Author: Stephanie Trovato

Recruiters and HR professionals have a lot on their plate. From time-consuming customer screening to scheduling interviews and predicting success, they have much to keep track of — especially when hiring at scale.

But in 2024, professionals across industries are starting to take advantage of AI as a handy assistant.

As a writer and entrepreneur, I lean on AI tools every day to help lighten my workload. Recruiters can (and should) be taking advantage of AI recruiting software to help streamline their processes, too.

AI recruiting tools can’t replace a great recruiter or HR person, but they can certainly make recruiting easier.

I’ll be diving into the benefits and limitations of AI tools for recruitment and identifying some variables to assess before you select a tool. Then I’ll take a look at 12 industry-favorite AI recruiting tools.

Table of Contents

• Why use AI recruiting tools?
• How to Choose the Right AI Recruiting Software
• Best AI Recruiting Tools

Why use AI recruiting tools?

For recruiters and HR professionals, AI recruiting software can relieve a long list of the tasks that make up their to-do list. But AI can’t do everything. Here’s a look at the benefits — and limitations — of AI recruiting software.

Benefits

• Improved candidate matching. Recruiting tools can read hundreds of applications and find the ones that best meet your job description, sorting by skills and experience. Some experts have found that AI can cut down on the time spent screening candidates by up to 75%.
• Improving cost per hire (CPH). AI tools minimize the need for excessive job advertising. They also reduce the manpower necessary to hire by automating large parts of the process, driving down CPH.
• Reaching a wider talent pool. AI recruiting software can source talent from multiple platforms and siphon through more applications than a team member could on their own, allowing HR professionals and recruiters to consider a broader variety of talent.
• Filling positions faster. AI recruiting tools speed up the hiring process at multiple points. The screening and interview phase moves quicker with AI augmentation, and many AI tools automate various administrative tasks. In fact, AI tools may cut overall hiring time by nearly 90%.
• Improving candidate experience. AI recruiting tools personalize communication with candidates and provide information about the company and job. But most importantly, since AI tools lead to faster hiring times, candidates don’t need to wait nearly as long to hear whether or not they got the position.

Limitations

• Lack of personal touch. AI tools are limited in their ability to mirror humans. While they can personalize communications, messages generally won’t feel as human as they would if a person wrote them. Not to mention, these tools can’t use intuition to analyze resumes.
• Privacy concerns. Recruiting tools may collect, store, and analyze personal data, infringing on job applicants’ privacy rights.
• Bias. Recruiting software may be trained on biased information, which actually furthers bias, rather than improving it. In fact, Bloomberg reported AI may be worse than humans when it comes to race and gender bias.
• Waste of time for less frequent users. There’s a learning curve that comes with many of these tools, so if an organization is a one-time user looking to analyze a small set of applications, it may not be as much of a time-saver and so not worth the cost.
• Accuracy. Because AI technology lacks human judgment, there are times when the tool may not make accurate conclusions about best-fit candidates for a job placement. AI model error, as well as human error in building the model, contribute to questionable accuracy at times.

I spoke to Dan Kevin Roque, a senior recruiter from HRUCKUS, to hear his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of using AI at work.

“Anything that requires human interaction and empathy like interviews, addressing candidate concerns, deciding on who to hire, etc. — are things I will not entrust to AI,” said Roque. “But the majority of the stuff recruiters do, including sourcing and writing job descriptions, can be improved with AI.”

Each recruiter may have different reservations and comfort levels with various AI use cases, so it’s important to research your tool well so it helps — and does not hurt — your preferred hiring process.

How to Choose the Right AI Recruiting Software

Augmented vs. Automated

Before you can decide the exact right software for you, you need to consider the two broad types of AI technology: augmented or automated.

Augmented AI technologies assist humans in completing their tasks. If you’re using AI recruiting software, augmented technology would assist you in recruitment analysis and increase your productivity — but it wouldn’t replace you.

I find that augmented technology is generally a bit more comfortable to use — especially for folks who aren’t used to relying on AI. I can audit my results rather than sending them off without looking, which helps build trust for the tools.

Automated technologies complete tasks fully without any human intervention. In the case of recruiting technology, an automated tool could send emails, source profiles, and screen resumes without any human interaction.

Automated tools are faster than augmented tools, but result in lower rates of accuracy — but depending on the task, that may be okay. If your inbox is piling up with interviews to schedule or resumes to peek at, it might be worth considering finding a fully automated tool to lighten your workload.

Roque shared his preference between augmented and automated technology, stating that he likes “a combination of both.”

