Head of SEO, AEO & Local Search

Discover your 100% YOU with MicroSourcing!
Position: Head of SEO, AEO & Local Search
Work setup: Work from home
Why join MicroSourcing?
You'll have:

• Competitive Rewards: Enjoy above-market compensation, healthcare coverage on day one, plus one or more dependents, paid time-off with cash conversion, group life insurance, and performance bonuses

• A Collaborative Spirit: Contribute to a positive and engaging work environment by participating in company-sponsored events and activities.

• Work-Life Harmony: Enjoy the balance between work and life that suits you with flexible work arrangements.

• Career Growth: Take advantage of opportunities for continuous learning and career advancement.

• Inclusive Teamwork: Be part of a team that celebrates diversity and fosters an inclusive culture.

Position Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced Head of SEO, AEO & Local Search to take full ownership of the company's search strategy, products, processes, team, and client results.
This is not a traditional SEO execution role. The successful candidate will inherit an existing SEO and Local SEO foundation, enhance it significantly, and develop a scalable search operation covering:

• Traditional SEO

• Technical SEO

• Local SEO

• Google Business Profile Optimization

• Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and AI Search Visibility

• Search Atlas Workflows

• Content and Landing Page Strategy

• Reporting and Quality Assurance

• AI Agents and Workflow Automation

The ideal candidate is both strategic and hands-on, capable of leading the SEO function while actively performing audits, reviewing campaigns, improving systems, training team members, and building AI-enabled workflows.
Key Responsibilities
Department Leadership

• Own the overall direction and performance of the company's SEO, AEO, and Local SEO services.

• Lead, mentor, and develop the existing SEO team.

• Establish department standards, workflows, documentation, quality controls, and accountability.

• Identify staffing, training, process, and technology needs.

• Collaborate with leadership to improve and expand the company's search products.

• Serve as the primary internal authority on SEO strategy, technical recommendations, Local SEO, and AEO.

SEO Strategy & Execution

• Develop comprehensive SEO strategies for automotive dealerships and multi-location clients.

• Perform and oversee:
• Technical SEO audits

• Keyword research

• Competitive analysis

• Content planning

• On-page optimization

• Improve:
• Crawlability

• Indexation

• Site architecture

• Internal linking

• Schema markup

• Page speed

• Overall technical health

• Develop scalable content strategies that support rankings, lead generation, and business goals.

• Monitor organic performance and provide actionable recommendations.

• Stay current with Google algorithm updates and industry developments.

Local SEO

• Lead Local SEO strategy across Google Business Profiles and other local search platforms.

• Improve:
• Local Pack visibility

• Location relevance

• Reviews and citations

• Localized content

• Location page performance

• Develop scalable systems for multi-location businesses and dealership networks.

• Build quality assurance processes for:
• Listings

• Categories

• Services

• Products

• Photos

• Posts

• Reviews

• Location data

• Create repeatable Local SEO playbooks for multiple clients.

AEO & AI Search Visibility

• Develop the company's Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and generative search strategy.

• Improve client visibility across AI-powered search and answer platforms.

• Structure content for discoverability, citations, summaries, and AI-generated search results.

• Create processes to measure:
• AI search visibility

• Brand mentions

• Citations

• Entity strength

• Answer coverage

• Ensure the company remains aligned with evolving AI search trends.

Search Atlas Management

• Own the strategic implementation and optimization of Search Atlas.

• Improve platform usage for:
• Technical audits

• Content optimization

• Reporting

• Local SEO

• Workflow management

• Build standardized templates and processes.

• Train team members on Search Atlas best practices.

• Evaluate recommendations based on business impact rather than tool-generated suggestions alone.

• Identify integration opportunities with internal automation systems.

AI Agents & Workflow Automation

• Design, build, test, and improve AI agents that automate repeatable SEO tasks.

• Collaborate with the Technology & Innovation team to integrate AI agents into internal workflows.

• Determine which SEO processes should be automated, augmented, or remain human-led.

• Build or oversee AI agents for:
• Technical SEO audits

• Keyword and competitor research

• Content briefs

• Content QA

• Internal linking recommendations

• Schema recommendations

• Local SEO audits

• Google Business Profile monitoring

• Location page analysis

• Reporting and insights

• Anomaly detection

• Task creation and prioritization

• Establish guardrails and review processes to ensure quality and accuracy.

• Measure improvements in quality, speed, consistency, and operational efficiency.

Product & Process Development

• Develop standardized SEO products, workflows, and documentation.

• Create SOPs, checklists, templates, QA systems, and service standards.

• Help shape the future of the company's SEO, AEO, and Local SEO offerings.

• Reduce manual work and inconsistent execution.

• Collaborate with the Technology & Innovation team on internal tools, dashboards, integrations, and AI solutions.

