Oriana Solutions selected for the Startup Zone at HOP! 2026, hosted by the CQCD

Oriana Solutions is one of the 6 startups selected for the Startup Zone powered by Couche-Tard, a new space at the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail's (CQCD) HOP! 2026 Retail Summit. The date: October 27, 2026, at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal, in front of more than 1,200 retail executives and decision-makers.

Answers to the most common questions about this selection, before the details:

The Conseil québécois du commerce de détail (CQCD) has existed since 1975. Today, the organization brings together more than 5,000 commercial establishments and represents nearly 70% of the economic activity tied to retail in Quebec, making it the province's largest retailer group and its main interlocutor with governments.

Being chosen by the CQCD to represent artificial intelligence applied to retail is more than a marketing win: it's the organization that speaks for 5,000 Quebec retailers recognizing that GEO has become a serious enough issue to deserve its own showcase at HOP!.

New this year at HOP!, the Startup Zone powered by Couche-Tard showcases six companies transforming retail through technology, in front of the executives and decision-makers gathered for the 32nd edition of Quebec's largest annual retail event. Oriana Solutions represents artificial intelligence applied to digital visibility.

The zone is made possible by a partnership between the CQCD and Couche-Tard, a Quebec company with international reach.

The 32nd edition of HOP! brings together more than 1,200 attendees, 60 speakers and more than 40 conferences and activities, with about fifty exhibiting partners on-site. Confirmed speakers include executives from Club Piscine, Psycho Bunny, SAQ and Walmart, alongside experts in retail operations, e-commerce, human resources and technology.

New this edition: the AI Stage, a stage entirely dedicated to artificial intelligence's impact on retail, with talks on trends, practical applications and customer journey innovation. That's the spirit behind the Startup Zone powered by Couche-Tard, where Oriana Solutions will present its GEO solution.

Demand is growing fast, but most businesses simply don't know how to influence their appearance in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or other AI agents. Unlike SEO, whose levers have been known for 20 years, GEO remains murky for most business leaders: they know their customers are asking an AI, but not what makes one business get cited over another.

On its page dedicated to HOP! 2026 exhibitors, the CQCD describes Oriana Solutions as a Quebec firm specialized in digital visibility, SEO and optimization for AI search engines, that helps businesses, particularly in retail, improve their presence on Google. It's expertise built over more than a year: a free 10-chapter GEO training, a GEO certification for Quebec entrepreneurs and SMEs, and GEO Monitor, the tool that measures and improves a business's visibility in AI engines.

It's also expertise applied daily: Oriana Solutions already supports clients like Éval+ (143 local pages built, 42 new clients generated), Dany St-Pierre CPA and Axis Consultation en santé intégrative with their search engine optimization and AI visibility.

SEO optimizes a site to rank well in Google's traditional search results. GEO optimizes the same content so it's understood, cited and recommended by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity, which don't return a list of links but a direct answer, often a single recommended business. It's complementary work, built on solid SEO foundations, but it calls for different instincts.

Why it's urgent: according to the CQCD, nearly one in four Quebecers already use AI to research and compare products before buying, a share that keeps growing. At Oriana Solutions, some weeks, close to half of our new clients and our revenue come directly from ChatGPT, Claude or other AI agents, a share that was close to zero just two years ago. If an AI doesn't recommend your business when asked, it recommends a competitor instead, often without you ever knowing.

Concretely, the Oriana Solutions team won't just be exhibiting. In the Startup Zone, the role is to meet the retailers and SME leaders on-site, understand where they currently stand and where they land in AI answers, then offer an audit and a concrete action plan to improve their GEO visibility, the same approach already applied with our clients.

No sales pitch: the goal is to give every leader who stops by our booth a clear picture of where they stand today, and what's worth doing first.

Oriana Solutions' selection for HOP! 2026 is part of a bigger movement. Montreal and Quebec are investing heavily in AI applied to business, from major hubs like Ax.c at Place Victoria to sector initiatives like the CQCD's. Retail in particular is going through accelerated digital transformation: inventory management, customer experience, e-commerce, and now visibility in AI engines.

For Quebec SMEs that don't have the budget or team of a major banner, this ecosystem (incubators, funds, associations like the CQCD, specialized agencies) becomes a shortcut to keep up. That's exactly the space Oriana Solutions is trying to fill: making GEO accessible to SMEs, not just to large companies that can afford a dedicated team.

Do you run a retail business and want to know where you stand in AI answers? The Oriana Solutions team will be on-site all day on October 27, 2026, at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal, in the Startup Zone powered by Couche-Tard.

You can also see Oriana Solutions' page among the HOP! 2026 exhibitors on the CQCD's website.

Being chosen by the CQCD for the Startup Zone powered by Couche-Tard is a recognition for the Oriana Solutions team, but more importantly, a chance to talk directly to hundreds of leaders facing the same question our clients do every day: how to stay visible as search changes shape. We can't wait to be there.

While you wait for October 27, you can explore our digital visibility and GEO / AI optimization services, or use GEO Monitor to see where you stand right now.