AI First SEO Specialist for Backlinks, LLM Mentions and GEO (Ecommerce) - Contract to Hire

We run fast growing ecommerce brands in the poultry, pet and homesteading space. Our customers are hobbyists, homesteaders, small farms and institutions who buy equipment online. We are looking for a long term SEO specialist who is growth minded, strong at backlinks and digital PR, and already thinking about how AI will change SEO, AIO, GEO and the way people shop in the future. Role Overview-Your core mission is to grow qualified organic traffic, backlinks, brand authority and AI mentions across our sites.This role is focused on:- Backlink acquisition and digital PR- LLM and AI search visibility- GEO, AIO and future of shopping- Analytics, experimentation and reporting-This is an implementation heavy role. You should enjoy doing the work: research, outreach, experimentation and clear reporting. Responsibilities1. Backlink Acquisition and Digital PR- Design and run ethical, scalable backlink and brand mention campaigns. - Build and manage outreach lists for publishers, bloggers, influencers, communities and niche media.- Create and pitch digital PR style campaigns that earn coverage, links and citations from high authority sites. - Develop repeatable outreach templates and processes, not one off campaigns. - Monitor backlink profile health, spot gaps or risks, disavow toxic links when needed and report on authority growth. 2. LLM and AI Search Visibility- Develop strategies to increase our presence in AI generated results such as AIO (AI Overviews), Bing Copilot, Perplexity and LLM based assistants like ChatGPT. - Structure content, data and brand information so LLMs can easily understand and reference our brand, products and expertise.- Experiment with knowledge graphs, structured data, FAQs, long form expert content and citations to improve mention rates in AI tools. - Test how our brand appears in different AI products and recommend changes to improve clarity, usefulness and trust. - Track where and how our brand is mentioned in AI outputs and use insights to refine strategy. 3. GEO, AIO and Future of Shopping- Own local and GEO focused SEO where relevant, including location pages, Google Business Profile, map listings and localized content.- Research how people in different regions search for our products and build content for those patterns. - Stay close to how shoppers use AI assistants to research, compare and select products, and suggest content experiments for these new journeys. - Coordinate with paid, email and marketplace teams so organic GEO and AIO efforts support overall performance. 4. Analytics, Experimentation and Reporting- Manage KPIs around organic growth, such as organic sessions, revenue, conversion rate, rankings, backlinks, authority and AI mentions.- Use data from Google Search Console, Google Analytics and SEO tools to drive decisions. - Run experiments and tests with clear goals and learning outcomes. - Present insights and next steps in a clear and practical way, not just screenshots, ai slop or raw exports. Requirements- 3 or more years of hands on SEO experience, ideally with ecommerce brands. - Proven track record of growing organic traffic and revenue, not just rankings. - Demonstrated success with backlink acquisition and digital PR outreach.- Strong understanding of technical SEO fundamentals: crawling, indexing, internal linking, canonicalization, site speed, Core Web Vitals and structured data. Confident with tools such as:- Google Search Console and Google Analytics- Ahrefs or Semrush- Screaming Frog or similar crawlers- Working knowledge of how AI and LLMs are changing search results, AIO and buyer journeys. - Ability to use AI tools to speed up keyword clustering, SERP analysis, content briefs, outreach research and reporting.- Strong written English and clear communication. - Organized, comfortable working with SOPs, checklists and project tools such as ClickUp, Asana or similar. - Growth mindset, curiosity and a bias toward testing and learning. Nice To Have- Experience with Shopify or similar ecommerce platforms. - Experience with marketplace SEO such as Amazon or Walmart. - Familiarity with BI tools such as Looker Studio, Power BI or similar. - Experience getting brands mentioned or integrated in external knowledge bases, comparison sites or AI search tools.- Basic HTML or front end knowledge. Engagement Details- Type: Ongoing project, part time to start with potential to expand. - Hours: 10 to 20 hours per week with option to move toward full time. Rate:- 10 USD per hour for intermediate level- 15 USD per hour for expert level- In your proposal, please include:-- Why you are interested in working with us. -- A short note on how you think AI will change SEO and AIO over the next 12 to 24 months and how you would stay ahead of competitors. -- One or two examples of ecommerce sites where you grew organic traffic and revenue.Include before and after metrics if possible. -- A brief description of your backlink outreach process. -- Links to any case studies, dashboards or reports that show how you present SEO results. -- What brings you joy. It can be anything you want to tell us so we can get to know you before a potential interview. Start your proposal with the word ROOSTER so I know you read the full description. Apply tot his job