# Background screening for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "background check provider" and as "employment screening service", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/talent/background-screening/enterprise

**Standing:** Checkr leads with 46% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 50 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Checkr](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/checkr/index.md) | 46% | 14% | 66 |
| 2 | [First Advantage](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/first-advantage/index.md) | 22% | 12% | 57 |
| 3 | [HireRight](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/hireright/index.md) | 14% | 17% | 66 |
| 4 | [Sterling](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/sterling/index.md) | 12% | 24% | 41 |
| 5 | [Certn](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/certn/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 27 |
| 6 | [Mitratech AssureHire](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/mitratech-assurehire/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 17 |
| 8 | [Accurate Background](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/accurate-background/index.md) | 0% | 14% | 29 |
| 9 | [Cisive](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/cisive/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 14 |
| 10 | [ClearStar](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/clearstar/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 14 |
| 11 | [GoodHire](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/goodhire/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 50 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Checkr; alternatives Certn, First Advantage, HireRight, Sterling
- GPT-5.4 mini: Sterling; alternatives Checkr, HireRight
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Checkr; alternatives Accurate Background, First Advantage, HireRight, Verified First
- Perplexity Sonar: First Advantage; alternatives Checkr
- Grok 4.20: Checkr; alternatives Certn, First Advantage, HireRight, Sterling
- Mistral Small: Checkr, HireRight; alternatives Mitratech AssureHire, ScoutLogic
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Checkr; alternatives Certn, First Advantage, HireRight
- Llama 4 Maverick: HireRight; alternatives Checkr
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Checkr, HireRight; alternatives First Advantage, ScoutLogic
- Kimi K2: Checkr; alternatives First Advantage, HireRight
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Checkr, HireRight; alternatives Certn, DISA Global Solutions, First Advantage
- MiniMax M2.5: Checkr; alternatives First Advantage, HireRight
- GPT-6 Luna: First Advantage; alternatives Checkr
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Checkr; alternatives Accurate Background, Certn, Cisive, ClearStar

## Sources the answers cite

77 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- leadchangegroup.com: 39 answers, 53 citations
- checkr.com: 39 answers, 50 citations
- mitratech.com: 34 answers, 34 citations
- victig.com: 22 answers, 22 citations
- accusourcehr.com: 18 answers, 22 citations
- fadv.com: 18 answers, 21 citations
- vetty.co: 16 answers, 18 citations
- selectsoftwarereviews.com: 16 answers, 17 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://leadchangegroup.com/background-check-services/enterprise (39 answers)
- https://mitratech.com/resource-hub/blog/top-2026-background-check-vendors (30 answers)
- https://checkr.com/resources/articles/best-background-checks (21 answers)
- https://victig.com/best-background-check-companies-vendor-selection (17 answers)
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/employment-background-check (16 answers)
- https://noon.ai/blog/articles/286-top-10-background-check-services (14 answers)
- https://fadv.com/article/background-check-providers (11 answers)
- https://accusourcehr.com/blog/best-background-check-companies (10 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/background-check/enterprise (10 answers)
- https://leadchangegroup.com/background-check-services/compare (10 answers)

## Warned against

- HireRight: 11 of 66 labels negative. "has a long history of litigation and enforcement involving background-check accuracy and adverse-action compliance" (GPT-5.4 mini, negative prompt)
- Checkr: 9 of 66 labels negative. "Checkr is wildly inaccurate and grossly incompetent. We stopped using them because of their terrible and inconsistent reports." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Sterling: 10 of 41 labels negative. "Avoid Sterling at all costs. They are truly the worst." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Instant Checkmate: 6 of 6 labels negative. "TruthFinder & Instant Checkmate ... FTC action in September 2023 for $5.8 million settlement" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: HireRight (27%) to Checkr (46%). Margin 32 points, beyond the floor.

- Checkr: 24% to 46%, +22. Cleared the floor by 9 points · rank 2 → 1 of 50.
- HireRight: 27% to 14%, −13. Inside the floor by 0 points · rank 1 → 3 of 50.
- Accurate Background: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 8 of 50.
- Mitratech AssureHire: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 5 → 6 of 50.
- First Advantage: 20% to 22%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 2 of 50.
- Certn: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 43 → 5 of 50.
- Verified First: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 → 15 of 50.
- Sterling: 13% to 12%, −1. Inside the floor by 12 points · rank 4 of 50, unchanged.
- Cisive: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 11 → 9 of 50.
- ClearStar: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 16 → 10 of 50.
- GoodHire: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 63 → 11 of 50.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/hr.