Part of GEOly's "GEO / AEO Expert Watch" series · meet **Joy Hawkins**, a quick map of their public work and where to follow them — with links to the original sources.
Who is Joy Hawkins
Joy Hawkins is the owner of local SEO agency Sterling Sky, as well as the Local Search Forum and LocalU, and has worked in the industry since 2006. She is a recognized authority on Google Business Profile and local ranking factors, and has been a Google Product Expert since 2012. She writes for Search Engine Land and speaks regularly at conferences such as MozCon and Pubcon.
These experts excel at turning complex AI-search optimization into executable checklists, videos and Q&As — ideal for teams that need to ship and scale across markets. Their recurring focus areas include: Local SEO, GBP, Sterling Sky.
What GEO / AEO practitioners can learn from Joy Hawkins
- **Start from real questions**: organize content around what users actually ask (PAA / community questions), which naturally fits how AI answers retrieve. - **Structured and liftable**: clear subheads, direct answer sentences and structured data make content easier to cite. - **Multilingual & localized**: for each market, language, entities and local signals must each be in place — not a mechanical translation.
**GEOly angle**: The go-to source for building a local-business AEO/GEO checklist grounded in Google Business Profile and reviews.
What it means for brands going global
For multi-market AEO, the biggest mistake global-facing brands make is translating one set of content everywhere. Optimize per market for real local questions, language and local entities to be reliably cited in that market’s AI answers.
Follow Joy Hawkins: homepage & socials
- [Website](https://www.sterlingsky.ca/author/joy-hawkins/) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyhawkins/) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@SterlingSkyInc)
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.*
