So, here's what we know of the "higher authorities" of the Mario universe:
1. Geno's Higher Authority. They manage the Star Road (which grants wishes), and Geno is an agent of their civilization. They are fully aware of Smithy and his inter-dimensional gang of living weaponry and planetary conquerors. (Space is rather vast, but it would be interesting to know if Rosalina ever encountered Exor as she traveled the cosmos on her Comet Observatory. Would be a fascinating incident, though quite troublesome on Rosalina's part.) Geno, again being an agent of this civilization, intentionally withheld information on them from Mario, Bowser, Peach and Mallow. Take note that three of these—Peach, Bowser, and Mallow—are all primary royals of specific kingdoms. Mallow is literally the prince of the sky, his kingdom is closest to the Star Road, and Bowser's Kingdom is directly under the Star Road and is the target of Smithy's invasion force.
Geno is the only star being whose association is hush-hush, as if it's far beyond confidential to speak about with the planet dwellers/non-star beings.
2. The Star Spirits. They watch over the Star Rod from their place in Star Haven, and also grant wishes themselves. Each Star Spirit, in tandem, can all grant wishes, but the Star Rod by itself can grant any wish of its wielder. The Star Haven is located up in the atmosphere like the Star Road is. Mario actually gets to visit Star Haven and even gets to learn a lot about the Star Spirits, as they make a point to speak with Mario as candidly as possible. Nothing is confidential for them and any and all information they can share with Mario proves to be to their benefit. A thing to note, however, is that as of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the canon for Paper Mario and Super Mario has been divided. Which makes the existence of the Star Spirits, Star Haven, and the Star Rod to be exclusively in the Paper Mario world... until you play Mario Party 5, which takes place in the Super Mario world, and the Star Spirits (the exact ones from Paper Mario) were the hosts of the Party. Thus, the Star Spirits are proven to exist simultaneously in both the Paper Mario world and the Super Mario world.
3. The Star Sprites. Starlow is one of these beings, and they are the group that sealed away the Dark Star. This is really all that's known about them. It's not even mentioned if they can grant wishes or not or what sort of an authority they are in comparison to the other Star being associations. But they're mentioned by name, an image of them sealing the Dark Star is shown, and Starlow is a prominent (and a somewhat overused) member of their society.
Now, I do not think it needs to be mentioned but I will mention it just in case: Princess Rosalina is not a higher authority like these three listed here (if the Star Sprites even count as a higher authority). She's merely a space nomad whom adopts Lumas. If Geno and Rosalina were ever to meet, he'd likely treat her with the same respect he gave Peach, Mallow, and Bowser, but wouldn't refer to her in any sort of authoritative manner. She's just another person living in their universe.
None of these higher authorities seem to have anything to do with each other, unless Geno's higher authority was revealed to be either the Star Spirits or Star Sprites all along, but it would contradict the story told to us in M&L:BIS, PM64, and SMRPG. The Star Spirits do not manage the Star Road that Geno had to reconstruct. The Star Sprites only sealed away the Dark Star, and Starlow herself has "star power" but its not clarified in its function.
TL;DR: the Mario series has a confusing and overly complicated Cosmic Pantheon that needs to get their stories straight. This doesn't even cover all the individual star beings that pop-up here and there like the Millennium Star from Mario Party 3, whom has apparently the authority to declare the undisputed "Superstar of the Universe." It may not mean much, but Geno is technically the first Star being Mario ever encountered and thus set the bar pretty high for what we expect of agents like him.
