Part of GEOly's "GEO / AEO Expert Watch" series · meet **Gerrid Smith**, a quick map of their public work and where to follow them — with links to the original sources.
Who is Gerrid Smith
Gerrid Smith is the founder and CEO of Fortress, a legal marketing agency he started in 2018, and has been in SEO since launching his first agency in 2008. He built one of the earliest law-firm-focused SEO agencies (later Black Fin), which worked with more than 100 firms before its 2020 sale. His work centers on authority-building through link operations, content strategy, technical audits, and AI-driven search optimization.
These experts believe whether content gets cited by AI depends heavily on how widely it is distributed and mentioned by third parties. You do not just write — you get referenced everywhere. Their recurring focus areas include: Link building, SEO agency, authority building.
What GEO / AEO practitioners can learn from Gerrid Smith
- **Third-party mentions are fuel**: an LLM’s world model comes from web-scale text, so consistent mentions on Reddit, media and communities reinforce how AI sees you. - **Create once, distribute everywhere**: reshape core ideas for each platform to widen the surface area that gets crawled and cited. - **Narrative consistency**: keep the same facts and positioning across channels so AI is not left unsure of you.
**GEOly angle**: A practitioner's view on how link operations and authority signals feed brand credibility in AI search.
What it means for brands going global
Global-facing brands often invest only in their own site while neglecting being mentioned across overseas communities and media. Publishing around real user questions and earning consistent third-party references is how you get AI to name you in its answers.
Follow Gerrid Smith: homepage & socials
- [Company](https://fortressgrowth.com) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrid-smith)
To meet more experts across GEO, AEO and agentic commerce, visit the [GEOly author hub](/blog/author).
*This profile is an editorial compilation of publicly available information, curated by the GEOly team for industry learning and reference. All links point to the expert's own public pages. Contact us for any correction or removal.*
