Geogrids are commonly made of polymer materials, such as polyester, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene or polypropylene. They may be woven or knitted from yarns, heat-welded from strips of material, or produced by punching a regular pattern of holes in sheets of material, then stretched into a grid.

Currently there are three categories of geogrids. The first, and original, geogrids (called unitized or homogeneous types, or more commonly referred to as 'punched and drawn geogrids') were invented by Dr Frank Brian Mercer[3] in the United Kingdom at Netlon, Ltd., and were brought in 1982 to North America by the Tensar Corporation. A conference in 1984 was helpful in bringing geogrids to the engineering design community.[4] A similar type of drawn geogrid which originated in Italy by Tenax is also available, as are products by new manufacturers in Asia.

The second category of geogrids are more flexible, textile-like geogrids using bundles of polyethylene-coated polyester fibres as the reinforcing component. They were first developed by ICI Linear Composites LTD in the United Kingdom around 1980. This led to the development of polyester yarn geogrids made on textile weaving machinery. In this process hundreds of continuous fibers are gathered together to form yarns which are woven into longitudinal and transverse ribs with large open spaces between. The cross-overs are joined by knitting or intertwining before the entire unit is protected by a subsequent coating. Bitumen, latex, or PVC are the usual coating materials. Geosynthetics within this group are manufactured by many companies having various trademarked products. There are possibly as many as 25 companies manufacturing coated yarn-type polyester geogrids on a worldwide basis.

The third category of geogrids are made by laser or ultrasonically bonding together polyester or polypropylene rods or straps in a gridlike pattern. Two manufacturers currently make such geogrids.

The geogrid sector is extremely active not only in manufacturing new products, but also in providing significant technical information to aid the design engineer.