AMPD has strengthened its next-generation digital marketing capabilities with the appointment of Julius Walter as SEO and AEO Lead and Alex Funtas as UGC Lead.

The appointments reflect the rapid changes taking place across search, social media and digital discovery as artificial intelligence and creator-led content continue to reshape how brands are found, experienced and trusted online.

Julius joins AMPD as SEO and AEO Lead, combining traditional Search Engine Optimisation with the rapidly emerging discipline of Answer Engine Optimisation.

AEO focuses on helping organisations structure and optimise their digital presence so their brands, products and expertise can be discovered, understood and referenced by AI-powered search engines and assistants such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude and Perplexity’s Sonar.

At just 18, Julius represents a new generation of digital specialists who have grown up alongside search, social media and artificial intelligence.

A website developer as well as an SEO and AEO specialist, he combines technical development, user experience and search strategy with a strong commercial mindset.

AMPD Founder and CEO Peter Grange said:

“Search is changing incredibly quickly. People are not only Googling anymore. They are increasingly asking AI platforms for answers, recommendations and advice.

“That means businesses need to start thinking beyond where they rank on Google and consider whether their brand is visible, credible and authoritative across AI-powered discovery as well.

“Julius understands both sides of that changing landscape, from traditional SEO and website development through to AEO and the new ways people are finding information online.”

AMPD has also appointed Alexandros Funtas as UGC Lead, strengthening the agency’s capabilities in user-generated content and creator-led marketing.

Alex, 19, specialises in identifying and managing creators, developing content concepts and producing authentic social content designed to generate measurable commercial results for brands.

His appointment comes as creator-led content continues to play a growing role in digital marketing, particularly across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and other social channels where audiences increasingly respond to content that feels native, credible and human.

Peter said:

“UGC has become an incredibly powerful part of modern marketing when it is done properly.

“It is not simply about finding someone with a phone and asking them to make a video. It is about finding the right creators, developing the right ideas, producing content at scale and understanding what actually turns attention into action.

“Alex brings exactly that mindset into AMPD.”

Peter added that the appointments also reflect AMPD’s ambition to combine experienced strategic thinking with a new generation of digital talent.

“What I particularly like about Julius and Alex is their ambition.

“They are 18 and 19 respectively, but they are already thinking commercially and entrepreneurially about where marketing is heading next.

“The tools, platforms and behaviours shaping marketing are changing incredibly quickly, and we want people in AMPD who are immersed in those changes, not simply reacting to them.”

The appointments form part of AMPD’s continued growth as a next-generation marketing and AI agency, bringing together brand, creativity, digital, technology, artificial intelligence, search, creators and automation.

Peter concluded:

“The agency of the future will not be built around traditional marketing disciplines alone.

“It will combine great creative thinking with AI, technology, search, creators, data and automation.

“Julius and Alex are both very much part of that future.”