Retained Executive Search Firms | Parse

Retained Executive Search Firms in AI answers

Data as of Oct 18, 2026Based on 360 AI responsesReviewed by Dimitry Apollonsky

AI summary

Spencer Stuart holds a narrow lead over Korn Ferry, with both firms frequently cited for large enterprise C-suite searches and corporate board placements. For venture-backed leadership recruitment, Andreessen Horowitz is the usual answer.

Most-mentioned brands

Rank and Mentioned in · since Jul 5

#	Brand	Recommended for	Mentioned in
1	Spencer Stuart 69% board advisory practices and enterprise C-suite recruitment	board advisory practices and enterprise C-suite recruitment	69%
2	Korn Ferry 66% global C-suite hiring and leadership assessment engagements	global C-suite hiring and leadership assessment engagements	66%
3	Heidrick & Struggles 65% organizational transformation mandates and enterprise software leadership	organizational transformation mandates and enterprise software leadership	65%
4	Russell Reynolds Associates 59% board governance and private equity-backed strategic transitions	board governance and private equity-backed strategic transitions	59%
5	Egon Zehnder 48% board succession assignments and international leadership placement	board succession assignments and international leadership placement	48%
6	Andreessen Horowitz 13% internal venture talent networks placing portfolio executives	internal venture talent networks placing portfolio executives	13%
7	Odgers Berndtson 13% global senior-level executive and corporate board searches	global senior-level executive and corporate board searches	13%
8	Cowen Partners 13% national C-suite recruitment and diverse board searches	national C-suite recruitment and diverse board searches	13%
9	Trueplatform 10% executive search technology and venture-backed talent placement	executive search technology and venture-backed talent placement	10%
10	Diversifiedsearchgroup 9% diverse leadership recruitment and corporate board placements	diverse leadership recruitment and corporate board placements	9%
11	True SearchTrueplatform product line 9%		9%
12	Riviera Partners 9%		9%
13	Daversa Partners 9%		9%
14	Taylor Hopkinson 9%		9%
15	ON Partners 8%		8%
16	Boyden 8%		8%
17	Bespoke Partners 7%		7%
18	Sequoia Capital 7%		7%
19	Bessemer Venture Partners 7%		7%
20	Accel 7%		7%
21	WSS Executive Search 7%		7%
22	Lightspeed Venture Partners 7%		7%
23	General Catalyst 6%		6%
24	Christian & Timbers 6%		6%
25	Ellig Group 6%		6%
26	Stanton Chase 6%		6%
27	DHR Global 6%		6%
28	Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants 5%		5%
29	Greylock 5%		5%
30	JM Search 5%		5%
31	SPMB Executive Search 5%		5%
32	Caldwell 4%		4%
33	Index Ventures 4%		4%
34	NU Advisory Partners 4%		4%
35	Female Executive Search 4%		4%
36	Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)3%		3%
37	kpCompanies 3%		3%
38	DSG Global 3%		3%
39	MSH 3%		3%
40	M Search 3%		3%
41	U.S. Office of Personnel Management 3%		3%
42	TalentFoot 3%		3%
43	Insight Partners 3%		3%
44	Khosla Ventures 2%		2%
45	Retained 2%		2%
46	U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)2%		2%
47	Battery Ventures 2%		2%
48	N2Growth 2%		2%
49	RevelOne 2%		2%
50	Crist\|Kolder Associates 2%		2%
51	Scion Retained Search 2%		2%
52	Hunt Scanlon Media 1%		1%
53	Hunt Club 1%		1%
54	National Association of Corporate Directors 1%		1%
55	Founders Fund 1%		1%
56	Surtona 1%		1%
57	Women Corporate Directors 1%		1%
58	Dave Partners 1%		1%
59	Summit Executive Search Group 1%		1%
60	Koya PartnersOwned by Diversifiedsearchgroup 1%		1%
61	Captivate Talent 1%		1%
62	Benchmark · benchmark.com 1%		1%
63	Armada Talent Group 1%		1%
64	ZRG Partners 1%		1%
65	Redfish Technology 1%		1%
66	Intrinsic Search 1%		1%
67	LSP Renewables 1%		1%
68	Calibre One 1%		1%
69	Isaacson, Miller 1%		1%
70	TL Execs 1%		1%
71	Forbes 1%		1%
72	Alpha Apex Group 1%		1%
73	Board MonitorBoard product line 1%		1%
74	Tipped Recruitment 1%		1%
75	Klein Hersh 1%		1%
76	First Round Capital 1%		1%
77	BoardProspects 1%		1%
78	BoardWalk Consulting 1%		1%
79	Hudson Gate Partners 1%		1%
80	Preng & Associates 1%		1%
81	Lindauer 1%		1%
82	Kleiner Perkins 1%		1%
83	Kepler Search 1%		1%
84	WittKieffer 1%		1%
85	Goldman Sachs 1%		1%
86	Emory Search 1%		1%
87	Axis Talent Partners 1%		1%
88	Barker Gilmore 1%		1%
89	Dynamic Search Consulting 1%		1%
90	Pearson Partners International 1%		1%
91	The KAS Group 1%		1%
92	Crosschq 1%		1%
93	FirstMark 1%		1%
94	Storbeck Search 1%		1%
95	Herizon 1%		1%
96	Benchmark 1%		1%
97	Peak Sales Recruiting 1%		1%
98	Anthem Executive 1%		1%
99	Betts Recruiting 1%		1%
100	680 Partners 1%		1%

Recommendations by AI engine

ChatGPT SearchGoogle AI Mode

Widest split: Egon Zehnder, 58% on ChatGPT Search and 37% on Google AI Mode.

Mentioned in on each AI engine, by brand
Brand	ChatGPT Search	Google AI Mode
Spencer Stuart	74%	64%
Korn Ferry	68%	65%
Heidrick & Struggles	71%	60%
Russell Reynolds Associates	69%	49%
Egon Zehnder	58%	37%
Andreessen Horowitz	17%	10%
Odgers Berndtson	13%	13%
Cowen Partners	Outside ChatGPT Search's top 25	24%
Trueplatform	7%	13%
Diversifiedsearchgroup	8%	11%

Retained Executive Search Firms in AI answers

Most-mentioned brands

Latest insights

Recommendations by AI engine

Questions by topic3

Sources AI cites100

See where your brand stands in this ranking

See where your brand stands in this ranking

Questions by topic3