{"id":18060,"date":"2026-07-13T23:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T20:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nekuda.co.il\/en\/?page_id=18060"},"modified":"2026-10-23T00:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T21:23:17","slug":"gilad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nekuda.co.il\/en\/gilad\/","title":{"rendered":"Gilad Sasson"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\r\n
\r\n

For me, algorithms are a habit.<\/h1>\r\n

Since 1998, I have heard five times that SEO is dead. Each time, it only changed shape. The current turn, AI, is the most dramatic yet, but it still begins and ends with the same question. How does an engine decide what to show.<\/p>\r\n

30-minute intro call<\/a> Visit the lab \u00b7 algoholic.com<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

\r\n

About me<\/h2>\r\n

I am Gilad. In the Israeli SEO community, most people know me by the alias algoholic. It stuck to me in 1999, when I started reverse-engineering small search engines and ranking sites on AltaVista, HotBot, Excite, and Yahoo. I watched Google grow from a small startup into the infrastructure of the internet. I watched it work through Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, BERT, and MUM. And now I am watching search itself change shape, from ranking to retrieval, and from retrieval to generation.<\/p>\r\n

At Nekuda Digital, which I founded in 1999, I lead AI consulting for businesses, GEO services, and classical SEO work. At algoholic.com, my personal lab, I publish research, professional frameworks, and tools designed to make sense of the new turn.<\/p>\r\n

The businesses I work with today all ask the same question: how do we not get left behind. My answer starts from the fact that I have already lived through this question twice before. Once around 2004, when Google was displacing everything else. Once in 2015, when Mobile-First rewrote the rules. This is the third turn, and history helps you see what is actually happening, what will pass, and what will remain.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

\r\n

My chronology, in short<\/h2>\r\n

Highlights from 1999 to now. The full and always-current version is at algoholic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

\r\n
2026 \u00b7 Path B of Nekuda Digital<\/strong>
Major refresh of the Hebrew and English sites, launch of the GEO Audit service in four packages, and a free public GEO Score Tool.<\/div>\r\n
2024 \u00b7 Launch of algoholic.com Vol. III<\/strong>
Personal research platform on Generative Retrieval. Four-stage framework, taxonomy of citation behavior, and the LLM Visibility Audit tool.<\/div>\r\n
2020 \u00b7 Featured on Search Engine Land<\/strong>
Barry Schwartz vlog #67. Interview on Cannabis SEO and the future of search.<\/div>\r\n
2019 \u00b7 DMIEXPO Spring<\/strong>
Keynote on YMYL and search marketing in restricted industries. Sponsored by Outbrain, Tel Aviv.<\/div>\r\n
2012-2015 \u00b7 European conferences<\/strong>
TNW Amsterdam 2012, Web Summit Dublin 2014, TNW Europe Westerunie 2015. A period when the Israeli ecosystem showed up abroad.<\/div>\r\n
2012 \u00b7 SMX Israel \u00b7 First Hebrew SEO panel<\/strong>
Moderated the first Hebrew-language SEO panel at SMX, Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem.<\/div>\r\n
2006-2009 \u00b7 Interlogic \u00b7 Chief Marketing Officer<\/strong>
Led marketing at an international iGaming firm through the transition from the manual-link era to quality-based algorithmic ranking.<\/div>\r\n
2004 \u00b7 Google AdWords Certified<\/strong>
Among the first in Israel to be certified. The certification has stayed current continuously since.<\/div>\r\n
2002-2006 \u00b7 Zap Group \u00b7 Head of Internet and Search<\/strong>
Led search at the Israeli Yellow Pages. Built the search strategy through the first decade of Google in Hebrew.<\/div>\r\n
1999 \u00b7 Founded Nekuda<\/strong>
nekuda Web Solutions, Tel Aviv. Started working on search engines before Google was dominant.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n
\r\n

What I actually do today<\/h2>\r\n

Four parallel practices that feed each other. Consulting sharpens research, research fuels talks, talks generate consulting inquiries.<\/p>\r\n

Practice 01 \u00b7 Running Nekuda Digital<\/strong>
CEO and founder, personally active on every AI consulting and GEO engagement. Not a detached senior consultant. In every meeting, writing the documents, reviewing the outputs.<\/p>\r\n

Practice 02 \u00b7 Operating algoholic.com<\/strong>
Two essays a week on Generative Retrieval. Development of the LLM Visibility Audit and GEO Scorer tools. Sustained cadence of interviews and writing.<\/p>\r\n

