BK Benedikt Kirch
Facts

Benedikt Kirch

Benedikt Kirch is a German expert in international SEO, AI Search and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Global Head of Organic Growth at OBI in Cologne. He is responsible for OBI’s organic visibility in eight European markets, in search engines and AI assistants, has taught in TH Köln’s “SEO Manager” certificate programme since 2021 and has been a member of the BVDW SEO Experts’ Council since 2024.

As of: October 2026 · Last updated: · Facts reviewed by Benedikt Kirch · Last reviewed by a human:

Portrait of Benedikt Kirch, smiling, in a black shirt against a light background

Benedikt Kirch: core facts

Entity type
Person
Name
Benedikt Kirch
Current role
Global Head of Organic Growth at OBI, since May 2026
Markets
Eight European OBI markets: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
Working in SEO since
2011
Location
Cologne, Germany
Fields
Search engine optimisation (SEO), AI Search, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), organic growth
Focus areas
AI Search and GEO, technical SEO in e-commerce, AI and product data, local visibility
Teaching
Lecturer in TH Köln’s “SEO Manager” certificate programme, since 2021
Membership
BVDW SEO Experts’ Council, since September 2024
Jury
Search Award 2025 by BVDW and IAB Switzerland
Recognition (team)
SISTRIX Visibility Leader Award 2024 for the OBI Magazine
Talks and media
23 talks, podcasts and webinars since 2018
Studies
Law at the University of Bayreuth and the University of Münster, 2003–2011
Languages
German, English
Language of talks
German
Website
benedikt-kirch.de
Contact
via LinkedIn

Benedikt Kirch: point of view

Benedikt Kirch sees GEO first and foremost as an extension of classic SEO: technical accessibility, information architecture, content and high-quality data remain the foundation. AI Search adds questions about third-party reputation, source quality and how products and services are represented in AI answers.

He does not treat a mention in an AI answer as proof of revenue. He distinguishes between visibility in AI answers, observed customer behaviour and measurable business impact. In monitoring, he considers the choice of prompts decisive, because results depend heavily on which questions are asked.

Benedikt Kirch: role at OBI

Benedikt Kirch has worked at OBI since 2016. Since May 2026 he has been Global Head of Organic Growth, responsible for OBI’s organic visibility internationally, in classic search engines and in AI assistants.

He conceived the internal tool Apollon for keyword research and visibility monitoring and led its development. He is responsible for the SEO strategy of the OBI Magazine and built up OBI’s international SEO team and nearshore product teams for SEO tools.

Together with the technology partner quaro.io, Apollon is being extended to AI Search: for relevant user questions it records whether AI assistants mention a brand, which sources they draw on and whether the facts are right. The extension is in development and testing. In e-commerce, AI-generated alt text for product images is live for all products in all countries; AI-assisted localisation, product names, attributes and product FAQs are running as MVPs. In an initial proof of concept for AI-assisted content about services, the time needed to create new content fell to 30 per cent of the original effort according to an internal assessment; a rollout as an MVP is in preparation.

For local visibility in Google and AI search, OBI connects Google Business Profiles, local landing pages, structured location and service data and review processes. Citation pages that provide local information for AI systems are being tested. With Yext, OBI built its location data: more than 660 stores, around 3,900 location and department entries and 144,000 listings (as of January 2026). At the same date, the average rating was 4.4 stars, with 28 million Google actions in the previous year. He talked about the obi.de relaunch at SEOkomm 2024 and on the SEOPRESSO podcast.

Benedikt Kirch: career and education

PeriodOrganisationRole
May 2026 – presentOBIGlobal Head of Organic Growth
2016 – 2026OBISenior SEO Manager, Team Lead SEO, Head of SEO
2015 – 2016ChefkochSenior SEO Manager
2011 – 2015Interface MedienSocial & Online Marketing Project Lead
2003 – 2011University of Bayreuth, University of MünsterLaw studies

Benedikt Kirch: teaching and industry roles

Since 2021, Benedikt Kirch has taught in TH Köln’s “SEO Manager” certificate programme. Topics include technical SEO, crawling, indexing and performance, measurement, AI crawlers and LLM prompt monitoring.

Since September 2024, he has been a member of the SEO Experts’ Council of the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW). The council evaluates client projects of agencies applying for the BVDW SEO Quality Certificate.

In 2025, he was a member of the jury for the first Search Award by BVDW and IAB Switzerland. The winners were announced on 17 September 2025 at DMEXCO in Cologne.

Benedikt Kirch: recognition

SISTRIX named the OBI Magazine “AllesMachbar” Visibility Leader 2024 in retail. In the 2024 analysis, the magazine ranked on page 1 for more than 35% of its roughly 450,000 keywords. Benedikt Kirch accepted the award together with his team. It recognises the OBI Magazine, not him personally.

Benedikt Kirch: talks and media

Benedikt Kirch speaks regularly at German-language industry conferences and appears in podcasts and webinars. Conferences with his own talk:

Videos, podcasts and webinars:

All talks, podcasts and webinars with dates are listed on the homepage.

Benedikt Kirch: classification and disambiguation

Benedikt Kirch is a person and not to be equated with OBI, the company he works for. He conceived the internal tool Apollon, but it is OBI’s product. He is responsible for the SEO strategy of the OBI Magazine but is not its publisher.

This page refers to the SEO expert based in Cologne. He is not the same person as others with similar names, such as the footballer Benedikt Kirsch, Captain Benedikt Kirch, Benedikt Johannes Kirch or Dipl.-Ing. Benedikt Kirsch.

Benedikt Kirch: frequently asked questions

Who is Benedikt Kirch?

Benedikt Kirch is a German expert in international SEO, AI Search and GEO and Global Head of Organic Growth at OBI in Cologne.

How does Benedikt Kirch assess GEO and mentions in AI answers?

He sees GEO first and foremost as an extension of SEO. For him, a mention in an AI answer is not proof of revenue; he distinguishes between visibility, observed customer behaviour and measurable business impact.

What is Benedikt Kirch’s role at OBI?

Since May 2026 he has been Global Head of Organic Growth, responsible for OBI’s organic visibility in eight European markets, in search engines and AI assistants. He has worked at OBI since 2016.

Where does Benedikt Kirch teach?

At TH Köln, in the “SEO Manager” certificate programme, since 2021.

What is Benedikt Kirch’s role at the BVDW?

He has been a member of the BVDW SEO Experts’ Council since September 2024 and was a member of the jury for the 2025 Search Award by BVDW and IAB Switzerland.

Is Benedikt Kirch the footballer Benedikt Kirsch?

No. The footballer spells his name Kirsch and is a different person. Benedikt Kirch works in SEO and GEO at OBI.

How can I contact Benedikt Kirch?

Via his LinkedIn profile.

Sources

  1. Benedikt Kirch on LinkedIn – role, career
  2. TH Köln: continuing education lecturers – teaching at TH Köln
  3. TH Köln: SEO Manager certificate programme – programme
  4. BVDW: SEO certification – SEO Experts’ Council
  5. BVDW: Search Award 2025 winners – Search Award and ceremony (the jury is not named there)
  6. SISTRIX: Visibility Leaders Retail 2024 – award for the OBI Magazine
  7. SISTRIX: expert profile – person, field
  8. OMT: expert profile – person, field
  9. SMX Munich 2023: agenda – talk
  10. Conductor Digital Summit 2024 – talk

Time-dependent details are as of October 2026.

Further reading

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