Khalil El Khoury · SEO · Montréal
I came from e-commerce, trained as an industrial engineer, and studied psychology and business along the way. Today I work on SEO and AI search at Growth Hacker in Montréal.
About me
Before any of this, I ran my own e-commerce store. So I know what it feels like when traffic doesn't turn into orders — and what changes when it finally does.
I'm an industrial engineer, so I'm wired for data and systems. I also studied behavioral and consumer psychology, because I always wanted to know why people buy. And my MBA taught me to tie all of it back to the business.
That's how I see SEO. Every search is someone telling you what they want. Psychology helps me understand what they're really trying to do. The data shows me what the algorithm rewards. The business side makes sure we're chasing the right things.
And honestly, what keeps me hooked is that it never stands still. The algorithm keeps changing, so I keep learning.
— Khalil
The algorithm
SEO is a mix of factors that never stop changing, all working on one question: what is the best answer for this person, right now? The answer keeps changing, so the work never gets old.
Behind every screen, an algorithm
SEO, AIO, GEO — that's the jargon. The real work happens behind the scenes: understanding how each of these systems decides, and optimizing for it.
Try it · Algorithm playground
Five pages compete for one search. Change what the algorithm cares about and watch the ranking move — then see how an AI assistant would decide.
Try it · Search-intent decoder
Type any search. I'll read it the way I would on a real project: what the person is trying to do, what's driving them, and what kind of page deserves to win.
A small rule-based model that runs in your browser. It's a sketch of how I think, not a crystal ball.
What I believe
The goal is to rank the best people for the best searches.
If a business isn't good at something, I won't try to make it rank for it. That doesn't last, and it doesn't help anyone.
Rank for everything you do well — and nothing you don't.
A company should show up wherever it has a genuinely good product or service. That's where the effort belongs.
Data first, opinions second.
Algorithms leave clues in the numbers. I read them before I change anything.
AIO · GEO
More and more, people let an AI make the decision for them. That raises the stakes. Ranking isn't enough anymore: the AI has to consider you in the first place, and understand when you might be exactly right for the person asking.
Clear, consistent information the AI can find, trust and quote.
Make it obvious who you're perfect for, so the AI can match you to them.
Lab notebook
I don't just talk about SEO, I test it. Here's what this site is running right now. Results get updated as they come in.
A brand-new domain with a clean structure, a sitemap and Person schema can get indexed by Google on day one, without a single backlink.
Registered khalilelkhoury.com, launched it, and submitted it to Google Search Console and IndexNow the same day.
Day 0: the homepage already shows as indexed in Search Console. The French page is queued.
Consistent facts (structured data, an llms.txt file, the same bio everywhere) help AI assistants describe a person accurately.
Published Person schema and /llms.txt. Every month I ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity: “Who is Khalil El Khoury?”
Started. First monthly check in December 2026.
With proper hreflang, Google shows the French page to French searchers and the English page to everyone else.
English at /, French at /fr/, linked both ways with hreflang and listed in the sitemap.
Waiting for enough data in Search Console.
Tip: switch on “Search-engine view” (bottom right) to see this page the way a crawler reads it.
Contact
Curious about algorithms, search behavior or AI recommendations? Send me a message — I enjoy comparing notes.