diff --git a/src/hyperactive/opt/_adapters/_gfo.py b/src/hyperactive/opt/_adapters/_gfo.py
index 5edd81c9..d2da74c1 100644
--- a/src/hyperactive/opt/_adapters/_gfo.py
+++ b/src/hyperactive/opt/_adapters/_gfo.py
@@ -23,11 +23,14 @@ class _BaseGFOadapter(BaseOptimizer):
     _tags = {
         "authors": "SimonBlanke",
         "python_dependencies": ["gradient-free-optimizers>=1.5.0"],
+        "capability:categorical": "encoded",
     }
 
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
 
+        self._categorical_mappings = {}
+
         if self.initialize is None:
             self._initialize = {"grid": 4, "random": 2, "vertices": 4}
         else:
@@ -87,8 +90,18 @@ def _handle_gfo_defaults(self, search_config):
     def _to_dict_np(self, search_space):
         """Coerce the search space to a format suitable for gfo optimizers.
 
-        gfo expects dicts of numpy arrays, not lists.
-        This method coerces lists or tuples in the search space to numpy arrays.
+        gfo expects dicts of numpy arrays, not lists. This method coerces
+        lists or tuples in the search space to numpy arrays.
+
+        In addition, this handles categorical dimensions by encoding them to
+        consecutive integers, while keeping track of the original levels in
+        ``self._categorical_mappings`` for decoding during evaluation and when
+        returning ``best_params_``. A dimension is treated as categorical if
+        its dtype is non-numeric (string, object, or boolean).
+
+        Note: ``np.unique`` sorts values, so the encoding is not order-preserving.
+        For example, ``["rbf", "linear"]`` becomes ``["linear", "rbf"]`` with
+        indices ``[1, 0]}``.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -108,9 +121,50 @@ def coerce_to_numpy(arr):
                 return np.array(arr)
             return arr
 
-        coerced_search_space = {k: coerce_to_numpy(v) for k, v in search_space.items()}
+        self._categorical_mappings = {}
+        coerced_search_space = {}
+
+        for key, value in search_space.items():
+            arr = coerce_to_numpy(value)
+
+            if arr.dtype.kind in ("O", "U", "S", "b"):
+                unique_vals, inverse = np.unique(arr, return_inverse=True)
+                self._categorical_mappings[key] = list(unique_vals)
+                coerced_search_space[key] = inverse.astype(int)
+            else:
+                coerced_search_space[key] = arr
+
         return coerced_search_space
 
+    def _decode_categoricals(self, params):
+        """Decode integer-encoded categoricals back to original levels.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        params : dict
+            Parameter dict as used inside the optimizer/backend.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        dict
+            Parameter dict with any encoded categoricals mapped back to their
+            original values, if mappings are present.
+        """
+        if not self._categorical_mappings:
+            return params
+
+        decoded = dict(params)
+        for key, categories in self._categorical_mappings.items():
+            if key not in decoded:
+                continue
+            try:
+                idx = int(decoded[key])
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                continue
+            if 0 <= idx < len(categories):
+                decoded[key] = categories[idx]
+        return decoded
+
     def _solve(self, experiment, **search_config):
         """Run the optimization search process.
 
@@ -133,13 +187,20 @@ def _solve(self, experiment, **search_config):
         gfo_cls = self._get_gfo_class()
         gfopt = gfo_cls(**search_config)
 
+        def _objective(params):
+            decoded_params = self._decode_categoricals(params)
+            score, _ = experiment.score(decoded_params)
+            return score
+
         with StdoutMute(active=not self.verbose):
             gfopt.search(
-                objective_function=experiment.score,
+                objective_function=_objective,
                 n_iter=n_iter,
                 max_time=max_time,
             )
+
         best_params = gfopt.best_para
+        best_params = self._decode_categoricals(best_params)
         return best_params
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/hyperactive/tests/test_all_objects.py b/src/hyperactive/tests/test_all_objects.py
index 559af35d..fce923bf 100644
--- a/src/hyperactive/tests/test_all_objects.py
+++ b/src/hyperactive/tests/test_all_objects.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 # default is False, can be set to True by pytest --only_changed_modules True flag
 ONLY_CHANGED_MODULES = False
 
-
 class PackageConfig:
     """Contains package config variables for test classes."""
 
