Directive
This B2B performance agency runs GEO inside DiscoverabilityOS so AI-search work shares a pipeline scoreboard with paid and RevOps.

Facts
| Website | directiveconsulting.com |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | California / United States (B2B performance agency) |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Ownership | Founder-owned |
| Stance | Full-service with GEO |
| Typical buyer | B2B companies that want GEO inside performance marketing |
| Delivery | Full-funnel B2B retainer |
| Verticals | Utilities, Construction, Pharma, Biotech, Telecom, Solar, Energy, Industrial, Logistics & 3PL, B2B SaaS, Fintech |
| Specialties | B2B SaaS, Lead Generation, Enterprise, AEO Measurement / Tooling |
GEO / AEO philosophy
Directive believes AI-search work should answer to pipeline the same way paid and sales ops do. Discoverability belongs beside media and RevOps, not in a separate boutique silo.
Offering
- Runs B2B SEO and GEO inside DiscoverabilityOS next to paid media and RevOps.
- Uses Stratos, the internal AI platform, to keep paid, organic, and AI-search on one pipeline scoreboard.
- Builds full-funnel roadmaps where citation and Overview work are judged on pipeline contribution.
Editorial scores
This directory's ratings on a 1-10 scale, with each score compared to the median across the full directory.
| Dimension | Score | Score bar | Vs Directory Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical GEO | 6 | 1 | |
| Lead generation | 8 | 2 | |
| Thought leadership | 5 | = | |
| Entity / knowledge graph | 5 | 1 | |
| Local / multi-location | 2 | 1 | |
| Enterprise readiness | 8 | 2 | |
| Innovation | 6 | 1 | |
| Measurement | 7 | 2 |
Service mix
This directory's estimate of how the published practice splits across work types.
Best At
- GEO inside a paid and pipeline program
- B2B performance marketing with DiscoverabilityOS
- SEO and GEO next to RevOps
Poor Fit When
- the goal is a GEO-only boutique retainer
- the hire is for a local home-services firm
- your firm needs AEC-exclusive construction GEO
Clients
No named clients recorded for this profile.
Claim strength
- Named clients
- Clients in case studies
- Verified clients
Innovation
Directive’s key innovation is the commercial wrapper: GEO inside DiscoverabilityOS, with Stratos tying paid, organic, and AI-search to one B2B pipeline system. The originality is that operating shape, not frontier retrieval research.
Review Excerpts
“We wanted GEO inside a full-funnel shop, not a boutique consultancy. Pipeline contribution was the KPI from week one.”
“Stratos put paid, organic, and AI-search on one scoreboard. Our RevOps lead finally stopped asking which channel owned the opportunity.”
“DiscoverabilityOS made AI Overview work feel like another demand channel. The weekly readout looked like a performance agency, not a content studio.”
Pricing vs Performance Spectrum
Practice timeline
July 2013
Public site
Domain registered July 18, 2013.
2013
Founded
Founded by Garrett Mehrguth.
2014
Tanner Shaffer joined as co-founder
Company profiles date the firm to 2014.
Swipe left or right to see the full timeline.
Agency Leadership
| Name | Title | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Garrett Mehrguth | Founder & CEO | Co-founded Directive around 2013–2014 in California and remains CEO of the B2B performance marketing agency. |
| Tanner Shaffer | Managing Partner & Co-Founder | Co-founded Directive with Mehrguth and serves as Managing Partner overseeing the agency’s partnership and operations leadership. |
| Chief Revenue Officer | CRO responsible for revenue leadership across Directive’s Performance, Commerce, and Communications divisions. | |
| SVP of Operations | SVP of Operations listed on Directive’s official leadership roster supporting agency-wide delivery and operations. | |
| Joanna McNeil | Managing Director, Performance Marketing | Leads Directive’s Performance Marketing division, which includes paid media, Content/SEO/GEO, creative, startups, and RevOps. |
Proof ladder
This section ranks the public proof behind the agency from strongest to weakest.
| Rung | Evidence for this agency |
|---|---|
| 1 - Independent Third-Party Coverage | LoudFace, 16 Best GEO Agencies Ranked by AI Citations (2026) |
| 2 - Case Studies | None recorded |
| 3 - Named Clients | None recorded |
| 4 - Anecdotes | “We wanted GEO inside a full-funnel shop, not a boutique consultancy. Pipeline contribution was the KPI from week one.” ◆ “Stratos put paid, organic, and AI-search on one scoreboard. Our RevOps lead finally stopped asking which channel owned the opportunity.” ◆ “DiscoverabilityOS made AI Overview work feel like another demand channel. The weekly readout looked like a performance agency, not a content studio.” |
Evidence stack
This section weighs the public evidence of the agency's credibility, breaking down each piece of evidence by its category ("Type"), a description, and how strong it is ("Strength").
| Type | Description | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Named clients | None recorded in this edition. | None recorded |
| Original research | Self-measured LLM visibility claims on agency prompts. DiscoverabilityOS described as the wrapper. | Directory note |
| Tools / product | Stratos (internal AI platform) and DiscoverabilityOS, agency platforms, not a public SKU audited here. | As published |
| Third-party writeups | LoudFace, 16 Best GEO Agencies Ranked by AI Citations (2026) | Third party |