AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Manager

Marcel Digital•Chicago, IL

4d•$80,000 - $100,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Marcel Digital is seeking an AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Manager to join their team. This role is responsible for generating qualified leads and driving revenue for B2B clients by ensuring their visibility and favorable representation within AI-powered answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, Copilot, and Gemini. The position requires a blend of strategic planning and technical execution, including structured content architecture, entity and schema optimization, and content development tailored for retrieval and citation by large language models. The AEO Manager will analyze brand representation in AI-generated answers, identify growth opportunities, and implement AEO strategies aligned with client marketing and sales objectives. Collaboration with paid media, analytics, and development teams is expected to deliver integrated, revenue-driving solutions.

Requirements

1-3+ years of hands-on experience in AEO / AI search optimization, ideally within a B2B agency or demand-gen environment.
Proven ability to connect AEO performance, citation frequency, AI-driven referral traffic, share of voice in AI-generated answers, with lead gen and revenue outcomes.
Deep understanding of how AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, Copilot, Gemini) retrieve, summarize, and cite content, including entity optimization, structured data, and content architecture built for LLM readability.
Proficiency with AI-visibility and citation-tracking platforms (e.g., Profound, Otterly.ai, Peec AI, or Semrush's AI visibility toolkit), plus GA4 and Looker Studio for measuring AI-referral traffic and downstream outcomes.
Experience using AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.) both as the platforms you're optimizing for and as working tools to accelerate content creation and workflow.
Strong strategic thinking and storytelling ability.
Independent, self-motivated, and comfortable managing multiple projects across industries.
Experience working on a team, for both thought partnership and delegation.

Nice To Haves

A background in technical SEO or content strategy is a valuable foundation.
Comfort navigating CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own AEO performance with a revenue growth mindset, driving strategies to increase client citation frequency, accuracy, and favorability in AI answer engines, and converting visibility into qualified leads.
Act as a strategic thought partner to clients, participating in conversations as an expert and advisor, aligning AEO strategy with business objectives, and adapting tactics to evolving answer engines.
Deliver full-spectrum AEO solutions, including technical audits of AI-bot crawlability and structured data, and content gap analyses for direct-answer and citation-worthy formats.
Compile insights and reports that connect AI-answer visibility and citation performance to pipeline growth, sales conversations, and strategic goals.
Lead with curiosity and courage, experimenting with new AI platforms and tracking LLM content sourcing and citation to evolve agency strategies.
Effectively manage multiple client engagements with competing priorities and timelines, evaluating opportunities based on business impact and communicating tradeoffs.
Leverage team members for thought partnership and delegation to achieve results across accounts.