What sources does AI use when describing employers?

When AI describes or recommends an employer, it can reference information from many sources beyond the employer's own website.

We analysed 35,529 citations across 133 employer brand assessments. Just 4.3% pointed to employer careers websites. This raises important questions about whether AI descriptions accurately reflect an employer's EVP, which sources are being referenced and how those descriptions change over time.

Employers spend considerable time and money developing their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), careers websites, employee stories and employer branding campaigns. Having spent much of my career leading Talent Acquisition teams, I know how much work goes into getting this right.

But when a candidate asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity what it's like to work for an organisation, the answer isn't necessarily based on what that employer publishes about itself.

AI responses can reference employer websites, employee review platforms, news articles, industry publications and other third-party content. Through BrandScore by Benchmarcx, we've been examining which sources AI references when describing and recommending employers.

• 133 employer brand assessments
• 21,640 AI-generated answers
• 35,529 citations
• 3,001 different domains

Just 4.3% of those citations pointed to employer careers websites.

That doesn't mean AI gets only 4.3% of its information from careers websites. Citations identify the sources referenced by AI, not necessarily everything that contributed to generating an answer.

But it does demonstrate the extent to which AI references information beyond an employer's own careers website.

Think about the process of developing an EVP. Employee research, interviews, workshops, stakeholder approval, messaging, creative development and eventually a careers website that communicates what makes the organisation a great place to work.

There's a lot of effort involved, and understandably employers want candidates to see those messages.

Now consider a candidate asking ChatGPT: "What's it really like working at this company?" Or asking Perplexity: "Which employers offer the best career development opportunities for graduates?"

The answers might reference information from multiple sources, including content the employer has never created or approved. Those answers might not reflect the messages the employer has invested considerable time and money developing.

There's potentially a significant difference between the employer brand an organisation publishes and the employer brand AI describes.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Independent information can provide candidates with useful perspectives beyond an employer's own messaging. The problem comes when employers don't know what those descriptions contain, whether they're accurate or which sources AI is referencing.

Possibly, but I wouldn't start there.

There's a growing conversation about making employer brand content more accessible to AI, improving the structure of careers websites and publishing material that answers candidates' questions. All sensible things to consider.

But before investing more time and money creating content, it makes sense to understand what AI is already telling candidates.

You might discover that some elements of your EVP are already well represented, while others are barely mentioned. Or that AI is referencing outdated or incomplete information.

Sometimes the answer will be to publish new content. Other times, it might involve correcting existing information, strengthening independent evidence or making content easier to discover. The important thing is understanding the problem before deciding what needs to change.

• Is AI accurately describing your culture, career opportunities and benefits?
• Which parts of your EVP are consistently mentioned, and which are missing?
• What sources does AI reference when describing your organisation?
• Do different AI platforms tell similar stories?
• How does AI describe your organisation compared with employers competing for the same talent?

Because the answers don't stay the same.

One of the more interesting findings from our BrandScore research is how much AI responses can change over relatively short periods. And it's not just your own organisation you need to consider. Your competitors are changing too.

An employer might be recommended prominently for a particular type of role today and appear much less frequently a few weeks later. That doesn't necessarily mean the employer has done anything wrong. The AI system may have changed, new information may have become available, or competing employers might simply be appearing more frequently.

A single assessment provides a snapshot. Repeated assessments help you understand whether your position is improving, declining or fluctuating.

We wouldn't normally measure candidate experience or employer brand awareness once and assume the results would remain unchanged. I don't see why AI employer brand visibility should be treated differently.

I'd focus on five areas.

Together, these provide a much more useful picture than simply asking ChatGPT what it's like to work for your organisation and reading the response.

• AI Visibility: Does AI mention or recommend your organisation when candidates ask relevant questions about potential employers?
• AI Narrative: What does AI actually say about working for your organisation? How closely does that reflect your EVP?
• Sources: Which sources does AI reference when describing your organisation? Are they accurate, current and credible?
• Competitor positioning: Which other employers are being recommended for the same questions, roles and talent markets? What are they being recognised for that you aren't?
• Movement over time: Are your visibility, descriptions and competitive position changing across different AI platforms?

I don't think the finding that just 4.3% of observed AI citations pointed to careers websites makes those websites any less important. They're still a central source of verified information about an employer.

But they're only one part of a much wider information environment that candidates can encounter when researching potential employers through AI.

For years, Employer Brand teams have invested in understanding how candidates perceive their organisations, improving careers websites, measuring candidate experience and monitoring employer reputation. AI adds another area that deserves attention.

And I wouldn't start by asking what more content we should publish. I'd start by understanding what AI already says about the organisation, where those descriptions come from and whether they're changing.

These five questions sit at the heart of what we measure through BrandScore.

• How visible is your employer brand across AI? Understand how frequently your organisation is mentioned and recommended across all six leading AI experiences, not just one or two.
• Does AI accurately reflect your EVP? Identify where AI descriptions match your employer brand, where important messages are missing and where perceptions differ.
• What information is AI referencing? Understand which sources AI cites when describing your organisation, and whether those sources provide accurate, current and credible information.
• How do you compare with your talent competitors? Establish which employers AI recommends alongside or instead of you, and what influences their positioning.
• How is your position changing over time? Measure changes across AI experiences, candidate questions and competitors through consistent, ongoing monitoring rather than relying on a single snapshot.