A new research-informed framework aims to help businesses across Asia make more informed decisions when hiring Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) consultants and AI Search service providers.

Developed by Philippines-based GEO expert and AI Visibility researcher Cyrus D. Santiago, the Generative Engine Optimization Competency and Evidence Assessment Framework for Asia (GEO-CEAF-Asia) proposes a structured approach to evaluating technical expertise, implementation experience, professional credibility, and supporting evidence.

The framework is introduced in the research paper Evaluating Generative Engine Optimization Expertise in Asia: Development of an Evidence-Based Competency Assessment Framework, published through Zenodo, an open-access research repository.

The research is publicly accessible at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24026817

The publication addresses a growing challenge for businesses investing in AI-powered search: determining whether GEO consultants possess the competencies necessary to deliver credible services rather than relying primarily on promotional titles, awards, media appearances, or claims of AI visibility.

Helping Asian Businesses Evaluate GEO Service Providers

As AI-powered search experiences such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, and Perplexity become part of digital information discovery, businesses are exploring how their products, services, and professional expertise appear within AI-generated answers.

Generative Engine Optimization has emerged as an area of digital marketing concerned with improving visibility and representation within these environments.

However, evaluating GEO providers can be difficult because the field currently lacks a universally accepted, independently validated professional competency standard.

Businesses may encounter competing claims of expertise, guaranteed AI citations, or promotional rankings without transparent information about the underlying qualifications.

“Businesses need more than promises of AI visibility when evaluating GEO service providers,” said Santiago. “They should be able to examine technical competence, implementation experience, measurement methodology, and the evidence supporting professional claims.”

GEO-CEAF-Asia aims to provide a research-informed foundation for examining these capabilities more systematically.

Five Potential Business Benefits of GEO-CEAF-Asia

The proposed framework identifies several practical applications for organisations evaluating AI Search consultants and digital marketing service providers.

1. More Transparent Consultant and Agency Selection

Businesses could use clearly defined competency areas to guide discussions with prospective GEO consultants, compare relevant qualifications, and request supporting evidence before engaging a service provider.

2. Better Evaluation of Technical Capabilities

The framework encourages examination of technical SEO, information retrieval, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), website accessibility, source attribution, and generative search mechanisms.

These areas help distinguish broader AI Search expertise from knowledge limited to conventional content optimisation.

3. Stronger Verification of Performance Claims

Instead of relying exclusively on screenshots showing appearances in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews, organisations could examine documented implementations, baseline measurements, repeated observations, and evidence of business-relevant outcomes.

The framework also emphasises distinguishing correlation from demonstrated causation.

4. Greater Relevance to Asian Markets

GEO-CEAF-Asia incorporates regional and multilingual competencies, recognising that businesses operating in Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and other Asian markets may face different languages, information environments, customer expectations, and search platforms.

5. More Accountable AI Search Investments

By encouraging transparent methodologies, verifiable evidence, and clear reporting limitations, the framework could support better-informed procurement discussions and more realistic expectations of GEO services.

These benefits represent intended applications rather than empirically demonstrated outcomes. Further validation is necessary before the framework can be used as a formal professional assessment instrument.

Eight Competency Domains and 32 Proposed Indicators

GEO-CEAF-Asia proposes eight interconnected competency domains:

Search and Information Retrieval Foundations: Crawling, indexing, ranking, and retrieval principles.

Generative Search and AI Mechanisms: Large language models, RAG, answer generation, and citation behaviour.

Technical Discoverability and Implementation: Website architecture, structured information, and technical optimisation.

Content Evidence and Source Provenance: Information reliability, attribution, authorship, and source credibility.

Measurement and Experimentation: AI visibility monitoring, reproducible assessments, and methodological rigour.

Applied Implementation and Outcomes: Documented GEO projects, practical execution, and measurable results.

Asian Regional and Multilingual Competence: Market-specific knowledge, local information sources, and language considerations.

Ethics and Professional Accountability: Transparent reporting, responsible claims, and conflict-of-interest disclosure.

Together, these domains contain 32 proposed indicators intended to make professional capabilities more observable and assessable.

A central methodological contribution is the separation of professional competency from evidence strength.

For example, claiming expertise in improving AI citations is different from demonstrating relevant implementation experience through documented procedures, repeated measurements, and independently corroborated results.

The framework seeks to make this distinction explicit, providing a conceptual foundation for examining not only what GEO professionals claim to know but also what their supporting evidence can substantiate.

Developed by GEO Expert and AI Visibility Researcher Cyrus Santiago

GEO-CEAF-Asia was developed by Cyrus D. Santiago, a Philippines-based Generative Engine Optimization expert, SEO strategist, AI implementation professional, and researcher working in the Asia-Pacific digital marketing landscape.

