The Founder
Clayton Conway
Founder, Deep Recon • GEO Analyst • Self-Taught Technologist
The Founder
Founder, Deep Recon • GEO Analyst • Self-Taught Technologist
I didn't come up through a traditional tech path. I learned electronics from library books in 6th grade so I could help my father repair alternators at our family's tractor dealership. That instinct — find the problem, understand it completely, fix it yourself — has defined every chapter of my career.
Over the past two decades I've worked across industries that rarely overlap: heavy equipment distribution, manufacturing, hospitality, entertainment, ophthalmology research, and enterprise IT. In each one, the underlying challenge was the same: organizations struggling to adapt to change, usually later than they should have.
I've taught myself web development, Python, DevOps, server infrastructure, and hardware systems — not as hobbies, but as tools. When a problem needed solving, I learned what was required to solve it.
In early 2026, I started paying close attention to how AI-powered search platforms — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini — were responding to business queries. What I found was consistent and alarming: most small businesses were completely absent from AI-generated answers, even when they were well-established in their markets.
The gap wasn't about business quality. It was about signals. AI language models build their understanding of the world from structured data, third-party mentions, schema markup, and crawlable content. Most businesses had none of that configured correctly — and no one was telling them.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the methodology for closing that gap. It's a structured approach to ensuring AI platforms can find, understand, and cite your business. Deep Recon's AI Discoverability Audit applies that methodology to a single website: scoring it across six dimensions, identifying the specific gaps, and delivering a prioritized action plan.
I built the audit framework from the ground up, drawing on Schema.org specifications, Google's Quality Rater Guidelines, the llms.txt standard, and direct testing across the major AI platforms. The process is documented, repeatable, and grounded in how these systems actually work — not how people assume they work.
Deep Recon is named for my father, R.E. Conway, who served 20 years aboard U.S. Navy diesel submarines before retiring in 1973. He passed away in 2006. The name carries two meanings: his service in the deep, and the reconnaissance work the business is built to fund.
The long-term goal is a workboat — a Platform Supply Vessel-style research and operations vessel — dedicated to oceanographic research, ocean cleanup, and mangrove restoration. Every audit, every client engagement, moves that mission forward.
The tagline "Technology with a heading." means exactly that: purposeful work with a destination in view.
"Clayton consistently demonstrated an aptitude for managing technical projects and navigating highly complex assignments. The wealth of knowledge and experience Clayton brings to the table makes him a high-value asset for any organization, in any capacity and in any role."
Richard Swanson, Compliance Manager & Data Protection Officer, Doheny Eye Institute
"One of Clayton's best strengths is his strategic thinking and approach to Sales/Business relationships with the big picture in mind. Clayton is intelligent and a pleasure to work with."
Michael Barnett, Program Manager, MTD Products
"Clayton was dependable and responsive to business timetables. I could always count on him to know exactly what was going on in his territory, and to provide solutions to any issues that may arise."
Lanny Hough, District Manager, MTD Products
Questions about the audit, the methodology, or agency pricing: hello@deeprecon.cc