Geist serves on many boards, including Ingenium, Internet Archive Canada, and the EFF Advisory Board. He is the chair of Waterfront Toronto's Digital Strategy Advisory Panel. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2018 and was awarded the Vox Libera Award for his contribution to freedom of expression by Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression (CJFE) in 2018. He has received numerous other awards for his work including the University of Ottawa Open Access Award in 2016, Kroeger Award for Policy Leadership and the Public Knowledge IP3 Award in 2010, the Les Fowlie Award for Intellectual Freedom from the Ontario Library Association in 2009, the EFF's Pioneer Award in 2008, and Canarie's IWAY Public Leadership Award for his contribution to the development of the Internet in Canada. Geist was named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 in 2002. In 2010, he was listed globally as one of the top fifty influential people in regard to intellectual property by Managing Intellectual Property. Canadian Lawyer named him one of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada in 2011, 2012, and 2013.