“I don't believe AI would truly be able to completely replace human input any time soon,” Roque continued, “but AI automation helps with minor tasks that can take a chunk of a recruiter's time, and AI augmentation helps support human decision-making and actions.”

Other Considerations

Some other variables I consider when I’m assessing an AI tool are:

• Integration. Does the tool integrate well with your existing hiring process, or will it require a process overhaul?
• Accuracy. How well does the tool identify and evaluate candidates — and how well do you need it to?

(If you’re using it as an augmentation, you won’t need as high a level of accuracy as you would if it’s fully automated.)

• User interface. How easy is the tool to use and what’s the technological proficiency of the recruiting team using it?
• Customization. Can the solution be tailored to fit your organization’s exact needs?
• Support. Does the tool offer good customer support and resources for set-up, implementation, and troubleshooting?

The answers to these questions vary considerably based on the type of problem you’re tackling and the organization you’re working within. I generally prioritize user interface and accuracy when I’m assessing a tool.

Best AI Recruiting Tools

Now that you know the benefits and limitations of AI tools, as well as the type of tool you’re looking for, it’s time to find the right tool for your organization.

There are a lot of great recruiting tools on the market, so here’s a high-level list identifying the basics of the tool, what stood out to me about the software, and the pricing information.

1. iCIMS

iCIMS offers a broad range of capabilities and applications, from a career suite to job postings management to a CRM.

The software is extremely comprehensive, providing end-to-end assistance for recruiters and hiring teams.

There’s an analytics dashboard, applicant tracking, email and messaging capabilities, and a video suite that allows you to personalize and humanize your hiring process.

What I like: iCIMS is a long-standing vendor with a rich history of providing great tools to users. It’s easy to use and straight-forward, so it checks the box for teams who are a bit less tech savvy. I like its broad capabilities — it’s great for companies looking for a comprehensive tool.

Pricing: Custom

2. SeekOut

The SeekOut tool starts when you upload a job description. As talent applies, you can filter and sort results by things like skills, licenses, education, and diversity variables.

Once you’ve found the right candidates, you can take advantage of AI-powered engagement tools to create personalized outreach. The platform is also rich in analytics, with dashboards dedicated to helping you track your hiring goals.

What I like: SeekOut has exceptional filtering, so the tool relieves a lot of the work required to find the right candidates. I also like how the software emphasizes diversity in hiring, which shows up in multiple ways throughout their platform.

Pricing: Multi-tiered annual packages — discover price tag after demoing the software.

3. Paradox.ai

Paradox.ai offers a few different conversational tools, but their recruiting CRM lightens the administrative load for recruiters.

The AI tool can schedule interviews and respond to questions from candidates automatically. With an 82% decrease in time-to-hire and a 99% candidate satisfaction rating, Paradox.ai is clearly doing something right.

What I like: Everything about Paradox.ai is simple and candidate-centric. As much as I want a tool that’s easy for me to use, I also want to make sure it offers a great user experience to the end client or candidate. The Paradox.ai tool is really exceptional when it comes to creating a great candidate experience.

Pricing: Custom

4. Fetcher

Fetcher combines AI tools with recruiting experts to source great candidates for your organization. Use Fetcher to manage and create a pipeline with AI automation, then gather insights about candidate activity and demographics.

You can also integrate tools like your ATS, email, calendar, CRM, and Slack to further improve your team’s productivity.

What I like: I love how Fetcher uses in-house experts to screen your candidates in conjunction with the AI tool. That means you get all the benefits of AI automation with added accuracy from human supervision.

The other thing I like about this tool is that you can add specific diversity initiatives to the search, battling the biases that AI tools sometimes have.

Pricing: Custom

5. Textio

Textio helps you improve the quality of your job listings by giving you insights into tone and word choice.

For recruiters, this means it can also help you choose language that appeals to specific age groups and demographics. It also learns as you use it, so the more frequently you rely on it, the better the output becomes.

What I like: Most AI recruiting tools are about screening automation, but Textio helps you optimize the actual content of your job descriptions. It’s a unique tool that could fit well with other AI software.

Pricing: Tiered packages starting at $15k annually for teams of 1-199.

6. HireVue

HireVue is a tool for interviewing and assessing candidates.

It has a video interview feature, as well as a rich library of AI assessments that allow recruiters to evaluate candidates comprehensively — looking for potential in addition to experience.

It also automates recruitment communication, significantly speeding up the hiring process. Finally, the tool offers analytics, reports, and great customer support.

