# Sterling: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 29 judge labels across 1 category by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/sterling

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Background screening](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/talent/background-screening/index.md) | 0% | 77 | 45% | 29 |

## What the models said for it

- "For large enterprises with complex, regulated programs → Sterling, First Advantage, or HireRight." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Background screening)
- "For global enterprises: Sterling or HireRight offer unmatched international coverage" (MiniMax M2.5, Background screening)
- "Choose Sterling for regulated industries or more complex criminal-screening needs." (Perplexity Sonar, Background screening)
- "consider alternative providers such as Checkr, Sterling, and HireRight" (Llama 4 Maverick, Background screening)

## And against it

- "Common complaints: Extremely slow turnaround times, frequent delays, and missed start dates; poor communication and slow support" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Background screening)
- "Sterling Infosystems, Inc. FCRA Class Action... charging Sterling Infosystems with sloppy background reports" (Muse Glimmer 30B, Background screening)
- "Repeated complaints about weeks-long delays, sending incorrect background checks to employers" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Background screening)
- "Sterling is another large competitor that receives harsh criticism" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, Background screening)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Sterling, from 81 of the 89 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- leadchangegroup.com: 35
- checkr.com: 34
- victig.com: 21
- firsthr.app: 20
- mitratech.com: 20
- g2.com: 19
- fitsmallbusiness.com: 16
- reddit.com: 16
- accusourcehr.com: 15
- fadv.com: 13

### Pages cited

- https://leadchangegroup.com/background-check-services/enterprise: 20
- https://firsthr.app/compare/general/employee-background-check-services: 19
- https://mitratech.com/resource-hub/blog/top-2026-background-check-vendors: 19
- https://leadchangegroup.com/background-check-services/compare: 18
- https://victig.com/best-background-check-companies-vendor-selection: 16
- https://checkr.com/resources/articles/best-background-checks: 15
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-background-check-companies: 15
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/employment-background-check: 13

## In its own words

What Sterling's own pages state, read 2026-09-28. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Sterling Background Check Solutions is now First Advantage (https://sterlingcheck.com/)
- For: a business (https://sterlingcheck.com/)

## What it publishes

Every page sterlingcheck.com exposes, read 2026-09-29: 1002 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 490 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2024-12-01
- case study: 24 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2013-11-01
- webinar or virtual event: 16 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2024-05-01
- conference or event: 11 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2024-10-01
- report or ebook: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- comparison: 5 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2023-08-01
- template or tool: 5 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2022-05-01
- glossary or explainer: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2021-01-01
- podcast or video: 13 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- news or press: 184 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- Recent: 2024-12-01 blog: Paving the way to hiring efficiencies the need to effectively manage your non regulated employees https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/12/paving-the-way-to-hiring-efficiencies-the-need-to-effectively-manage-your-non-regulated-employees
- Recent: 2024-11-01 blog: Holiday hiring surge best practices for fast effective background checks in retail https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/11/holiday-hiring-surge-best-practices-for-fast-effective-background-checks-in-retail
- Recent: 2024-11-01 blog: Paving the way to hiring efficiencies assess driver risk with ongoing monitoring https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/11/paving-the-way-to-hiring-efficiencies-assess-driver-risk-with-ongoing-monitoring
- Recent: 2024-10-01 conference or event: Top takeaways from the 2024 hr tech conference 2 https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/10/top-takeaways-from-the-2024-hr-tech-conference-2
- Recent: 2024-10-01 blog: Will your drivers dui show up on an employment background check https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/10/will-your-drivers-dui-show-up-on-an-employment-background-check
- Recent: 2024-10-01 blog: Pittsburgh limits employment drug testing for individuals with medical marijuana cards https://www.sterlingcheck.com/blog/2024/10/pittsburgh-limits-employment-drug-testing-for-individuals-with-medical-marijuana-cards

## 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.