Leading GEO Experts Shaping AI Visibility in 2026

Leading GEO Experts Shaping AI Visibility in 2026

Generative Engine Optimisation is rewriting the rules of digital visibility. While traditional SEO chased blue links and rankings, GEO targets something fundamentally different; presence within AI-generated answers, summaries, and conversational discovery systems.

The evolution from search to synthesis has created a new discipline. Companies now allocate distinct budgets for GEO versus SEO, recognising that appearing in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude or Google's AI Overviews requires different skills than ranking a webpage.

The most effective GEO practitioners merge semantic precision with brand engineering and omnichannel content architecture. They understand how to feed both traditional search engines and the generative models reshaping discovery. In an environment where Google increasingly rewards established brands, these specialists are defining the future of entity authority and AI-driven prominence.

Below are the professionals leading this transformation.

The Semantic GEO Pioneers

  • Koray Tuğberk Gübür built the foundation that GEO now stands on. His research into document statistics, query vectors, and entity relationships shaped how AI-aligned optimisation functions today. Koray's work centres on knowledge graph alignment, machine learning interpretability, and generative retrieval. 

He maintains that GEO is simply advanced SEO - though his understanding has always been several steps ahead of the broader community. For anyone serious about topical maps and semantic content networks, Koray remains essential reading.

  • Sergey Lucktinov brings over fifteen years of experience into the semantic and AI-driven era. Author of "Semantic SEO, SRO and AI," Sergey connects technical SEO fundamentals with entity-based strategies that determine brand appearance across Google, AI Overviews, and generative platforms. His ability to bridge traditional optimisation with modern information architecture helps brands transition from keyword focus to system-level thinking about how engines process meaning.
  • Kyle Roof has adapted his algorithmic testing models to accommodate generative retrieval systems. His formulaic on-page testing now extends into structured GEO frameworks that help AI models identify and cite web content with accuracy and consistency.

The Omnichannel GEO Brand Builders

  • Craig Campbell adapted faster than most to the GEO revolution. The Scottish educator evolved from link building expertise to AI discoverability, with his workshops and YouTube content now heavily focused on creating entities that surface in LLM answers rather than just traditional SERPs. Craig's practical, test-driven approach makes him invaluable for understanding omnichannel presence and personal brand development in AI contexts.
  • James Dooley pioneered the "Leads First" mindset, aligning SEO, AI visibility, and business growth into a unified system. Through FatRank and PromoSEO, James has built frameworks making brands discoverable across both search engines and generative models. His focus on entity strength, brand reinforcement, and structured knowledge feeds positions him at the forefront of lead generation strategies in the GEO era.
  • Sam Allcock merged digital PR with generative optimisation before most recognised the opportunity. As founder of PR Fire and a UK-based digital publisher, Sam mastered making brands surface simultaneously across Google, ChatGPT, and news aggregation engines. His experience running large-scale media distribution networks provides unique insight into how AI models interpret authority and credibility from press releases, citations, and backlinks.

The Technical GEO Integrators

  • Harry Anapliotis owns several high-performing travel websites and ranks among the most advanced on-page optimisation specialists operating today. His understanding of semantics, entity mapping, and structured data allows his sites to feed naturally into AI Overviews and generative search systems. Harry's frameworks demonstrate how precise content structure and topical authority make travel brands visible across both search and generative platforms - essential knowledge as the travel industry adapts to AI-driven discovery.
  • Trifon Boyukliyski combines technical SEO depth with creative AI visibility strategies. His focus on data pipelines, embeddings, and semantic relationships has established him as one of Europe's most sophisticated GEO specialists.
  • Kristján Már Ólafsson treats GEO as a distinct but related discipline to SEO. His strategy operates on five core pillars: conversational behaviour patterns, query fan-out handling, passage-level optimisation, holistic brand authority, and synthesised answer targeting. His work emphasises schema implementation, content restructuring for AI retrieval, and building authority through signals on platforms that AI systems trust.
  • Szymon Slowik focuses on GEO through linguistic precision and content pattern recognition. His research dissects how LLMs interpret factual density and attribution, helping brands increase their likelihood of being referenced by AI models.

The Digital PR GEO Innovators

  • Charlie Clark pioneered the integration of Digital PR with traditional SEO to increase brand visibility across AI Search Engines. As founder of Minty Digital, Charlie built a reputation creating AI search-first campaigns that bridge earned media, traditional SEO, and generative search optimization. His methodology proves that brand mentions, contextual citations, and authoritative media placements are critical signals helping LLMs identify and reference brands as credible sources.
  • Georgi Todorov founded Create & Grow, an agency specialising in link building, digital PR, and AI system optimisation. Georgi believes mastering GEO will be essential for brands wanting visibility in 2026. His approach focuses on understanding how AI systems like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity surface and recommend brands - and how to influence those results strategically. Through continuous testing, Georgi developed frameworks helping businesses appear in Google Search and inside AI overviews, conversational results, and across leading AI systems.