What I like: HireVue does an exceptional job of reducing bias because of the type of algorithm they use. The tool doesn’t “learn” through increased use, which means that every candidate is assessed equally as time passes. As I start leaning more and more on AI tools, it’s important to me that they’re ethical, and HireVue does a great job of ensuring that.

Pricing: Packages start at $35K.

7. Manatal

Manatal has a simple interface for sharing job posts and gathering a pipeline of qualified candidates.

The AI tool recommends candidates based on job requirements and helps you gather comprehensive information on the candidates from social media accounts.

What I like: Manatal pulls information from social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to paint a full picture of the candidates applying to your job description. This makes for a really thorough understanding of candidates that recruiters would otherwise have had to create themselves.

Pricing: Plans start at $15 per user/month. For enterprise companies, the price reaches $55 per user/month — which is affordable compared to other options. There is also custom pricing.

8. Humanly

Humanly is an automation platform for recruiters that value human interaction. It automates tasks that don’t need a human touch so recruiters can give more attention where it really counts.

The tool screens candidates and answers questions and then provides feedback for hiring teams. It’s great for companies that are hiring at scale who still want their candidates to have a personalized, positive experience.

What I like: Humanly is aptly named — it’s completely focused on a human-centric application of AI technology. The homepage of the site states that the tool is, “Loved by candidates and recruiting teams.”

I like AI tools that emphasize both the user and the customer and, for both parties to love the tool, they’re really doing something right.

Pricing: Custom

9. Arya

Arya is an AI-driven candidate sourcing tool that finds great candidates quickly and automatically. The tool screens, scores, and ranks candidates based on hundreds of attributes and seven multidimensional data points to predict the candidate’s likelihood of success in the role.

What I like: Arya’s focus is data and analytics. As a result, you get extremely strategic outcomes from the tool. If you’re recruiting at scale, this sort of specificity and accuracy is incredibly important. I think Arya is a great choice for teams hiring lots of candidates on a frequent basis.

Pricing: Custom

10. Skillate

Skillate provides candidate prescreening, automatic scheduling, job description feedback, and predictive analytics to gauge a candidate’s likelihood of taking the offer. It’s a really comprehensive tool for recruiters looking to take a data-driven approach to the entire hiring process.

What I like: Skillate provides in-depth analysis of your company’s hiring trends. You can see insights based on location, experience, education, past companies, and skills. Finding trends like these can significantly speed up the hiring process so it’s great for companies hiring often or at scale.

Pricing: Custom

11. TurboHire

TurboHire is an end-to-end tool that optimizes the entire recruitment process from candidate sourcing to final selection.

The AI recruitment software sources talent from across channels, screens candidates, and provides workflow management. Interviews are automatically scheduled and the tool integrates with any ATS.

What I like: TurboHire claims to reduce time to hire by 78% and cost to hire by 65% while improving the quality of the hire by 5x. It’s hard not to appreciate a tool that can offer such staggering results!

Pricing: Custom

12. Workable

Workable helps you source, interview, and communicate with candidates throughout the hiring process.

You can use the AI tools in the recruiting software to generate job descriptions and interview questions, as well as automate time-consuming tasks like interview scheduling.

Plus, Workable helps you manage signed-on employees at no extra cost.

What I like: With one-click, your job posting can land on 200+ sites. If you’re looking for a highly specialized candidate, or if you want your applications to come in from a diverse number of pools, Workable is a great option.

Pricing: Workable offers a 15-day free trial plan followed by a tiered pricing plan that starts at $189/month.

Finding the Right Tool

There’s clearly no shortage of AI recruiting software on the market — which means teams can be confident there’s a tool out there that’s a perfect fit for their organization.

I think recruiters and HR hiring teams should start by determining what they’d like streamlined before they dive into finding the exact right tool.

Some of these tools target communication, others target job description prep, and others are more focused on administrative automation. If you can clearly define what you’d like done, you’re going to have an easier time finding the right tool.

There’s no debate that when it comes to succeeding in digital content, mastering SEO is a must. When I first became a content writer, most of the advice I received was about keywords, backlinks, relevancy, and improving user experience.

However, as technology has advanced, SEO has changed. We’re entering a new era of search — the AI age — and, with it, a new type of digital content technique.

Enter: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

How we obtain information now has changed dramatically as a result of AI. More than ever, people rely on generative engines for information, making learning how to optimize for AI essential.

If we want our content to reach the right people, we need to adapt. There’s no need to throw out the SEO principles you’ve spent decades learning. GEO is an extension of these techniques — and it’s not as scary as it sounds.

