David Love is the founder of Smart Money Media, a strategic PR and AI-search agency that earns tier-1 editorial coverage and engineers the citations that make ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok name a brand first. He spent decades operating inside high-trust financial services, where credibility decides whether a prospect ever picks up the phone, and built the agency to solve that trust problem for other founders.

What is David Love known for professionally?

He developed the Reference Authority Framework, an integrated model connecting public relations, Answer Engine Optimization, and Generative Engine Optimization across four layers: Owned Clarity, Third-Party Validation, Answer Readiness, and Generative Visibility. The framework was featured by Ranktracker in July 2026 and underpins Smart Money Media's original research on AI citation gaps and executive visibility.

What does David Love actually do at Smart Money Media?

He leads strategy and original research. That means setting the editorial thesis behind client campaigns, running the data studies the agency publishes, and directing the AI-visibility auditing methodology — the 27 checks across five live AI engines used in the free audit. Day-to-day production work is handled by the Smart Money Media team of PR strategists, journalists, and entity-optimization specialists.

What is David Love's background before Smart Money Media?

His background is operating, not agency life. He worked for years in high-trust financial services, where every deal depended on third-party credibility, verified track record, and how a firm looked to a skeptical buyer doing their own research. That experience is why Smart Money Media measures AI citations, tier-1 placements, and pipeline impact instead of impressions or estimated ad value.

How can I contact or work with David Love?

Book a 30-minute strategy call through the Smart Money Media booking page, or email contact@smartmoneymedia.org. Client intake is deliberately limited so that each engagement gets senior attention on media strategy and AI-search authority rather than being handed to a junior account team.

Does David Love speak or contribute to publications?

Yes. Smart Money Media's framework and research have been covered by Ranktracker, Digital Journal, and AI Journ, and he contributes commentary on how AI answer engines select which brands to cite. Reporters looking for sourced commentary on AEO, GEO, zero-click search, or reputation risk in AI answers can reach the agency through the press kit page.

Leadership

David Love

Founder of Smart Money Media. Author of the Reference Authority Framework. Twenty-plus years operating inside high-trust financial services — where credibility is the entire business.

Background

David Love built Smart Money Media as an operator, not an agency lifer. He spent his career inside financial services, an industry where a prospect's first question is never “what do you offer” — it's “why should I believe you.” Every deal turned on third-party credibility: who had covered the firm, what an independent search turned up, and whether the story held together under scrutiny.

When AI answer engines began summarizing that research for buyers — deciding in one paragraph which firms were worth contacting — the same trust problem moved upstream. Brands were being filtered out before a human ever formed an opinion. Smart Money Media exists to fix that specific failure.

Areas of expertise

Public relations and tier-1 media strategy, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), entity SEO and structured data, zero-click search, and reputation risk inside AI-generated answers.

Published frameworks and research

The Reference Authority Framework
A four-layer model — Owned Clarity, Third-Party Validation, Answer Readiness, Generative Visibility — for making a brand the source AI engines quote instead of a competitor.
The AI Citation Gap study
Original research measuring how often AI answer engines cite a brand's own site versus third-party coverage, and what closes the gap.
The Reference Authority Report
Documented proof of framework terminology and citations surfacing inside Google AI Overviews and generative answers.

Media appearances

Ranktracker · July 2026
Reference Authority: connecting PR, AEO, and GEO
Digital Journal · August 2026
How Smart Money Media is connecting PR, AEO, GEO, and zero-click search
AI Journ · August 2026
Smart Money Media engineers reference authority for AI search

Reporters can find bios, logos, and sourced commentary in the press kit.

Frequently asked questions

Want a senior read on your AI search visibility?

Run the free 27-point audit across five live AI engines, or book a 30-minute strategy call.

Score my site Book a 30-minute call