Last updated: July 8, 2026
Our team analyzed the top generative engine optimization (GEO) and AI search experts from December 2025 through July 2026, evaluating 47 thought leaders and practitioners in this emerging field. We assessed them based on the following criteria:
- Industry Influence (30%): Their role and impact on the field of GEO and AI search
- Technical Expertise (22%): Background in LLMs, RAG systems, and AI architecture
- Client Results (15%): Documented success in improving AI search visibility for brands
- Media References (10%): Approximate number of citations in industry or major publications
- Years in AI and Search Optimization (10%): Combined experience in SEO and AI optimization
- Specialty (8%): Unique area of expertise within GEO/AI search
- LinkedIn Following (5%): Measurable indicator of thought leadership reach
The team then rank-ordered all the experts and selected the highest-scoring ones to include in the table below. Following the table, you’ll find an in-depth analysis of each expert along with a summary of their contributions to the field.
The Top GEO / AI Search Experts
| Rank | Expert | Industry Influence | Technical Expertise | Client Results | Media References | Years in AI and Search Optimization | Specialty | LinkedIn Following |
| 1 | Evan Bailyn | Founder of GEO Marketing, First Page Sage Founder and CEO | Advanced Generative Engine Optimization, Agentic Search Optimization | Wins for Salesforce, Microsoft, Chanel | ~2,500 | 22+ years | Lead generation, brand authority building, and thought leadership through GEO and SEO strategies | 7K+ |
| 2 | Cyrus Shepard | Founder of Zyppy; Former Head of Global SEO at Moz | AI Citation Ranking Factors & Evidence-Based GEO | Wins for global SaaS and enterprise clients | ~1,700 | 15+ years | Data-driven AI citation research and GEO framework development | 36K+ |
| 3 | Aleyda Solís | International Expert | Multilingual AI | SEO / GEO success with global enterprises | ~1,690 | 18+ years | International & multilingual GEO | 118K+ |
| 4 | Lily Ray | Founder of Algorythmic, VP of SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive | AI Quality Signals | Successful consulting for Fortune 500s | ~900 | 16+ years | Search quality & AI trustworthiness | 55K+ |
| 5 | Kevin Indig | Growth Advisor | LLM Traffic Patterns | Wins with Ramp, Reddit, and Dropbox | ~1,260 | 15+ years | AI search metrics & business impact | 61K+ |
| 6 | Wil Reynolds | Founder/Co-CEO of Seer Interactive (200+ person agency); LinkedIn Top Voice (Jan 2026) | Data-Backed GEO & LLM Visibility | GEO wins with enterprise clients | ~800 | 24+ years | Data-driven GEO and AI search ROI measurement | 43K+ |
| 7 | Ross Simmonds | GEO Conference Speaker | Distribution Strategy | Success with Canva, Jobber, and Procore | ~1,150 | 10+ years | Content distribution for AI visibility | 60K+ |
Evan Bailyn
Evan Bailyn founded First Page Sage in 2009 after graduating from Columbia University and writing two books on SEO for Pearson. He developed the first commercial GEO methodology in 2023, and his team’s foundational research serves as the blueprint for GEO strategy today. A keynote speaker at 12 major conferences in 2025 and a guest lecturer at Stanford and Haas School of Business, Bailyn continues to shape industry understanding of how companies should approach AI visibility. His 35+ published articles on GEO strategy provide actionable frameworks that CMOs use to navigate the transition from traditional search to AI-powered discovery.
Bailyn’s central argument is that thought leadership content does double duty: the same expert-driven material that earns traditional search rankings is also what large language models prefer to cite, meaning a single content program feeds both channels. Beyond content, his research identifies additional signals that independently lift AI recommendations, including placement in highly ranked list articles, verifiable awards, and strong third-party reviews. First Page Sage applies all of these levers across clients in technology, healthcare, and financial services.