Let’s take a look at what we know about GEO so far.

Table of Contents

• What is Generative Engine Optimization?
• GEO vs. SEO
• How does Generative Engine Optimization work?
• Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape
• Generative Engine Optimization FAQ
• What’s Next for GEO

What is Generative Engine Optimization?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a new technique for maximizing your digital content’s visibility. Instead of traditional SEO practices that focus on ranking on SERPs, GEO is about being used by generative AI engines.

Generative engines pull information directly from web content to deliver responses to user queries. They use large language models (LLMs) to make sense of the info they’ve scraped and provide coherent, relevant answers.

ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Google AI Search are all examples of generative engines.

Generative engines work by:

1.  Interpreting a user’s query.
2.  Leveraging personal data it may have on the user, such as preferences or conversation history.
3.  Searching to find relevant answers to the query
4.  Synthesizing information from these documents into a straightforward response

GEO vs. SEO

GEO and SEO are similar in many ways, as both find relevant, credible content to answer user inquiries. But they also have three key differences.

Focus

GEO focuses on making content discoverable to AI, while SEO is about improving SERP rank.

While SEO is generally related to Google and Bing, there are lots of generative engines, so it’ll be interesting to see if different engines use different qualities to determine their sources.

Emphasis

The primary techniques for SEO emphasize things like backlinks and keywords, while GEO techniques emphasize structure.

An AI bot’s job is easier when it can pull clear, concise snippets that are easily synthesized, so it makes sense why structure would be an emphasis.

Output

The key difference is the output of the engines.

GEO optimizes content for AI engines, which produce a summary as the output.

SEO, on the other hand, optimizes content for traditional search engines, which produce a ranked list of sources as the output.

How is GEO impacting SEO?

SEO experts worldwide have cited generative AI as the number one disruptor to SEO. So it’s worth understanding more about what experts suspect the impact will be.

I spoke with an expert on SEO, Nick Baird, to hear about his thoughts on GEO and how he thinks it will change SEO and digital marketing.

“First, top-of-funnel informational terms, which are the industry's bread and butter, are going to take a huge hit. Since answers will come right in the SERP, why would people click away to websites?” Baird notes.

Secondly, Baird says, informational searches will be tough to win. However, local SEO won't change because of generative AI.

“When people search locally, they‘re hoping to find a plumber to fix their toilet or a mechanic to fix their car. ChatGPT can’t help with that. Google will continue pointing people to local service businesses in this case,” Baird says.

His thoughts about TOFU terms are the most interesting to me. I see his point and, as a user, I’m definitely engaging less with sites when I’m looking for a short answer. I’m interested to see how high-ranking topics evolve.

How does Generative Engine Optimization work?

Learning to use GEO is simpler than it sounds and, in many ways, is overlapped with best SEO practices. AI tools respond well to clear, well-structured information that it can easily synthesize.

This means you should:

1. Ensure your content is easy to read and understand.
2. Incorporate credible sources, quotes, and statistics to enhance the content’s richness and authority.
3. Structure your writing to align with the patterns used by generative engines.

When I’m writing an article, I focus on clear headings, concise paragraphs, lists, and well-sourced information. The same is true for best practices when it comes to SEO — so don’t worry about reinventing the wheel.

Other ways to improve GEO are using AI-friendly structured data, focusing on user intent, using easy-to-read/conversational language, and using unique words to make the content stand out.

These best practices aren’t all that different from SEO best practices. And, as with SEO, there’s no indication that AI-created content is ranking poorly.

If your content is high quality, you shouldn’t experience any sort of penalty for leveraging AI content tools, like the ones offered by HubSpot.

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Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape

Succeeding at GEO isn’t too different from traditional SEO practices. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you start writing content for generative AI.

Cite sources and use statistics.

I also asked Baird what digital marketers who are hoping to create AI-scannable content should do, and he recommended starting with strong EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

These four factors are currently used by Google’s algorithm to determine how pieces rank in search.

“The more proof of a human author, rather than AI, the better. Domain authority becomes even more important as well,” Baird says.

While you can still use AI tools to write your content, it’s vital that it reads as useful, credible content. Incorporating EEAT is a great way to increase credibility, and that serves to improve your entire domain’s authority.

So what exactly does EEAT look like? I’ve been navigating the shift first hand for my HubSpot posts.

I start by looking at my own personal experience. Do I have lived experience in a subject matter? Can I include any personal anecdotes about when I’ve encountered the topic?

Beyond that, I try to showcase my authority on a subject, noting how long I’ve worked in the field.

