How are executive search firms usually priced?

Percentage of revenue: quoted in 98 of 175 answers, median 25%–35%. Setup or onboarding fee: quoted in 4 of 175 answers, median $80,000–$100,000. Percentage of ad spend: quoted in 3 of 175 answers, median 15%–35%.

Where do these figures come from?

They are transcribed from 175 ChatGPT answers collected August 11, 2026–September 16, 2026, then counted. The Shortlist Report does not survey firms, set prices, or verify that any firm charges these amounts — it reports what the assistant said, with the sample size stated and the underlying counts published as CSV and JSON.

How much does an executive search firm charge?

What Executive Search Actually Costs

Percentage of revenue: 25%–35%. That was the most-quoted figure, appearing in 98 of 175 AI answers.

The Shortlist Report · Published August 11, 2026 · Updated September 16, 2026

175ChatGPT answers

101Stated a price

3Pricing models

25%–35%Most-quoted

Based on 175 ChatGPT answers to this question, collected August 11, 2026–September 16, 2026. 101 of them stated a figure. Each answer counts once per pricing model. How we measure.

Key findings

Percentage of revenue was the most-quoted way to price executive search firms: 25%–35% per of revenue or GMV, appearing in 98 of 175 ChatGPT answers to “How much does an executive search firm charge?”, collected August 11, 2026–September 16, 2026.
Setup or onboarding fee was quoted in 4 of 175 ChatGPT answers, at a median of $80,000–$100,000.
Percentage of ad spend was quoted in 3 of 175 ChatGPT answers, at a median of 15%–35%.
101 of the 175 sampled answers stated a price at all; the remaining 74 answered “How much does an executive search firm charge?” without naming a figure.
These are counts of what ChatGPT said, not a rate card. The Shortlist Report does not set, collect or verify prices, and no firm paid to influence these figures.

What the answers quoted

Typical range is the median of the quoted low bounds and the median of the quoted high bounds — not an average, which one outsized enterprise quote would distort. Full spread is the 10th to 90th percentile of what was quoted, so a single misread figure cannot stretch it. Share is the percentage of all 175 sampled answers that quoted this model, counted once each.
Pricing model	Typical range	Full spread	Answers
Percentage of revenue% of revenue or GMV	25%–35%	15%–35%	98 of 175
Setup or onboarding fee$ one-off	$80,000–$100,000	$60,000–$150,000	4 of 175
Percentage of ad spend% of spend	15%–35%	15%–35%	3 of 175

How to read this

The models are not alternatives to choose between. A single engagement often combines them — a monthly retainer plus a percentage of ad spend is the most common pairing in this sample — so the shares add up to more than 100% and are meant to.

The typical range is where the middle of the sample sits, not a quote. Half the answers quoted a low bound below 25%, and half above. Treat it as the number to walk into a conversation already knowing, not the number to expect on a proposal.

What this measurement does not tell you

These are not quotes and not a rate card. No firm was surveyed and no price was verified. This is what ChatGPT said when asked, which reflects what has been published about pricing online.
Prices follow scope, not category. The same label covers a one-person account audit and a full retail-and-advertising operation. A range this wide is telling you the category has no standard scope.
74 of 175 answers named no figure at all. Pricing is not consistently answered, and a page that reported only the answers containing numbers would overstate how settled this is.
It is a reading from a date range. Collected August 11, 2026–September 16, 2026 on ChatGPT only.

Cite this report

The Shortlist Report. (2026). What Executive Search Actually Costs. The Shortlist Report. https://www.shortlistreport.com/article/executive-search-cost

Underlying counts: CSV · JSON. Every answer they were counted from: plain text · JSON. All reusable under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.