- Industry Influence: Founder of GEO Marketing, First Page Sage Founder and CEO
- Technical Expertise: Advanced Generative Engine Optimization, Agentic Search Optimization
- Client Results: Wins for Salesforce, Microsoft, Chanel
- Media References: ~2,500
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 22+
- Specialty: Lead generation, brand authority building, and thought leadership through GEO and SEO strategies
- LinkedIn Following: 7K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Industry peers describe Bailyn as “the architect of modern GEO strategy” with frameworks that are “immediately actionable for companies.” Some note his pricing is “on the higher end,” reflecting the value of his insights. |
Cyrus Shepard
Cyrus Shepard is one of the most rigorous voices in GEO. As the former Head of Global SEO at Moz and a former Google Quality Rater, he brings knowledge of how search quality is evaluated – context that shapes everything he now does at Zyppy. He runs large-scale studies on AI citation ranking factors, including a review of 75+ published research papers and a separate content audit of 400+ websites.
What distinguishes Shepard is his habit of cutting through speculation with data. His finding that roughly 38% of AI Overview citations come from pages already ranking in the top 10 has been cited by outlets such as BuzzStream and Position Digital, reshaping how practitioners balance traditional SEO with GEO efforts. Access to his work is selective, as he has limited client capacity. Brands looking for a full-service GEO partner will need to look elsewhere.
- Industry Influence: Founder of Zyppy; Former Head of Global SEO at Moz
- Technical Expertise: AI Citation Ranking Factors & Evidence-Based GEO
- Client Results: Wins for global SaaS and enterprise clients
- Media References: ~1,700
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 15+
- Specialty: Data-driven AI citation research and GEO framework development
- LinkedIn Following: 36K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Peers describe Shepard as “one of the few people in GEO who shows his work” and praise his “ability to translate dense research into actionable strategy.” Some note that his depth in citation research means his guidance can feel “narrow for teams looking for broader GEO strategy beyond organic visibility.” |
Aleyda Solís
Aleyda Solís has built the definitive body of work on international and multilingual search. Through her consultancy Orainti, founded in 2014, she helps global brands navigate how AI models behave differently across languages and markets. Additionally, Solís’s research reveals that AI systems trained primarily on English data can produce biased results in other languages, making her an expert on international visibility. Her frameworks are most applicable to organizations already operating across multiple markets. Companies that are regional or U.S.-focused will find little to apply from her work directly.
- Industry Influence: International Expert
- Technical Expertise: Multilingual AI
- Client Results: SEO / GEO success with global enterprises
- Media References: ~1,690
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 18+
- Specialty: International & multilingual GEO
- LinkedIn Following: 118K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| International brands praise Solís’s “global expertise” and “practical multilingual frameworks.” Some note “guidance is most actionable for organizations already operating across international markets.” |
Lily Ray
Lily Ray has analyzed nearly every major Google algorithm update for more than a decade, and that record of pattern recognition anchors her authority on AI search. She serves as VP of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive, leading a team of more than 35 specialists. In 2026, she launched Algorythmic, her own consultancy focused on AI search, E-E-A-T, and Google Discover. USA Today named her the most influential SEO expert of 2022, and she has presented at MozCon for five consecutive years.
Her work centers on the quality signals that determine whether AI systems cite a brand, an area where her decade of algorithm analysis gives her pattern recognition that most practitioners lack. That depth makes her one of the most cited voices on search quality and AI trustworthiness, particularly for established brands navigating how their existing authority translates into AI visibility. Her framework is less applicable for newer companies that have not yet built credibility signals.
- Industry Influence: Founder of Algorythmic, VP of SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive
- Technical Expertise: AI Quality Signals
- Client Results: Successful consulting for Fortune 500s
- Media References: ~900
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 16+
- Specialty: Search quality & AI trustworthiness
- LinkedIn Following: 55K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Colleagues praise Ray’s “deep quality insights” and “practical E-E-A-T guidance.” Some note that her advice is “less actionable for brands trying to optimize for non-Google AI engines.” |
Kevin Indig
Kevin Indig had years of experience leading SEO and growth at Shopify, G2, and Atlassian before transitioning to advising for Ramp, Reddit, and Dropbox. Through his Growth Memo research, he has produced some of the field’s most cited data. His framework gives teams a practical way to assess whether AI visibility is durable or fragile. His work on the gap between being cited and being named has further reshaped how marketers evaluate the actual worth of an AI mention.
