Editorial standards

These standards apply to every profile, news item, and comparison published on this site. They were drafted in consultation with Japanese counsel and are reviewed annually.

1. Sourcing

No factual claim appears without a source label. Where a claim depends on a source we cannot verify, we either obtain primary confirmation or omit the claim. We do not infer facts from reasonable assumption.

2. Anonymous content

Anonymous reviews are treated as sentiment, not fact. We synthesize recurring themes across multiple reviews on multiple platforms. We do not quote individual anonymous reviews verbatim. We do not connect named individuals at a firm to allegations sourced from anonymous reviews. Identifying features (gender, nationality, role title) are stripped from synthesized themes when they would point at an identifiable person.

3. Named individuals

Named individuals at profiled firms — partners, country heads, division leads — are identified only when the identification is necessary to the public record (e.g., legally responsible person, named in earnings transcript or press release) and the source is primary. We do not pair named individuals with critical commentary unless the commentary is itself on the public record under attribution.

4. Voice

We aim for the neutral voice of a directory, not the editorial voice of a magazine. We avoid characterizations like "cult-like," "dying," "watchlist." Where public sentiment is critical of a firm, we report the existence of the criticism and its sources without amplifying the conclusory framing.

5. Light profiles

Some firms are profiled with confirmed corporate facts only — entity details, leadership, verticals, business model, and a Glassdoor link — without recurring-themes synthesis or compensation analysis. Light profiles are flagged on each affected page.

6. Updates

Each profile is dated. Quick-facts items are re-verified quarterly. Where a verifiable change occurs (M&A, leadership change, license transfer), we issue a transition notice on the affected profile within seven days of public confirmation.

7. Sponsorship & disclosure

recruiters.fyi has one editorial sponsor: Headhunt.AI, an AI-native recruiting platform operated by ExecutiveSearch.AI K.K. The sponsorship buys a single dedicated page (/headhunt-ai), a one-line disclosure-forward strip at the top of editorial pages, and a sponsor card placed below the editorial content on most pages.

The sponsor does not see firm coverage decisions, glassdoor or other rankings, glossary entries, guide selection, or news items before they are published. The sponsor cannot remove unfavorable coverage of any firm, including its own parent group. recruiters.fyi will continue to cover ExecutiveSearch.AI K.K. and ESAI Agency K.K. on the same terms as every other firm in the directory.

Any sponsor placement is labeled with a monospaced "Editorial sponsor" eyebrow and links here. All sponsor-paid links carry rel="sponsored" and UTM tags so the sponsor can measure what it pays for. We do not run third-party ad networks, programmatic display, retargeting pixels, or affiliate links.

Last reviewed: April 2026. Material changes to these standards will be announced in the news feed.