Head to head
DHR Global vs Russell Reynolds Associates
Named side by side in 4 executive search firms questions. Russell Reynolds Associates came out ahead on 4; on 0 the sample cannot tell them apart.
Over 4 executive search firms questions measured by The Shortlist Report over 939 AI responses, Russell Reynolds Associates was named more often than DHR Global on 4 of them, DHR Global on 0, and the sample could not separate them on the remaining 0.
How DHR Global and Russell Reynolds Associates differ
This data does not establish which firm is better. DHR Global’s strongest result relative to Russell Reynolds Associates was on “What are the best executive search firms?” (66.0% versus 99.1%), while Russell Reynolds Associates’s strongest result relative to DHR Global was on “Which search firms know our industry?” (83.8% versus 17.5%).
Those are the clearest differences in the shared sample. They measure which firm AI assistants surfaced more often for each buyer question, not service quality or client results.
Question by question
| Question | DHR Global | Russell Reynolds Associates | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are the best executive search firms?235 responses | 66.0% | 99.1% | Russell Reynolds Associates |
| Which search firms know our industry?234 responses | 17.5% | 83.8% | Russell Reynolds Associates |
| Who runs board and chief executive searches?235 responses | 19.6% | 69.4% | Russell Reynolds Associates |
| Our executive search is not working. Who can take over?235 responses | 8.5% | 46.0% | Russell Reynolds Associates |
How to read this
Share is the percentage of sampled ChatGPT responses to a question that named the firm at all — a measure of visibility, not of the work. A capable firm little has been written about will score low, which is a fact about how often it gets named and not a verdict on whether to hire it.
"Too close to call" is a result, not a gap in the data. Firms are grouped into tiers holding every firm the sample cannot statistically separate from that tier's leader, so two firms in one tier are reported as level however their percentages happen to fall. On 0 of these 4 questions that is what the measurement supports, and saying otherwise would be inventing precision.
Nothing here is our judgement of who is good. It is a count of who gets named. Both firms are measured over the same questions and the same 939 responses, so neither is being scored on a sample the other did not face.
The full picture on each
- Everything measured about DHR GlobalConducts board and C-suite searches with broad financial-services coverage across banking, capital markets, PE/VC, and insurance.
- Everything measured about Russell Reynolds AssociatesConducts CEO, C-suite, and board searches for large public companies and financial services.