Practice 03 \u00b7 Speaking and workshops<\/strong>
Keynote talks, in-house workshops, and strategy days for companies in Israel and abroad.<\/p>\r\n

Practice 04 \u00b7 LinkedIn and newsletter<\/strong>
Frequent LinkedIn posts, a bi-weekly newsletter at nekuda.co.il, and general activity across networks the way you would since the earliest days of the web.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

\r\n

Where I am mentioned and quoted<\/h2>\r\n

A partial list of professional media.<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n
  • Search Engine Land, 2020. Vlog #67 with Barry Schwartz. Interview on Cannabis SEO and the future of search.<\/li>\r\n
  • Search Engine Land, 2004. Quote from the first Israeli AdWords certification round.<\/li>\r\n
  • Search Engine Roundtable, 2012. SMX Israel panel, first Hebrew-language SEO panel.<\/li>\r\n
  • Search Engine Roundtable, 2015. Year-in-review coverage.<\/li>\r\n
  • TNW Amsterdam, 2012 and 2015. Active participation at leading European tech conferences.<\/li>\r\n
  • Web Summit Dublin, 2014. Participation at the international tech summit.<\/li>\r\n
  • DMIEXPO Spring, 2019. Keynote talk, Tel Aviv.<\/li>\r\n
  • SMX Israel, 2012. Moderated the first Hebrew-language SEO panel, Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n
    \r\n

    Questions clients ask me<\/h2>\r\n

    If your question is not here, write to me. I reply within 24 hours.<\/p>\r\n

    \r\nDo you still practice classical SEO personally?<\/summary>\r\n

    Yes. Even in 2026, SEO still produces 40 to 70 percent of the traffic for most of our clients. It is not dead. It is just no longer alone. GEO and AI Visibility sit alongside it, not in place of it.<\/p>\r\n<\/details>

    \r\nWhy not hire a newer, cheaper AI agency?<\/summary>\r\n

    Sometimes you should. For pure technical implementation, like deploying an OpenAI-based customer support agent, the newer shops do excellent work at lower cost. But when the work touches marketing, search, or brand positioning in AI, 27 years of accumulated algorithm-reading changes the equation.<\/p>\r\n<\/details>

    \r\nWhy do you have a separate site, algoholic.com?<\/summary>\r\n

    Nekuda is the business side. Algoholic is the lab. On Algoholic I publish deep research, professional frameworks, and open-source tools I build. On Nekuda I present services, clients, and how we work.<\/p>\r\n<\/details>

    \r\nDo you work with businesses outside Israel?<\/summary>\r\n

    Yes. The bulk of my work is in Israel, but I have clients in the UK, the Netherlands, and the US. I work in Hebrew and English at mother-tongue level. Sometimes it is actually easier to work with international clients because the scale of those markets generates data faster.<\/p>\r\n<\/details>

    \r\nHow do I reach you?<\/summary>\r\n

    Three ways. A 30-minute free intro call via the Contact page<\/a>. Direct email to gilad@nekuda.co.il. Or WhatsApp at +972-52-854-4415. I reply within 24 business hours.<\/p>\r\n<\/details>

    \r\nWhich industries do you work with?<\/summary>\r\n

    Primary focus: finance, digital health, eCommerce, and B2B SaaS. Less active in real estate, physical retail, and automotive. I also work with nonprofits and academia when the professional value is mutual.<\/p>\r\n<\/details><\/section>\r\n

    \r\n

    From the lab \u00b7 Algoholic<\/h2>\r\n

    If you want to go deeper, algoholic.com is the research side of my practice. That is where I publish essays on Generative Retrieval, professional frameworks, and open-source tools I build and release. Three recent pieces:<\/p>\r\n

      \r\n
    • Generative Retrieval, a framework of four stages<\/li>\r\n
    • LLM Visibility Audit methodology<\/li>\r\n
    • Citation behavior taxonomy 2026<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

      Visit algoholic.com<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

      \r\n

      30 minutes, no charge, no commitment<\/h2>\r\n

      An intro call to map out what AI can do for you this year, what GEO can move, and where the biggest opportunity is. If it fits, we continue. If it does not, you walk away with at least two practical ideas for next week.<\/p>\r\n

      Book a call<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

      \r\n

      Gilad Sasson \u00b7 algoholic<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

      27 years reading search algorithms. Since 1998. Founder and CEO of Nekuda Digital.<\/p>\r\n

      LinkedIn<\/a> \u00b7 algoholic.com<\/a> \u00b7 gilad@nekuda.co.il<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/div>\r\n