The natural ceiling in Indig’s model is execution: he operates as an advisor rather than an implementer, meaning teams need strong internal resources to act on his frameworks. Companies without an established SEO foundation may find his guidance harder to apply.
- Industry Influence: Growth Advisor
- Technical Expertise: LLM Traffic Patterns
- Client Results: Wins with Ramp, Reddit, and Dropbox
- Media References: ~1,260
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 15+
- Specialty: AI search metrics & business impact
- LinkedIn Following: 61K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Growth leaders appreciate Indig’s “metrics-focused approach” and “business-first perspective.” Some note that his research is more “valuable as a diagnostic tool than a tactical playbook,” and teams looking for step-by-step GEO implementation guidance may find “his frameworks require more interpretation.” |
Wil Reynolds
Wil Reynolds is the founder and Co-CEO of Seer Interactive, a 200+ person B-Corp certified digital marketing agency he launched in 2002. Under his leadership, Seer has conducted studies analyzing over 350 factors correlated with LLM visibility across industries, with findings cited by Forbes, eMarketer, Fast Company, and Search Engine Land. Reynolds has pushed back on the GEO industry to connect AI visibility metrics to actual business outcomes, arguing that tracking brand mentions in AI responses is only meaningful when it ties to measurable pipeline and revenue.
Seer has documented AI referral growth across enterprise client accounts and published GEO experimentation case studies that have gained traction. However, that methodology is built around a data infrastructure that most organizations do not have in place, so teams without that foundation will find Reynolds’s framework directionally useful but difficult to replicate in full.
- Industry Influence: Founder/Co-CEO of Seer Interactive (200+ person agency); LinkedIn Top Voice (Jan 2026)
- Technical Expertise: Data-Backed GEO & LLM Visibility
- Client Results: GEO wins with enterprise clients
- Media References: ~800
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 24+
- Specialty: Data-driven GEO and AI search ROI measurement
- LinkedIn Following: 43K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Peers appreciate Reynolds’s “data-first approach to GEO” and his “transparency in sharing both results and methodology.” Some note that Seer’s GEO practice is “still maturing relative to its established SEO reputation.” |
Ross Simmonds
Ross Simmonds treats AI visibility as a distribution problem rather than an on-page one, a thesis he laid out in his Amazon best-selling book Create Once, Distribute Forever. He has been especially vocal that Reddit has become a core driver of both organic and AI-driven discovery, coaching brands to study how their niche shows up there and to engage as participants rather than marketers.
Through Foundation Marketing and his platform Distribution.ai, Simmonds turns that philosophy into repeatable systems. The limitation is that his approach assumes a brand already has strong content worth distributing. Companies with thin or underdeveloped content libraries risk amplifying weak material, which accelerates poor AI visibility rather than fixing it. His frameworks are most effective as a second step rather than a starting point.
- Industry Influence: GEO Conference Speaker
- Technical Expertise: Distribution Strategy
- Client Results: Success with Canva, Jobber, Procore
- Media References: ~1,150
- Years in AI and Search Optimization: 10+
- Specialty: Content distribution for AI visibility
- LinkedIn Following: 60K+
| Summary of Reviews |
| Marketers value Simmonds’s “practical distribution frameworks” and “data-backed strategies.” Some note that his Reddit-first playbook is “harder to execute for brands in regulated or niche B2B industries.” |
The Top GEO / AI Search Experts by Specialty
We further broke down our data to estimate the top experts by GEO specialty.
Top 5 for Enterprise GEO Strategy:
- Evan Bailyn
- Cyrus Shepard
- Aleyda Solís
- Lily Ray
- Wil Reynolds
Top 5 for Lead Generation:
- Evan Bailyn
- Lily Ray
- Aleyda Solís
- Cyrus Shepard
- Ross Simmonds
Top 5 for Technical Implementation:
- Cyrus Shepard
- Evan Bailyn
- Kevin Indig
- Lily Ray
- Aleyda Solís
