The wins aim to mark the latest milestone in a year of industry recognition for its work for Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch Business School and Africa Check, bringing its total tally to 22 awards for AI led campaigns across local and international platforms, says the agency.

The Smarties wins include four Golds for Small Budget, Big Impact; AI Powered Data Insights / Contextual Marketing; Innovative Use of AI in Advertising and Audience Engagement Excellence Using AI, as well as a Silver for Advanced Technologies Marketing.

"We saw early that generative AI was going to fundamentally change how people find information online," says Charlie Stewart, CEO of Rogerwilco. "This recognition is about far more than the awards, it validates that GEO is becoming one of the most important shifts in digital marketing and search visibility today."

GEO, the practice of ensuring a brand's content is discoverable and cited by AI-powered search platforms such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, is rapidly reshaping online behaviour. Industry research indicates that more than 30% of adults will use generative AI tools as their primary search mechanism in 2026, says the agency.

To respond to this shift, Rogerwilco says it developed GEOFF (Generative Engine Optimisation Forecasting and Fulfilment), a proprietary AI platform with direct API integrations into ChatGPT and Gemini.

Rogerwilco also developed a complementary AI-powered link engine that automatically identifies online mentions of both institutions and prompts webmasters to convert citations into live hyperlinks, aimed at accelerating domain authority growth at scale impossible through manual outreach alone, says the agency.

Building on the increasingly important role of AI in discovery, Rogerwilco says it has also created Echo, a proprietary closed generative AI search engine. Echo aims to deliver instant, accurate responses sourced exclusively from an organisation's own verified content, adds the agency.

In addition to its Smarties wins, Rogerwilco has also been recognised locally at the Bookmarks, Assegais and Mark Awards, as well as globally with a Bronze in the Best Use of SEO category at the International ECHO Awards and an Award of Merit in Digital Communication at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Awards.

The recognition aims to reflect a body of work that goes beyond campaign execution. The same AI methodologies that were rewarded aim to be transformative for clients across sectors, combining proprietary tooling with cross-disciplinary expertise aimed to deliver measurable results in the AI search era, concludes the agency.

For more information, visit www.rogerwilco.co.za. You can also follow Rogerwilco on Facebook, LinkedIn, or on X. 

*Image courtesy of www.rogerwilco.co.za