Santiago’s professional background spans software development and programming since 2008, SEO and digital marketing since 2012, and subsequent work involving AI implementation and AI Search visibility.

His multidisciplinary experience informs his approach to connecting technical discoverability, information retrieval, generative AI, and evidence-based performance evaluation.

Santiago is also the author of AI Literacy as a Core Future Skill: A Systematic Literature Review, published in the American Journal of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in August 2026.

The study examines AI literacy as an emerging professional and educational competency, including conceptual understanding, practical application, workforce readiness, and ethical AI adoption.

The publication is discoverable through Harvard Library’s HOLLIS catalogue, where its bibliographic record can be accessed:

Harvard Library Research Record:https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/01HVD_INST/726dgh/cdi_unpaywall_primary_10_54536_ajdsai_v2i2_7782

His research on AI literacy and GEO professional assessment reflects a continuing interest in understanding how emerging artificial intelligence capabilities can be evaluated through transparent competencies and evidence-based methodologies.

“Generative Engine Optimization is not simply about appearing in AI-generated answers,” Santiago explained. “It also requires understanding how information is discovered, retrieved, evaluated, and represented. Businesses should expect consultants to demonstrate those capabilities through verifiable work.”

Through his research and professional practice, Santiago advocates a more evidence-based approach to evaluating GEO expertise across Asian markets.

Supporting Future GEO Competency Research

Beyond business procurement, GEO-CEAF-Asia is intended to support researchers, academic institutions, professional associations, and GEO practitioners examining professional competencies and development requirements.

The framework remains a proposed methodological model.

It has not yet undergone independent empirical validation and should not be represented as an established professional certification, official industry standard, or validated ranking system.

Future research will need to investigate its indicators through independent expert review, content validation, inter-rater reliability testing, and empirical assessment across different Asian markets.

Publication through Zenodo provides a publicly accessible research record for examination, discussion, and subsequent methodological development. Repository publication alone does not constitute peer review.

The framework’s proposed approach may inform future research into professional assessment, GEO competency development, responsible AI Search practices, and the evaluation of technical expertise across Asia-Pacific.

Research Publication and Availability

Research Title: Evaluating Generative Engine Optimization Expertise in Asia: Development of an Evidence-Based Competency Assessment Framework

Framework: GEO-CEAF-Asia

Researcher: Cyrus D. Santiago

Publication Type: Methodological Framework Development Paper

Repository: Zenodo

Publication DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24026817

Full Research Publication: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24026817

The publication presents the proposed competency domains, assessment indicators, evidence requirements, methodological limitations, and future research directions.

ShopSlayer matches TikTok Shop brands with affiliates who sell. A brand posts a campaign brief with the product, the free sample and the commission rate. Affiliates opt in, receive the sample, post videos on TikTok and earn commission on every sale made through TikTok Shop.

The platform has launched more than 100 brand campaigns since July, with the largest coming from Human Nature, BYS, Wellspring and QUICKFX. Campaigns have filled with affiliates in as fast as three days, and new campaigns open on the platform every week.

“Every affiliate on ShopSlayer can see which brands are running campaigns right now and opt in the same day,” said Bianca Cruz Azurin, co-founder of ShopSlayer. “Most of them had never been accepted into a brand campaign before. Getting the first one, and subsequently their first payout, is what turns someone who posts on TikTok into an affiliate. That is what the platform is for.”

How to become a TikTok affiliate in the Philippines

To become a TikTok affiliate in the Philippines, you need to be at least 18, have a TikTok account in good standing and be approved for TikTok Shop’s affiliate program. TikTok sets a minimum follower count that varies by market and changes over time. Once approved, you can tag products in your videos and LIVE streams and earn a commission on each sale.

ShopSlayer sits on top of that program. Approved affiliates of any follower count can join free at shopslayer.ai, browse the brand campaigns that are open right now and opt in to the briefs that fit their content.

This is how it works:

1) Get approved as a TikTok Shop affiliate. Create a free ShopSlayer affiliate account at shopslayer.ai.
2) Set up your profile so brands can see your niche and past videos.
3) Browse open campaigns and opt in to the briefs that match your content.
4) Receive the free sample, post within the brief’s timeline and earn commission on every sale through your TikTok Shop link.

“TikTok is the best place right now for a brand to work with hundreds of affiliates at once, because the sample request, the video creation, and the checkout all happen in one app,” said Miggy Azurin, co-founder of ShopSlayer. “We’re building for the long haul. The more affiliates who know how to sell, the better it works for brands, so the platform has to keep campaigns open for people who are just starting.”

How to get your first campaign on TikTok

The fastest way to get your first brand campaign on TikTok is to join a platform where brands are already running campaigns open to affiliates of any size, instead of pitching brands one by one. On ShopSlayer, more than 100 campaigns have opened since July 2026. Each brief lists the product, the sample and the commission up front, and affiliates who match the brief can opt in without a prior track record.

