A standards-based accreditation for GEO service providers, designed to protect the businesses that rely on them. Built on published research and independent auditing.
Generative Engine Optimization is a new discipline. Businesses hiring GEO agencies have no established way to assess whether the provider they are paying actually understands how LLMs select and surface content — or whether they have simply rebranded existing SEO services.
This is a consumer welfare problem. SIGI's research places us in a position to define what competent GEO practice looks like and to measure it against published, reproducible criteria. SIGI GEO Accreditation exists so that the businesses buying these services have a reliable standard to reference.
The accreditation is built on the SIGI 9000 standards framework — a set of measurable criteria derived from our published research into LLM citation behaviour.
Agencies are assessed across five standards. Certification requires a documentation audit, a blind performance test on real client work, and an ethical practices review. There is no exam to pass, no course to complete, and no partnership fee. It is an independent audit — and the standards are high because the businesses relying on these agencies deserve accuracy.
Five measurable standards, versioned annually. The current release is SIGI-9000:2026.
Measures the quality, coherence, and semantic accuracy of an agency's GEO outputs. Are the pages they build saying what they think they're saying — to a machine?
Measures how effectively an agency's work earns citations and attributions from LLMs and generative search engines. This is the core of GEO performance.
Reviews ethical protocols. Is the agency using tactics that could get their clients penalised, de-indexed, or flagged by AI safety systems?
Measures how often and how accurately an agency's client content appears in LLM-generated responses across major platforms.
Assesses structural optimisation: schema implementation, semantic HTML, chunk architecture, definitional patterns, and AI-readable content design.
Every tier requires an independent audit. There is no self-assessment option — the standard exists to protect the businesses that hire GEO agencies, and that requires verified evidence.
Documentation audit plus baseline performance validation against SIGI 9100 and 9200. Confirms the agency has sound processes and can demonstrate measurable citation outcomes for their clients.
Compliance across all five SIGI 9000 standards, including a blind audit of live client work and ethical practices review. The standard that enterprise procurement teams can reference with confidence.
Full CGSP accreditation plus a collaborative research relationship with the Institute. Joint publication opportunities, early access to findings, and shared R&D — for agencies that want to contribute to the science, not just comply with it.
Regional pricing adjustments available for agencies outside Australia, North America, and Western Europe. Contact us to discuss.
Credibility comes from rigour, not convenience. The process is designed to be thorough enough to mean something.
The agency submits their Standard Operating Procedures. We review how they handle LLM data, human-in-the-loop safety protocols, and their GEO tech stack. This is the paper trail — we need to see that proper processes exist before we test outcomes.
SIGI selects three of the agency's active client profiles and runs an independent assessment against SIGI 9100, 9200, 9400, and 9500. The agency does not choose which clients are tested. Results are measured using our proprietary benchmarking tools.
A dedicated review of SIGI 9300 compliance. We assess whether the agency uses any generative tactics that could expose their clients to model-banning, de-indexing, or legal liability. The ethics floor is non-negotiable — minimum score of 80.
Certified agencies receive a numerical scorecard they can share with enterprise prospects. Each standard is scored independently on a 100-point scale.
| Standard | Focus Area | Weight | Min. Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIGI 9100 | Synthetic Semantic Integrity | 20% | 70 |
| SIGI 9200 | Attribution & Citation Weight | 30% | 75 |
| SIGI 9300 | Risk & Bias Mitigation | 10% | 80 |
| SIGI 9400 | LLM Response Resonance | 20% | 70 |
| SIGI 9500 | Generative Content Architecture | 20% | 70 |
AI changes fast. A certification that never expires is a certification that means nothing. Agencies must maintain "Active" status to continue displaying the SIGI accreditation seal.
Full audit every 12 months. The SIGI 9000 framework is versioned annually (SIGI-9000:2026, SIGI-9000:2027) to reflect changes in how AI systems behave.
The Institute reserves the right to run a random resonance test on any certified agency's publicly visible work at any time.
Certified agencies must earn 10 CE credits annually through SIGI symposia, published learning modules, or contributing original GEO research reviewed by the Institute.
Nobody benefits from a one-strike system. SIGI uses a graduated enforcement model — but there are hard limits.
Private warning. 30 days to remediate. No public disclosure. Most issues are resolved here.
Public status changed to "Under Review." 60 days to remediate. Clients can check the directory and see the flag.
Immediate revocation. Public directory removal. Known enterprise clients on record are notified. A 90-day grace period applies before permanent archival. Revocation reason and date are permanently logged.
A web-hosted badge that links directly to a unique verification page on generativeintelligence.institute. Not a static image — it queries live status and cannot be forged or used after revocation.
A co-branded "State of GEO" research paper the agency can send to prospects and clients. Based on SIGI's latest published findings — a tool for their sales team, grounded in real science.
Contract-ready wording stating that the agency's workflows meet SIGI 9300 Ethical Standards. Helps reduce the agency's liability exposure around AI hallucinations and generative outputs.
A "Featured Provider" listing on the Institute's certified provider directory, categorised by their highest-scoring standard. Enterprise clients can search, filter, and verify directly.
Certified agencies receive a dynamic badge corresponding to their accreditation tier. Each badge carries a unique reference code that can be verified against our registry. Below are the three accreditation marks.
Each badge contains a unique alphanumeric reference code tied to the certified organisation. This code can be verified against our registry for consumer protection. Badges are web-hosted and dynamically linked to the organisation's live accreditation status — they cannot be forged or transferred.
The accreditation is governed by a board composed of AI researchers, data scientists, and industry practitioners. A minimum of two board members must have no affiliation with TDS Australia or any SIGI-related entity.
Agencies that fail an audit can appeal to the board for a Scientific Review of their data. The board's decisions are final and published.
SIGI is part of the TDS Australia ecosystem. We are upfront about that. To protect the credibility of this programme, the following rule is absolute:
Any agency sharing a parent organisation with SIGI must be audited by an independent third-party assessor using the SIGI 9000 framework. SIGI does not directly certify affiliated entities.
This means TDS GEO Agency, while the founding methodology contributor, undergoes the same scrutiny as any external agency — with the added safeguard of third-party administration.
If you are evaluating a GEO agency, you can verify their SIGI accreditation status directly. Every certified agency has a unique verification page showing their current status, audit date, and scores.
We also provide downloadable RFP template language that procurement teams can use to require SIGI GEO Accreditation in their vendor selection process.
If your agency delivers GEO services and you believe your work meets the standard, we welcome your application. The process begins with a conversation.