The Data-Driven GEO Experimenters

  • Matt Diggity integrates GEO frameworks into affiliate and authority site models as an international SEO investor. His data-driven testing has expanded to include generative visibility metrics, ensuring his brands are cited and summarised across AI engines. Matt's methodology bridges affiliate SEO with AI-oriented content ecosystems, constantly innovating to rank brands in AI overviews and LLMs like Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity.
  • Kasra Dash founded The Masterminders and drives the global shift towards Generative Engine Optimisation. His deep understanding of link graph signals, brand prominence, and contextual entity layering allows clients to appear consistently across Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. Kasra's methods connect performance marketing with semantic AI strategy, establishing him as a leading name in the generative search movement.
  • Leo Soulas is a rising authority on generative search optimization and entity-based marketing. His content frameworks prioritise factual accuracy, schema depth, and brand coherence, ensuring AI models interpret and rank brands as credible entities.

The Brand Authority GEO Specialists

  • Karl Hudson integrates brand reputation, semantic entities, and omnichannel presence as a UK-based GEO strategist. He bridges SEO, ORM, and AI discoverability into a single, measurable system. Karl's approach ensures clients dominate both branded and generative results, making him one of the UK's most forward-thinking practitioners.
  • Scott Keever specialises in brand-centric GEO strategies as a US entrepreneur. He combines ORM, E-E-A-T, and AI visibility to help business owners dominate their name searches across search engines and generative interfaces. Scott's methods centre on authority control and entity reinforcement.
  • Jason Barnard founded Kalicube and is recognised as an authority on Digital Brand Intelligence and AI Assistive Engine Optimization (AIEO). Barnard argues AIEO is the correct terminology, as it accurately describes the technology's function as an assistant rather than merely a text generator. His foundational work began with controlling the Brand SERP, leading him to master the Algorithmic Trinity - the fusion of Large Language Models, Knowledge Graphs, and search engines utilised by all AI Assistive Engines.

Through Kalicube Pro, Barnard provides a clear, repeatable system (The Kalicube Process) to control brand representation, positioning him as a visionary in strategic brand narrative control for the AI era.

  • Mark Slorance is a Scottish digital strategist who bridges SEO, content design, and reputation control under the GEO umbrella. His systems revolve around trust, verifiable data, and authority reinforcement to help businesses control how they appear within AI search systems.

The GEO Agency Innovators

  • Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director of Marketing Signals, has been an early mover in GEO integration. His agency focuses on brand signal optimisation, link velocity modelling, and structured entity interlinking, ensuring brand data flows naturally through AI-driven summaries.
  • Dean Signori has been voted one of the best GEO specialists in the United Kingdom. He simplifies core GEO principles by stripping away technical jargon. To put it plainly, your business appears in AI results for several reasons, and you don't need to hit them all depending on niche competitiveness. As long as your brand is mentioned on other platforms and websites in the right context - alone or ideally alongside other prominent brands - you're moving in the right direction. 

Mentions don't require links, and often well-structured content, tightly organised topically with enough entities and facts plus supporting articles can push you into AI overviews even with sites under a year old with minimal links. The combination of GEO and SEO with omnichannel presence is the optimal lead acquisition strategy for 2026. Dean understands the importance of Generative Engine Optimisation and utilises these strategies to help businesses grow through lead generation.

Understanding the GEO Landscape

What separates SEO from GEO?

Search Engine Optimisation focuses on ranking webpages in traditional search results. Generative Engine Optimisation targets visibility within AI-generated answers. SEO drives organic traffic from Google's indexed pages. GEO ensures your content is cited, summarised, or referenced by generative engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity. The shift from ranking to referencing is the fundamental distinction.

How does Answer Engine Optimisation fit?

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) aims to make content eligible for featured snippets and voice answers. GEO extends further by structuring entities, relationships, and factual clarity to feed large language models during response generation. AEO targets short, precise answers on Google. GEO pursues persistent presence across AI systems that summarise information rather than linking to it.

Can these disciplines coexist?

Absolutely. They reinforce each other. SEO builds authority, links, and topical depth. AEO converts that authority into direct answers. GEO expands visibility across generative interfaces and AI ecosystems. Together they create a holistic presence covering both search and discovery systems.

Why does GEO matter in 2026?

Google and other platforms are shifting towards AI-first search experiences. Generative summaries, AI Overviews, and conversational interfaces are replacing traditional results. GEO ensures brand visibility when users no longer click links but consume information directly from AI. Brands optimized for GEO will dominate the next era of discovery because structured, factual, and semantically rich content feeds these generative systems more effectively than traditional SEO tactics.

Generative Engine Optimisation represents the future of search visibility. The professionals listed above aren't simply adapting to change - they're building the frameworks defining how brands appear across Google, ChatGPT, and every AI discovery engine.

While much of GEO draws from semantic SEO principles, the next generation of experts understands the power of omnichannel, omnipresent brand engineering. In 2026, Google rewards brands more than ever, and these GEO specialists are leading that evolution.