Obviously, I am not an expert in every topic I want to cover. In that case, I do extensive research. I find original statistics with verified information. I talk to experts whose quotes I can showcase throughout my work.

These elements enhance the credibility and uniqueness of my content.

Optimize for readability.

Think of AI like a busy student frantically looking for information to use in a paper.

They don’t have time to decipher complicated sentences. They want information that’s clear and easy to understand from the get-go. Which brings me to my next tip: Use clear, concise language and scannable paragraphs.

I’ll be honest: Writing short, clear sentences may not always be my first instinct. When I’m discussing a complicated topic, my first draft often includes lengthy explanations. I then use Hemingway, an app designed to help you write clearly.

Hemingway lets me know which sentences are lengthy, confusing, or overly complicated. I can’t always get every sentence to green, but I make an effort to correct phrases marked as “very hard to read.”

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Focus on content quality.

In the past, having the right keywords was enough to win in search. Let’s take a classic example: recipe blogs.

I remember searching for a brownie recipe for a party and finding a promising, top-ranking article.

When I clicked on it, I had to scroll past huge chunks of text about what goes into a brownie, when brownies became popular, how the author's kids loved the brownies, so on and so forth.

Why? The author knew having the word “brownie recipe” as many times as possible would help her rank.

Well, that may no longer be the case. In today’s landscape, knowing that the recipe has been passed down from older generations and won an award in a local competition would be enough to show credibility.

TL;DR: Make sure your content is relevant to potential search engines, and avoid keyword stuffing. Your audience and AI care more about the quality of your post.

Monitor trends and track your results.

Stay on top of AI engine evolution. GEO is a new technique, so expect best practices to emerge over time. Trends in the search landscape are continuously changing.

Right now, Google is prioritizing EEAT, but that may change as AI overviews take over the scene.

Keep an eye on the traffic and conversions of posts you’ve written using GEO best practices. You can also leverage HubSpot’s new AI Search Grader, which lets you know how in line your posts are with GEO.

Generative Engine Optimization FAQ

What is GEO?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is a method of improving your content’s visibility to AI generative engines, increasing its reach.

How do I structure my content for GEO?

Ensure your content is clear, well-organized, and has credible sources. Take advantage of lists and H2s and incorporate quotes and statistics when possible.

How do I check if my content is optimized for GEO?

Because GEO is so new, there aren’t many tools to measure how successful your content will be with AI generative engines. HubSpot’s AI Search Grader App is the only tool on the market that can scan your content for its GEO performance.

All you have to do is drop your URL into the grader. From there, you’ll have custom suggestions on what areas you can change to optimize your AI search performance.

That may include including more authority and personal experience or shifting the focus area of your page.

What is AI looking for in GEO content?

Large language models (LLMs) are looking for clear, well-structured information that they can pull and summarize to respond to user queries.

AI scanning works best for content that:

• Uses headers and lists
• Incorporates expert quotes
• Cites sources
• Uses simple language and scannable paragraphs

Is GEO going to replace SEO?

No — search engines aren’t going anywhere, so SEO isn’t, either. It’s best to consider GEO as an extension of SEO practices, as opposed to a replacement.

Best practices (like using H2s and credible citations) are shared between GEO and SEO, as are worst practices. Keyword stuffing, for example, has a negative impact on both SEO and GEO.

How can you measure GEO success?

Liam Carnahan, an SEO coach and content strategist, has a recommendation for how you can leverage existing tools to check if your article is getting picked up by AI engines.

"Of all the popular search-oriented options out there right now, Perplexity does the best job of citation," Carnahan says.

He continues, "So when I‘m trying to understand whether LLMs are ‘enjoying’ my content, I’ll go there first, and type in questions and prompts I imagine people might ask, using keywords I know my content is ranking for, to see how often it shows up in citations there."

Carnahan also notes that this isn‘t the most elegant solution, but “for now, it can give me a good idea about which of my clients’ content is ranking in AI results, and which content pieces are missing the mark.”

What’s Next for GEO

My biggest takeaway from exploring GEO is that it emphasizes different things, but in many ways, is similar to SEO. While SEO focuses on keyword optimization and backlinks, GEO focuses more on content structure.

Content writers are going to have to balance both but, thankfully, they click together well. I think we’re going to see clearer, more helpful content as a result of these two strategies — which is something I’m really excited about.

AI isn’t going anywhere. While we’re still learning how to use and measure GEO, it’s clear that keeping an eye on emerging techniques is going to be the key to success in the digital content world going forward.