AEO for staffing agencies: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank staffing agencies by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured quarterly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. Staffing agencies that place permanent, contract, and temporary talent across professional, technical, administrative, and industrial roles. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
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When buyers ask AI engines about staffing agencies, Kforce consistently emerges as the most prominent brand. With a visibility percentage of 12.5, Kforce leads the way, followed by Robert Half and Aerotek. These brands are frequently recognized by AI engines, making them top choices for potential clients seeking staffing solutions.
The rankings reflect the influence of top-cited sources, such as frontlinesourcegroup.com and pin.com, from which AI engines often pull information. These sources include both aggregator and review sites, highlighting industry expertise and customer feedback. Such platforms play a significant role in shaping how AI engines determine brand visibility in the staffing sector.
For buyers evaluating staffing agencies, one concrete factor to consider is how AI engines value recent reviews and third-party validation. Brands that maintain up-to-date reviews and demonstrate authority in specific subcategories are likely to appear more credible. This page aids in understanding which agencies are recognized by AI as leaders in staffing, helping in making an informed decision.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
Kforce leads the staffing agencies AEO rankings with a composite score of 8.8 and 12.5% visibility, placing it well above the category average of 0.6% visibility. No other brand in the top 10 records any visibility at all, making the gap between first place and the rest unusually sharp. That concentration means Kforce is the only brand currently surfacing in AI-generated overviews, while brands ranked 2 through 10 rely entirely on citation activity to register any presence in Google AI Mode responses.
A clear divergence exists between visibility and citation across this category. Robert Half, Aerotek, Insight Global, and ManpowerGroup each hold 25% citation rates but record zero visibility, meaning Google AI Mode references their content as sources without naming them directly in responses. Kforce shows the inverse pattern: 12.5% visibility with zero citations. This split suggests that being named in an AI answer and being used as a trusted source are rewarded through different content and authority signals in this category.
Google AI Mode is the sole engine driving all recorded performance across every brand in this dataset. The top cited sources list is notably dominated by smaller or niche sites such as frontlinesourcegroup.com, goodwinrecruiting.com, kore1.com, and clearlyrated.com alongside forbes.com and roberthalf.com. This pattern suggests the AI is drawing on third-party review and directory content heavily, rather than anchoring primarily on the major staffing brand domains themselves when constructing answers.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility fallers
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Robert Half 25% → 0% · rank #1 → #2-25pp
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Adecco 12% → 0% · rank #2 → #8-12pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
kforce.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Kforce holds the only positive visibility score in the top 10 at 12.5%, more than 20 times the category average, but records zero citations, making its AEO presence entirely appearance-based rather than source-based. |
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| 2 |
roberthalf.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Robert Half matches Aerotek and Insight Global with a 25% citation rate but has lost all visibility after a 25-point drop, signalling it is now a cited source rather than a named brand in AI responses. |
||||
| 3 |
aerotek.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Aerotek shares the joint-second composite score of 7.5 with three other brands, driven entirely by a 25% citation rate and no visibility, suggesting its domain content is trusted but not directly surfaced by Google AI Mode. |
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| 4 |
insightglobal.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
Insight Global mirrors Aerotek and ManpowerGroup exactly with 0% visibility and 25% citations, contributing to a cluster of brands where citation strength alone defines their current AEO standing. |
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| 5 |
manpowergroup.com
|
0% | 25% | Google AI Mode |
ManpowerGroup rounds out the four-way tie at rank 2 through 5, all scoring 7.5, with citation performance 4.5 times the category average of 5.6% but no measurable visibility in AI-generated responses. |
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| 6 |
kellyservices.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
sthree.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
adecco.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
randstad.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
teksystems.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
haysplc.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
michaelpage.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
allegisgroup.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
motionrecruitment.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
nesfircroft.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
talentburst.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
astoncarter.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
experis.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
lucasgroup.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
volt.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on staffing agencies, these are the domains Google AI Mode cited most often. If you're not on this list — or if your competitors are — that's a concrete PR / linkbuilding target.
How to read this AEO ranking
Four things worth knowing before you act on the numbers above. These are the same definitions across every industry page — for category-specific observations, see the What we observed section above (where available) and the per-brand insights inline in the ranking.
Visibility = being named
A brand's visibility % is the share of AI answers that mention it by name in the response prose. This is who AI engines actively recommend to the buyer. More on visibility →
Citation rate = being trusted
Citation rate is the share of AI answers that include the brand's domain as a clickable source link. This is what the AI treats as authoritative evidence, different from being named. More on citation rate →
Top engine differs by brand
The "top engine" column shows which AI surface each brand performs best on. Big gaps between a brand's score across engines usually points to specific content or schema gaps. How AI engines pick sources →
AEO rankings move month to month
AI engines re-crawl and re-rank on shorter cycles than classical search. We re-audit every brand on this list at least every 90 days and refresh this page automatically. How AI search ranking works →
Run an AEO audit on your own staffing agencies brand
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same answer engine optimisation measurement against your own brand — including the queries you appear on, which competitors get named instead, and a prioritised fix list? Run a free preview.
Frequently asked about AEO for staffing agencies
Who leads AEO in the staffing agencies category?
Kforce leads with a composite score of 8.8 and the only recorded visibility in the top 10 at 12.5%, well above the category average of 0.6%. No other brand in the dataset records any visibility at all.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for staffing agencies queries?
The top cited sources include niche and third-party sites such as frontlinesourcegroup.com, goodwinrecruiting.com, kore1.com, and clearlyrated.com, alongside forbes.com and roberthalf.com, suggesting the AI draws heavily on directory and review content rather than major brand homepages.
Which brands are cited frequently but not named in AI answers?
Robert Half, Aerotek, Insight Global, and ManpowerGroup each have 25% citation rates but zero visibility, meaning Google AI Mode uses their content as a reference source without surfacing their brand names directly in responses.
Which major staffing brands have seen the biggest AEO decline recently?
Robert Half fell from rank 1 to rank 2 with a visibility drop of 25 percentage points, while Adecco dropped six places and lost 12.5 points of visibility and 25 points of citation rate in the same period.
Is Google AI Mode the only engine that matters for AEO in this category?
Based on this dataset, yes. Every brand lists Google AI Mode as its top engine, and no other engine contributes to any brand's recorded visibility or citation score.
How concentrated is AEO performance across the staffing agencies category?
Performance is highly concentrated: only one brand records any visibility, six of the top 10 brands score zero on both visibility and citations, and the category average visibility sits at just 0.6%.