@@ -50,9 +49,10 @@ class PackageConfig:
         "info:local_vs_global",  # "local", "mixed", "global"
         "info:explore_vs_exploit",  # "explore", "exploit", "mixed"
         "info:compute",  # "low", "middle", "high"
+        # capabilities
+        "capability:categorical",
     ]
 
-
 class BaseFixtureGenerator(PackageConfig, _BaseFixtureGenerator):
     """Fixture generator for base testing functionality in sktime.
 
@@ -134,7 +134,6 @@ def softdeps_present(obj):
     # which sequence the conditional fixtures are generated in
     fixture_sequence = ["object_class", "object_instance"]
 
-
 class TestAllObjects(BaseFixtureGenerator, _TestAllObjects):
     """Generic tests for all objects in the package."""
 
@@ -167,7 +166,6 @@ def test_valid_object_tags(self, object_instance):
 
         super().test_valid_object_class_tags(object_instance)
 
-
 class ExperimentFixtureGenerator(BaseFixtureGenerator):
     """Fixture generator for experiments.
 
@@ -182,7 +180,6 @@ class ExperimentFixtureGenerator(BaseFixtureGenerator):
 
     object_type_filter = "experiment"
 
-
 class TestAllExperiments(ExperimentFixtureGenerator, _QuickTester):
     """Module level tests for all experiment classes."""
 
@@ -238,7 +235,6 @@ def test_score_function(self, object_class):
             elif sign_tag == "lower" and det_tag == "deterministic":
                 assert score == -e_score
 
-
 class OptimizerFixtureGenerator(BaseFixtureGenerator):
     """Fixture generator for optimizers.
 
@@ -253,7 +249,6 @@ class OptimizerFixtureGenerator(BaseFixtureGenerator):
 
     object_type_filter = "optimizer"
 
-
 class TestAllOptimizers(OptimizerFixtureGenerator, _QuickTester):
     """Module level tests for all optimizer classes."""
 
@@ -349,6 +344,43 @@ def test_gfo_integration(self, object_instance):
         assert "C" in best_params, "Best parameters should contain 'C'"
         assert "gamma" in best_params, "Best parameters should contain 'gamma'"
 
+    def test_gfo_categorical_encoding(self, object_instance):
+        """GFO optimizers should handle categoricals via internal encoding."""
+        from hyperactive.opt._adapters._gfo import _BaseGFOadapter
+
+        if not isinstance(object_instance, _BaseGFOadapter):
+            return None
+
+        import numpy as np
+        from sklearn.datasets import load_iris
+        from sklearn.svm import SVC
+
+        from hyperactive.experiment.integrations import SklearnCvExperiment
+
+        X, y = load_iris(return_X_y=True)
+        sklearn_exp = SklearnCvExperiment(estimator=SVC(), X=X, y=y)
+
+        search_space = {
+            "C": np.array([0.1, 1.0]),
+            "kernel": np.array(["linear", "rbf"]),
+        }
+        _config = {
+            "search_space": search_space,
+            "n_iter": 5,
+            "experiment": sklearn_exp,
+        }
+        optimizer = object_instance.clone().set_params(**_config)
+        optimizer.solve()
+        best_params = optimizer.best_params_
+
+        assert isinstance(best_params, dict)
+        assert "kernel" in best_params
+        assert best_params["kernel"] in {"linear", "rbf"}
+
+        # Verify internal categorical mappings were populated correctly
+        assert "kernel" in optimizer._categorical_mappings
+        assert set(optimizer._categorical_mappings["kernel"]) == {"linear", "rbf"}
+
     def test_selection_direction_backend(self, object_instance):
         """Backends return argmax over standardized scores on controlled setup.
 
@@ -462,3 +494,4 @@ def _assert_good(best_params):
 
         # For other backends, no-op here; targeted direction tests live elsewhere
         return None
+