | yes | 7 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 20:04 | yes | 13 | 24 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 21:02 | yes | 23 | 27 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:35 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:33 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 18:59 | no | 0 | 15 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:05 | yes | 20 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 19:31 | yes | 11 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:33 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:56 | yes | 18 | 19 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:35 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:13 | no | 0 | 31 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 19:18 | yes | 14 | 27 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 21:04 | no | 0 | 27 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:29 | no | 0 | 12 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:30 | yes | 27 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:19 | yes | 4 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:40 | yes | 20 | 22 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:58 | yes | 20 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 19:44 | yes | 48 | 20 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 21:19 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:45 | yes | 28 | 37 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:57 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 21:10 | no | 0 | 25 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:42 | yes | 30 | 39 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 21:39 | yes | 25 | 78 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:22 | yes | 22 | 52 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
Criteria read as Criteria Corp
Hogan read as Hogan Assessments
Myers-Briggs read as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Unresolved, counted raw
Alva Labs
Belbin
BlinkExam
CCAT
CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder)
Crossover
EmpMonitor Team Assessment Tools Comparison
HIGH5 Personality Test
HiringFluency
Koru-style measures
LinkedIn Skill Assessments
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
MyCulture.ai
Octopus Intelligence Comparison
PSI Online
Pangram Labs
Pluralsight Skills Assessment
Prerequisites
QuizUp
Shaker
TeamDynamics
TestnHire
Traitify by Crosschq
Wild Noodle
Working Genius
springhire
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.