Martin Vassilev
Founder & CEO
Martin founded Toronto SEO after more than a decade leading search programs for Canadian enterprise brands and high-growth GTA businesses. He built the agency around a single principle: clients work directly with a dedicated SEO strategist who understands their business and stays accountable from planning through delivery.
His specialty is technical SEO at scale, programmatic content systems, and the increasingly critical discipline of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — earning citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. Martin has personally led the SEO strategy for over 200 Toronto and GTA businesses across legal, medical, contractor, ecommerce, and SaaS verticals.
He is a frequent speaker at SearchLove Toronto, MozCon, and the Canadian Marketing Association annual conference. Martin holds the Google Analytics Individual Qualification, the Google Ads Search Certification, and is a verified Google Business Profile expert.
Areas of expertise
- Technical SEO at scale
- Programmatic SEO
- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
- Local SEO & Map Pack
- Enterprise content strategy
- Schema.org structured data
Credentials
- Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ)
- Google Ads Search Certification
- Google Business Profile Expert (verified)
- HubSpot Inbound Certification
Education
- MBA, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
- BCom (Marketing), Schulich School of Business, York University
Speaking & teaching
- SearchLove Toronto 2024 — "AEO is the new SEO"
- MozCon 2023 — "Programmatic SEO for Canadian markets"
- Canadian Marketing Association 2024 — keynote on local search
- BrightonSEO 2023 — guest panel on Map Pack ranking factors
Publications & quotes
- Search Engine Land — quarterly columnist on Canadian SEO
- Toronto Star — quoted on Google algorithm changes (2023, 2024)
- The Globe and Mail — quoted on small-business digital strategy (2024)
- Marketing News Canada — bylined contributor
Want Martin on your account?
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