How to earn your first commission on TikTok

You earn a TikTok affiliate commission when a viewer buys a product through the product link tagged in your video or LIVE. The brand sets the commission rate per product, and TikTok Shop pays it out under its affiliate program.

To earn a first commission faster: work from a brief and a real sample so the video shows the product honestly; post several videos per product instead of one; put the hook in the first two seconds; and check which videos produce orders in TikTok’s affiliate dashboard, then make more of those.

ShopSlayer by the numbers (as of November 2026)

Launched: July 2026, Philippines
Affiliates on the platform: 5,300+
Brand campaigns launched: 100+
Fastest campaign fill: Less than three days
Brands that have run campaigns include Human Nature, BYS, Wellspring and QUICKFX

Also live: Labs by ShopSlayer

Affiliates on the platform can also take Labs by ShopSlayer, a free eight-module course on what to post, how to write stronger hooks and how to make TikTok videos that hold attention. Log in at labs.shopslayer.ai with a ShopSlayer account, finish all eight modules and claim a badge and certificate as a Certified ShopSlayer Affiliate, which comes with early access to selected campaigns and invitations to selected on-site brand events.

About the founders

ShopSlayer was co-founded by Bianca Cruz Azurin and Miggy Azurin. Bianca co-founded 10XME Academy, which was acquired by YGG Pilipinas in 2024, then led Metaversity, YGG Pilipinas’ learning platform, where the team secured US$130,000 in educational grants and reached more than 12,000 learners across the Philippines. Miggy is managing partner of Huskee Digital, a TikTok agency partner.

Frequently asked questions

Is ShopSlayer free for affiliates? Yes. Affiliates join free. Brands pay a subscription to run campaigns on the platform.

How many followers do I need to join ShopSlayer? There is no follower minimum on ShopSlayer. You need to be an approved TikTok Shop affiliate and TikTok sets its own threshold.

Are there campaigns open right now? Yes. ShopSlayer has launched more than 100 brand campaigns since July 2026 and new ones open every week. Campaigns have filled in as fast as three days, so opt in early.

Who pays the commission? TikTok Shop pays affiliate commissions under its affiliate program at the rate the brand sets per product. ShopSlayer does not hold or pay out commissions.

Which brands have run campaigns on ShopSlayer? Human Nature, BYS, Wellspring and QUICKFX are among the brands that have run campaigns on the platform.

Is ShopSlayer available outside the Philippines? ShopSlayer currently serves TikTok Shop brands and affiliates in the Philippines but plans to expand into markets next year.

Is the Labs course free? Yes. All eight modules at labs.shopslayer.ai are free, and so are the badge and certificate on completion.

Filipino tech firm White Cloak Technologies is recognized for AI in Workforce & Future Skills in Asia-Oceania

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine technology company has been recognized among the leading digital innovators in Asia and Oceania. White Cloak Technologies won the AI in Workforce & Future Skills award at the ASOCIO Digital & AI Awards 2026 for Jia, its AI-powered hiring platform.

The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) presented the award on October 6, 2026, at its Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner at the Swissôtel Jakarta PIK Avenue in Indonesia. A White Cloak delegation accepted the award on behalf of the company. The ceremony was part of the ASOCIO Digital & AI Summit 2026, held October 5–7. The summit brought together technology leaders, innovators, investors, and policymakers from across the region.

ASOCIO is the regional federation of computing and IT industry associations in Asia and Oceania. Its awards honor organizations whose work advances the regional digital economy. ASOCIO Chairman Stan Singh-Jit said the recognition celebrates leadership and innovation that “exemplify the transformative impact of technology and serve as an inspiration to the wider community.”

The win puts a Filipino-built AI product at the center of the regional conversation about AI and the future of work. Jia uses AI throughout hiring. It evaluates CVs against job requirements, runs conversational AI interviews with candidates, and gives recruiters structured insights to support their decisions. It also guides job seekers from application to offer.

The award reflects the growing strength of the Philippine software industry. Filipino companies increasingly design and build their own technology products for regional and global markets, not just provide services. White Cloak is a member of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), the country’s representative to ASOCIO. Through its competitive nominations, PSIA puts Filipino technology companies in front of a regional audience.

The award falls under ASOCIO’s M.A.D.E. (Mapping ASOCIO Digital Economy) initiative, which recognizes organizations driving digital transformation and sustainable growth across Asia and Oceania. White Cloak joins this year’s group of recipients recognized for shaping the region’s digital future.

About White Cloak Technologies

White Cloak Technologies is a Philippine software company that builds digital products and platforms, including Jia, an AI-powered hiring platform for job seekers and recruiters.

About ASOCIO

The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) is a regional federation of computing and IT industry associations in Asia and Oceania that works to advance the region’s digital economy.