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About

Technical depth and plain language,in the same person.

Senior SEO and AI search consultant based in Montreal. Twenty years in digital, ten of them in organic search, across Canada, France and the Middle East.

The path

From integrator to strategist

I started on the technical side: content management systems, integration, multilingual platforms. Because of that grounding, I know what a change actually costs a development team, and I frame recommendations accordingly.

Organic search came next, in environments where visibility has to be negotiated against compliance, brand constraints and language obligations. That taught me the best audit is worthless if the teams receiving it can’t execute it.

Today my work covers traditional engines and generative ones in equal measure. The two reinforce each other, and the shift is underway: a growing share of buyers asks an AI before clicking any link.

Hicham Souilmi, SEO and AI search consultant, smiling, seated at a wooden table

Quick facts

20

years in digital · 10 in SEO

3

markets · CA · FR · MENA

EN · FR · AR

multilingual consultant

Teaching

I train the people who do this work

Part of my job is making the unintelligible intelligible. It’s also what clients mention most in their feedback: the ability to explain why as well as what.

Hicham Souilmi presenting « Repenser la requête à l'ère de la recherche générative » to an audience in Montreal, 2026.
Talk on generative search, Montreal, 2026

HEC Montréal

Lecturer in marketing and electronic business

McGill · UQAM

Guest sessions in digital marketing and AI

Les Affaires

Trainer, SEO and data workshops

French University of Egypt

Lecturer in engineering and management

What sets this apart

Four things that are fairly rare

Technical and narrative

A master’s in computing plus a background in communication. I handle infrastructure and content without outsourcing either.

AI-first, and Google too

I optimise for classic engines and for the generative ones your buyers now ask. Most consultants stop at the first.

Three languages, three markets

English, French and Arabic, across Canada, France and the Middle East. Canadian bilingualism is terrain I know well.

Plain language

I explain every recommendation so it can be argued with rather than taken on faith. It’s what clients point to most often.

Next step

Tell me about your situation

Thirty minutes to review where you stand on Google and AI search. No commitment.

Pick a time