Reporting & Quality Assurance

• Define KPIs that accurately measure search performance and business outcomes.

• Improve reporting for leadership, client services, and clients.

• Review work for strategic quality, technical accuracy, and brand compliance.

• Identify underperforming accounts and implement corrective action plans.

• Build dashboards that provide visibility into department performance.

• Ensure recommendations are implemented accurately and tracked through completion.

Qualifications
Required

• Minimum 10 years of professional SEO experience (10–15 years preferred).

• Proven leadership experience managing an SEO department, product, team, or large client portfolio.

• Strong hands-on experience in:
• Technical SEO

• On-page SEO

• Content strategy

• Local SEO

• Google Business Profile Optimization

• Keyword research

• Competitive analysis

• Schema markup

• Internal linking

• SEO audits

• Analytics and reporting

• Hands-on experience using Search Atlas or a comparable enterprise SEO platform.

• Demonstrated experience designing and building AI agents.

• Ability to explain:
• AI agents developed

• Technologies and frameworks used

• Business processes automated

• Testing and monitoring approach

• Measurable business outcomes

• Experience using:
• Search Atlas

• Google Search Console

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

• Google Business Profile

• Screaming Frog

• Ahrefs

• SEMrush

• Local Falcon, BrightLocal, or similar Local SEO platforms

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.

• Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

• Ability to lead teams while remaining hands-on.

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment while adopting emerging AI technologies.

AI Agent Experience
Qualifying AI-agent development experience includes one or more of the following:

• Claude or Anthropic APIs

• OpenAI / ChatGPT APIs

• Gemini

• Python

• JavaScript / TypeScript

• n8n

• Make

• Zapier

• LangChain

• LangGraph

• CrewAI

• API integrations

• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

• Structured workflows with human approval

• Custom internal tools or applications

Note: Simple prompting or occasional use of ChatGPT does not qualify as AI-agent development experience.
Preferred Qualifications

• Automotive marketing or automotive retail experience.

• Agency experience managing multiple client accounts.

• Experience supporting multi-location businesses.

• Experience with dealership websites, inventory management, Google Business Profiles, and local market competition.

• Experience building internal tools, scripts, automations, or integrations.

• Familiarity with APIs, webhooks, databases, and structured data.

• Experience collaborating with developers and product teams.

• Experience with AEO, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), entity optimization, or AI search measurement.

• Experience improving an existing SEO department rather than building one from scratch.

• Experience presenting strategy and results to leadership or clients.

First 90 Days
The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Audit the current SEO, AEO, and Local SEO operations.

• Learn the existing team, clients, tools, workflows, deliverables, and reporting processes.

• Identify quality, performance, staffing, and process gaps.

• Take ownership of department priorities and client outcomes.

• Develop a clear SEO/AEO/Local SEO improvement roadmap.

• Standardize core workflows and quality assurance processes.

• Improve Search Atlas utilization across the department.

• Identify the first AI automation opportunities.

• Build or launch at least one practical AI-assisted SEO workflow or agent.

• Establish department KPIs and reporting standards.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Success in this role will be measured by:

• Improvement in organic visibility and qualified organic traffic

• Improvement in Local Pack and Google Business Profile performance

• Stronger client lead generation and conversion outcomes

• Improved technical SEO health

• Increased quality and consistency of execution

• Reduced manual work and duplicated effort

• Improved turnaround time

• Stronger team accountability and development

• Documented and scalable SEO processes

• Adoption and measurable impact of AI agents

• Improved reporting and leadership visibility

• Strong client retention and confidence in the company's search services

Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is:

• A senior SEO expert who still enjoys hands-on execution.

• A strong operational leader who can improve an existing department.

• Adaptable and excited about AI, automation, and the future of search.

• Able to distinguish valuable automation from unreliable shortcuts.

• Comfortable leading people and collaborating with developers.

• Process-oriented without becoming bureaucratic.

• Curious, accountable, practical, results-driven, and interested in building long-term success within the organization.

–
About MicroSourcing

With over 9,000 professionals across 13 delivery centers, MicroSourcing is the pioneer and largest offshore provider of managed services in the Philippines.
Our commitment to 100% YOU
MicroSourcing firmly believes that our company's strength lies in our people's diversity and talent. We are proud to foster an inclusive culture that embraces individuals of all races, genders, ethnicities, abilities, and backgrounds. We provide space for everyone, embracing different perspectives, and making room for opportunities for each individual to thrive.
At MicroSourcing, equality is not merely a slogan – it's our commitment. Our way of life. Here, we don't just accept your unique authentic self - we celebrate it, valuing every individual's contribution to our collective success and growth. Join us in celebrating YOU and your 100%!
For more information, visit
*Terms & conditions apply
Originally posted on Himalayas