September 2026 Edition
September 2026 Edition
Published September 17, 2026. This page is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition: the standing of every category as measured in it, under vendor table vv2026-09.3. It is also the edition the site carries now.
50 categories · 12 models · 300 prompts · 3,672 answers · 20,802 judge labels, all published
The leaderboard
The first choice in all 50 categories · 42 unsettledShare is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models. Each row opens that category's page for this edition.What the verdicts mean
Talent acquisition
Candidate assessmentSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Onboarding and employee experience
Frontline employee appsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Learning and development
Learning management systemsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Talent acquisition
Applicant tracking systemsMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Onboarding and employee experience
Employee engagement surveysMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Workforce planning and analytics
Contingent workforce managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Onboarding and employee experience
Employee wellbeing and mental healthSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Compensation and total rewards
Flexible benefits and lifestyle spending accountsOne leader in all three segments
Onboarding and employee experience
Employee onboardingSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Performance and talent management
Goals and OKRsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Talent acquisition
Technical hiring assessmentsMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Onboarding and employee experience
HR help desk and case managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Onboarding and employee experience
Recognition and rewardsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Core HR and payroll
Global payroll and employer of recordSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Talent acquisition
Interview schedulingSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Talent acquisition
Job advertising and distributionSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Compensation and total rewards
Compensation managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Compensation and total rewards
Pay equityMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Performance and talent management
Talent intelligenceSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
PinContested
Onboarding and employee experience
Internal communications and intranetA different leader in every segment
The models asked
Twelve models: the generally available models a buyer meets as a default in an assistant, with search on. A model joins at an edition boundary and stays at least three editions; movement is read over the models both editions asked, so a join never moves a share on its own. The roster rule.
| Model | Version asked for | Lab | How it searches | In the set since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5 | Anthropic | native search | September 2026 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini | OpenAI | native search | September 2026 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | native search | September 2026 | |
| Perplexity Sonar | sonar | Perplexity | native search | September 2026 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning | xAI | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small | Mistral | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash | DeepSeek | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick | Meta | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash | Alibaba | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 | Moonshot | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx | Z.AI | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 | MiniMax | gateway, Perplexity search | September 2026 |
The record
Every prompt, every answer with its version string and search flag, every raw judge label, and the vendor table the edition was scored under. Free to download and free to cite.
JSON
Raw judge labels
One row per named product, with the name exactly as written and a verbatim evidence quote.
21.0 MB
JSON
Full responses
Every call with its full answer text, timestamp, version string, search flag, cited URLs, latency and token counts.
64.9 MB
JSON
Vendor table vv2026-09.3
Canonical names, aliases, category-scoped readings, exclusions and the change log.
629 KB
JSON
Prompts
Every prompt verbatim: six variants across 50 categories for each buyer segment, 300 per segment. Each prompt carries its set; the September 2026 mid-market set, asked as a B2B software company, is kept under its own ids beside the current one.
427 KB
JSON
Model set
Pinned models, endpoints, search tools and list prices as of the edition.
12 KB
Markdown
Edition report
The derived report for the edition, including the appendix on loose paraphrase stability.
429 KB
Markdown
Data dictionary
What each column of the record means, how to reproduce any share on the site, the license and the citation. The same file ships in the pack.
4 KB
JSON
Calibration repeat: judge labels
The same prompts asked again on September 18, 2026 with nothing changed, over 10 categories. One row per named product, as in the edition file.
4.3 MB
JSON
Calibration repeat: full responses
Every call of the repeat with its full answer text, timestamp, version string, search flag, cited URLs, latency and token counts.
12.8 MB
Markdown
Calibration report
The derived report for the repeat, the per-model flip rates behind the noise floor.
114 KB
Cite this edition
HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. hr-ai-index.com. Scored under vendor table vv2026-09.3.