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Graphite

This research-led SEO and AEO firm works with SaaS and tech companies, and has published named LLM case studies including Webflow.

Medium confidenceResearch-driven SEO and AEO for tech companies
Graphite homepage

Facts

Websitegraphite.io
HeadquartersUnited States
Founded2014 (estimated)
OwnershipFounder-owned
StanceSEO practice with GEO
Typical buyerProduct-led SaaS and tech brands
DeliveryFull-service growth retainer for tech companies
VerticalsB2B SaaS, Education, Legal Tech, Supply Chain, Travel, AI
SpecialtiesB2B SaaS, AEO Measurement / Tooling, Content & Thought Leadership, Technical GEO

GEO / AEO philosophy

Graphite’s stance is that strong SEO already does most of the AEO job for product companies; what remains is winning citations and covering the conversational long-tail on comparison, use-case, and feature pages. A short list of high-leverage moves beats exhaustive audits, with LLM share-of-voice tracked beside classic organic.

Offering

  • Treats research-driven SEO and AEO as one discipline on two surfaces.
  • Builds comparison, use-case, and feature page systems for product companies.
  • Tracks LLM share-of-voice alongside classic organic programs.

Editorial scores

This directory's ratings on a 1-10 scale, with each score compared to the median across the full directory.

DimensionScoreScore barVs Directory Median
Technical GEO7
2
Lead generation6
=
Thought leadership7
2
Entity / knowledge graph6
2
Local / multi-location2
1
Enterprise readiness7
1
Innovation7
2
Measurement8
3

Service mix

This directory's estimate of how the published practice splits across work types.

Measurement 10%Digital PR 5%Content 20%GEO / AEO 35%Classic SEO 30%

Best At

  • SEO and AEO as one program for SaaS and tech teams
  • comparison, use-case, and feature pages as citation surfaces
  • LLM share-of-voice tracking inside organic programs

Poor Fit When

  • the hire is for a local trade or home-services firm
  • the goal is AEC contractor shortlists
  • your firm needs catalog merchandising

Clients

NameStatus
WebflowNamed in case study
FourthwallNamed client
BetterUpNamed in case study
MasterClassNamed in case study

Claim strength

  • Named clients
  • Clients in case studies
  • Verified clients

Innovation

Graphite’s key innovation is research-ops on comparison, use-case, and feature pages, with LLM case studies (including Webflow sign-ups attributed to LLMs) that are unusually concrete for this directory. It is strong product-company SEO extended into AEO, not a patent-level retrieval lab.

Review Excerpts

Pricing vs Performance Spectrum

GEO Agency Price Versus Performance, 2026
GEO Agency Price Versus Performance, 2026Each point is one directory agency. Vertical position is the mean of eight editorial scores. Horizontal position is a monthly engagement cost band from dollar to four dollars. Published midpoints appear in tooltips when available. Default labels mark score outliers only; other names appear on hover.45678Average Editorial Score$$$$$$$$$$Typical monthly engagement costGraphite

Practice timeline

December 2014

Founded (estimated)

Founded by Ethan Smith.

December 2014

Public site

Domain registered December 6, 2014.

March 2026

AEO guide on Lenny's Podcast

March 1, 2026.

Swipe left or right to see the full timeline.

Agency Leadership

NameTitleBackground
Ethan SmithFounder and CEOSmith is founder and CEO of Graphite, the research-driven SEO/AEO agency listed on graphite.io; he also teaches SEO and AEO at Reforge and is an adjunct professor at IE Business School.
Gregory Druck, PhDChief AI OfficerDruck is Graphite’s Chief AI Officer, leading the team that builds AI tools for growth; he was previously chief data scientist at Yummly and an NLP/search researcher at Yahoo! Research, with a machine-learning Ph.D. from UMass Amherst.
Caitlin MaloneyChief Growth OfficerMaloney is Graphite’s Chief Growth Officer (LinkedIn: CGO since October 2021, after VP of Growth from July 2020) and is listed among the company’s LinkedIn key executives.
Marcos CiarrocchiCo-founderCiarrocchi lists himself as co-founder of Graphite on LinkedIn; he is not named on the current graphite.io homepage team block, which highlights Smith, Druck, and Jose Luis Paredes.
Bryan ClarkVP, EditorialClark has been Graphite’s VP, Editorial since January 2021, setting editorial strategy and running the content organization that serves clients such as Netflix, OpenAI, Meta, and Webflow.

Proof ladder

This section ranks the public proof behind the agency from strongest to weakest.

RungEvidence for this agency
1 - Independent Third-Party CoverageVOCTOS, 8 Best GEO Agencies for B2B SaaS in 2026 ◆ Clutch, Top 15 GEO Companies: Global Spring 2026 (paid)
2 - Case StudiesNone recorded
3 - Named ClientsFourthwall
4 - Anecdotes“Graphite’s comparison and use-case page work was unusually concrete. We could attribute Webflow-style LLM sign-ups in a way most agencies only hand-wave.” ◆ “They kept pushing the five-percent idea: a short list of high-leverage moves instead of an exhaustive audit that never ships.” ◆ “LLM share-of-voice sat beside classic organic in the same reporting. That made AEO feel like an extension of SEO, not a second religion.”

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").

TypeDescriptionStrength
Clients in case studiesWebflow; BetterUp; MasterClassIn case study
Named clientsFourthwallNamed
Claimed case materialWebflow; Fourthwall; BetterUpClaimed
Original researchNamed LLM case cards (Webflow and others, agency-published). Public SEO-is-AEO thesis.Directory note
Tools / productLLM share-of-voice tracking inside programs; not a stand-alone product SKU in this edition.As published
Third-party writeupsVOCTOS, 8 Best GEO Agencies for B2B SaaS in 2026; Clutch, Top 15 GEO Companies: Global Spring 2026 (paid)Third party

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