NASHVILLE, Tenn. — June 1, 2026 — QCK, a digital marketing agency specializing in organic search, AI-driven content and performance marketing, announced today that Doug Gargaro has been promoted to Vice President of SEO, effective June 1, 2026. The appointment reflects the agency’s continued investment in search leadership as the discipline undergoes a fundamental shift driven by artificial intelligence and generative search technology.
Gargaro joined QCK as Senior Director of Accounts and steadily expanded his scope across the agency’s core service lines. In his new role, he will lead SEO strategy and execution agency-wide, with oversight extending across QCK’s integrated offerings including paid media, conversion rate optimization and web development. The promotion formalizes a leadership role Gargaro has been building toward since joining the agency.
The elevation comes at a moment when search marketing is changing faster than at any point in the past decade. Generative AI tools have altered how consumers find information, how search engines surface results and how brands must think about visibility. Traditional keyword-based SEO remains a foundation, but agencies that cannot operate across organic search, answer engine optimization and paid channels simultaneously are finding themselves behind. QCK has positioned its service model around that convergence, and Gargaro’s appointment signals the agency’s intent to deepen that capability.
Gargaro brings more than 15 years of enterprise SEO experience to the role. He previously served as Senior Account Director at Rio SEO, where he directed enterprise SEO and local marketing programs for global multi-location brands across retail, financial services and healthcare over more than six years. Prior to that, he served as Senior Technical SEO Manager at Neil Patel Digital, where he drove SEO strategy for enterprise accounts and helped build scalable frameworks for the agency’s SEO team. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly seven years at iProspect, progressing from Senior SEO Strategist to Senior SEO Lead for pharmaceutical accounts, and serving as the agency’s Video Marketing SME Lead. He also served as Director of SEO at eVisibility, where he managed a team handling 15 to 20 active client accounts including Fortune 100 brands.
Throughout his career, Gargaro has been a practitioner of technical SEO, local search and, more recently, answer engine optimization and AI-driven search strategy. His experience spans regulated verticals including pharmaceutical and financial services, where precision, compliance awareness and measurable performance are non-negotiable requirements.
“Doug has been at the front of every meaningful shift in search over the past decade, and the next wave — AI search, generative results, answer engine optimization — is where his instincts are sharpest,” said Robert Battle, CEO of QCK. “This promotion reflects both what he has built here and where we are taking the agency.”
Gargaro said the opportunity reflects a pivotal moment for the discipline. “Search is being rewritten in real time, and the agencies that figure out how to operate across organic, AI and paid channels simultaneously are the ones that will matter to clients,” he said. “That is exactly what we are building at QCK, and I am focused on making sure our clients are ahead of that curve rather than catching up to it.”
In addition to leading the SEO practice, Gargaro will work closely with QCK’s paid media, CRO and development teams to ensure search strategy is integrated across the full client engagement model. As AI-generated search results continue to reshape how brands compete for visibility, QCK’s approach ties organic search performance to broader channel strategy — connecting content, technical infrastructure, paid amplification and on-site conversion into a single, coordinated program.
For more information, visit qck.co.
About QCK
QCK (Qckbot LLC) is a digital marketing agency offering SEO, AI search optimization, paid media, conversion rate optimization and web development services. The agency works with direct-to-consumer and ecommerce brands across a range of industries and verticals, helping clients build visibility and drive measurable performance across organic and paid channels.
