Yes, I believe there was a paper that hillclimbing with random restarts almost always did better than genetic algorithms.<p>However does it really matter? It might save a little bit of time at best. But almost everyone has heard of genetic algorithms, so it&#x27;s easier to talk about, than talking about particle swarm optimizations or whatever. Also genetic algorithms tend to excite people in a way that other metaheuristics just don&#x27;t. People are fascinated with genetic algorithms, not so much with hillclimbing.