Vacheh Joakim

Building organic growth at enterprise scale

Enterprise SEO and AI search (AEO/GEO) leader with 23+ years building high-performing teams and driving measurable traffic and revenue — from founder-built ventures to directory platforms serving millions of monthly users.

23+
Years Experience
20
Team Members Led
$20M
Managed Annually
Vacheh Joakim
— About

Building the future of search discovery

I specialize in transforming organic search into a durable growth engine. From enterprise directories serving millions of users to SaaS platforms empowering small businesses, I've led strategies that consistently deliver year-over-year traffic and revenue growth — including zero-loss platform migrations and global multi-site consolidations spanning the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

Currently, I'm pioneering AI-driven search optimization strategies — preparing organizations for the evolution from traditional SEO to AEO/GEO as discovery becomes increasingly powered by large language models and AI experiences.

My approach combines deep technical expertise with strategic leadership. I've built teams of up to 20, managed $20M in annual agency spend, founded and exited a digital agency via portfolio acquisition, and built and sold a media property with 2M+ followers.

Core Expertise

Technical SEO
AEO/GEO Strategy
Team Leadership
Programmatic SEO
Content Strategy
Analytics & Attribution
Algorithm Recovery
Enterprise Scale
— Experience

A track record of driving growth and leading teams

9 yrs
Thryv, Inc.
Sr. SEO Analyst → Sr. Product Manager, SEO

SEO & AI Search for Consumer Sites & SaaS

Product owner for Thryv's flagship SEO offering and organic discovery lead across the company's directory properties (YellowPages, SuperPages, DexKnows). Promoted from Senior SEO Analyst to Senior Product Manager; leading a team of 19 specialists, directing global platform consolidation across US, Australian, and New Zealand directories, and spearheading the company's AEO/GEO strategy — including a zero-loss migration of yellowpages.com to a single responsive property.

SEO Product Owner Zero-Loss Migration Global Platform Consolidation 50% Time-on-Site Improvement AEO/GEO Strategy Team of 19
8 yrs
Evolutionary Business Arts
Founder & Principal

Digital Marketing Agency

Founded and scaled an SEO agency delivering organic growth strategies across SaaS, e-commerce, healthcare, and entertainment. Achieved 90%+ client retention through consistent results and strategic guidance through major algorithm updates.

90%+ Retention Multi-Industry Penalty Recovery Algorithm Testing
5 yrs
Submit Express
VP of Operations

Operations & SEO Leadership

Led a cross-functional team of 20 and the SEO service organization delivering campaigns for 600+ concurrent clients, generating $6M+ in annual revenue. Built systems, processes, and culture that improved efficiency, retention, and client satisfaction.

$6M Revenue 600+ Clients Team of 20 Process Innovation
— Ventures

Ventures built, sold, and advised

Sarcasm SocietyAcquired

Built a digital media brand to 2M+ Facebook followers and 30K monthly site visitors through organic content and paid social. Successfully sold in 2016.

Advised AI-powered research platform on growth strategy. Grew user base to 40K PhD students and researchers through SEO and publisher partnerships including arXiv.

— Writing

Perspectives on where search is going

SEO vs. AEO vs. GEO: Why It's All Still SEO →

The acronyms are new, but the discipline isn't — why the fundamentals that win in organic search are the same ones that earn citations in AI answers.

Thryv Blog

Why AEO and GEO Are Just Repackaged SEO →

A critical look at the hype: AI search tools surface content differently, but the optimization work isn't new — and businesses being sold "GEO strategies" deserve to know what they're actually buying.

Essay · vacheh.com

The Opinion Economy →

How confidence became more valuable than accuracy — why the attention economy rewards certainty over correctness, and what that means for expertise, trust, and the content AI systems learn from.

Essay · vacheh.com
— Side Projects

Tools and platforms I've built

olio.am →

A link in bio service helping you manage your social media profiles all in one place.

Link in Bio logicalfallacies.org →

Long-running logical fallacies reference, relaunched as an LLM-supported micro-SaaS offering fallacy detection and writing tools. 500+ verified registered users.

AI Micro-SaaS thorgate.com →

LLM-powered trademark tracking, status and infringement monitoring for entrepreneurs and legal professionals — automated detection built on Claude.

AI SaaS gunranges.org →

Local business directory connecting shooters with ranges nationwide. Built for authority in an underserved niche.

Local Directory
— Skills

Technical expertise & tools

SEO & Analytics

SEMrush & AhrefsGoogle Search ConsoleGoogle Analytics (GA4)Adobe AnalyticsScreaming FrogCore Web Vitals

AI & Emerging Search

AEO/GEO OptimizationLLM Content StrategyEntity-Based SEOPrompt EngineeringProgrammatic SEOSchema Markup

Paid & Social

Google AdsFacebook Ads ManagerSEM StrategyPaid SocialAudience DevelopmentCampaign Optimization

Technical

HTML/CSS/JavaScriptPHP & SQLWordPress & ShopifyAgile/ScrumJIRA & ConfluenceCross-functional Leadership