Senior SEO & AEO Strategist — New York City Metropolitan Area

Senior SEO & AEO Strategist

Location

NYC (Hybrid — Madison Square Park office Tue–Thu)

Reports To

CEO or Analytics Lead

Comp

$125,000 – $140,000 per year

Benefits

Anthem BCBS Health, 401(k) Safe Harbor Match, Unlimited PTO

About HA5gaq

We’re HA5gaq: part creative studio, part production powerhouse, and all about solving real problems with smart, scalable solutions. From concept to commerce, we work with top-tier brands to create bold ideas and make them real across every touchpoint. We build things that move fast and scale smarter, and we have a lot of fun doing it.

We’re a team of strategists, creatives, devs, and doers who believe collaboration isn’t a buzzword; it’s our baseline. No egos. Just smart people making great work together.

The Role

HA5gaq is seeking an experienced, forward-thinking Senior SEO & AEO Strategist to lead organic search and AI discovery strategies for a number of large US-based e-commerce websites. This role bridges technical optimization, semantic content architecture, and AI visibility.

You will be responsible for measuring, optimizing, and scaling brand discoverability across both standard search engines (SEO) and Answer/Generative Engine ecosystems (AEO/GEO). You will partner directly with client stakeholders, strategy teams, copywriters, and developers to build authoritative, entity-first web experiences that rank in search and get cited in AI-generated answers.

Key Responsibilities

SEO & GEO Strategy & Leadership

• Own the organic search and AI discovery strategy for several major brand websites.

• Build and maintain the annual SEO/GEO roadmap, with quarterly strategy adjustments based on performance data.

• Set realistic growth targets using industry benchmarks and competitor performance.

• Serve as the day-to-day SEO/GEO lead for client stakeholders, including weekly status meetings.

• Manage incoming requests from clients, prioritizing against the strategic roadmap.

• Present at onsite quarterly and annual business reviews and contribute to executive leadership sessions.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) & GEO

• Audit brand presence across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI platforms.

• Identify high-impact prompts and queries where the brand should appear, and track them over time.

• Analyze which sources LLMs cite in the category and build plans to earn or influence those citations.

• Increase the frequency and accuracy of brand mentions and citations in AI-generated answers.

• Ensure priority content is discoverable and crawlable by AI web crawlers.

• Monitor LLM retrieval changes, generative UI shifts, and new AI search behaviors to update agency playbooks.

Technical SEO

• Lead end-to-end technical audits covering crawlability, indexation, rendering, site architecture, crawl depth, Core Web Vitals, and mobile responsiveness.

• Run daily technical monitoring: status codes, crawl rate, internal linking, and indexation changes.

• Optimize site architecture and internal linking across homepage, category (PLP), product (PDP), and custom landing page templates.

• Diagnose JavaScript rendering issues and work with engineering teams on server-side fixes.

• Write clear, prioritized technical tickets for development teams and QA fixes post-release.

• Support CMS updates, template changes, URL redirects, and platform migrations.

Keyword, SERP & Competitive Research

• Run bi-weekly keyword research covering branded and non-branded terms, mapping keywords to relevant target pages.

• Conduct bi-weekly audits for target keywords, diagnose ranking movements, and adjust strategies accordingly.

• Build semantic topic clusters and identify high-intent opportunities competitors miss.

• Conduct ongoing competitor analysis: keyword positioning, content strategy, backlink profiles, site strengths, and weaknesses.

• Perform searcher intent analysis to confirm content matches the intent behind target keywords and prompts.

On-Page & Content Optimization

• Deliver weekly on-page recommendations: title tags, meta descriptions, header structures, image alt text, and internal/external links.

• Run content gap analyses against competitors and recommend new target pages and topics.

• Write detailed SEO/GEO content briefs for copywriters and creative teams.

• Write and edit SEO copy: metadata, on-page text, FAQ sections, and footer copy.

• Provide metadata recommendations for promotional events and seasonal campaigns.

• Establish refresh workflows to update legacy content for modern search and generative extraction.

Analytics, Measurement & Reporting

• Build and maintain comprehensive SEO/GEO performance dashboards.

• Track conventional KPIs: organic traffic, impressions, keyword rankings, branded search volume, conversions, and revenue.

• Track emerging AI visibility KPIs: brand visibility share, share of voice, citation rate, mention accuracy, and sentiment.

• Deliver monthly and quarterly performance reports highlighting insights, completed work, upcoming initiatives, and strategic recommendations.

• Produce ad hoc analysis and presentation decks for executive leadership.

• Translate complex search dynamics and datasets into clear, actionable recommendations.

Qualifications

Experience

• 5 to 8+ years of dedicated SEO experience.

• 1 to 2+ years actively executing, testing, or measuring AEO/GEO strategies.

• Experience working with global brands and coordinating with regional or global HQ teams is a strong plus.

Technical Skills

• Expert Technical SEO: Crawling, indexation, rendering, canonicalization, pagination, faceted navigation, redirects, etc.

• Strong understanding of how search engine crawlers and LLM scrapers discover, render, and ingest content.

• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript sufficient to diagnose technical issues and brief development teams.

• Solid grasp of Core Web Vitals and front-end performance optimization.

• Hands-on experience performing server log file analysis.

• Familiarity with enterprise CMS and e-commerce platforms.

Tools & Platforms

• SEO & AI Visibility: Semrush, Ahrefs, Profound (or comparable AI visibility platform).

• Analytics & Crawling: Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Screaming Frog, Sitebulb.

• Reporting & Data: Looker Studio, Advanced Excel / Google Sheets (BigQuery experience is a plus).

Content & Communication

• Strong SEO copywriting, editing, and content brief creation skills.

• Proven track record presenting strategy to Director, VP, and C-suite stakeholders.

• Ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.

• Excellent slide deck design and data storytelling capabilities.

• Assertive communication style with an ability to push back constructively using data and manage competing stakeholder priorities.

Education

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in computer science, engineering, data science, marketing, or a related field.

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Culture: A collaborative environment built on trust, creativity, and zero ego.

• Impact: Work on high-profile projects that push industry boundaries across brand, content, and e-commerce.

• Growth: Real opportunities for professional growth in an agency embracing the future of AI discovery.

• Perks: Competitive salary, comprehensive healthcare coverage, unlimited PTO, 401(k) match, and fully stocked office snacks.