AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Manager

Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

$80K/yr – $100K/yrMid Level3+ years expFull time

Posted 9 days ago

Job Summary

Own AEO performance and client-facing strategy, partner with clients, and deliver end-to-end AEO solutions that drive pipeline and revenue.

  • Own performance strategy and lead generation outcomes
  • Partner with clients to align with business objectives
  • Deliver technical audits and content optimization for AI-answer visibility

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Performance & Strategy Own AEO performance with a revenue growth mindset. You'll drive strategies designed to increase how often, how accurately, and how favorably clients are cited, summarized, or recommended by AI answer engines — and convert that visibility into qualified leads.
  • Strategic Client Partnership Be a strategic thought partner to our clients. You'll participate in client conversations as an expert and advisor, uncovering the "why" behind the "what," aligning AEO strategy with business objectives, and evolving tactics as answer engines and their retrieval behavior continue to change.
  • Technical & Content Execution Deliver full-spectrum AEO solutions. From technical audits of AI-bot crawlability and structured data (schema markup, llms.txt, content architecture) to content gap analyses built for direct-answer and citation-worthy formats, your work will be both precise and strategic.
  • Client Engagement & Storytelling Make AEO results meaningful. You'll compile insights and reports that not only inform but inspire action, connecting AI-answer visibility and citation performance directly to pipeline growth, sales conversations, and strategic goals.
  • Innovation & Thought Leadership Lead with curiosity and courage. You'll help push AEO forward, both for our clients and for the agency. From experimenting with new AI platforms to tracking how LLMs source and cite content, you'll keep your finger on the pulse of what's next and make sure our strategies evolve ahead of the curve.
  • Prioritization Effectively manage multiple client engagements with competing priorities and timelines. You'll evaluate opportunities based on business impact, align efforts to what will drive the greatest return, and clearly communicate tradeoffs both internally and with clients.
  • At Marcel we work in teams. Each account will have multiple team members helping drive success. Some may act as thought partners and some will be asked to delegate work to. A strong candidate will know how to leverage their whole team to get results.

Requirements

  • 1-3+ years of hands-on experience in AEO / AI search optimization, ideally within a B2B agency or demand-gen environment. A background in technical SEO or content strategy is a valuable foundation, but this role is focused on AI-answer visibility rather than traditional organic search.
  • 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.
  • Comfort navigating CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce is a plus.
  • 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 — you know how to frame AEO success in the language of business.
  • Independent, self-motivated, and comfortable managing multiple projects across industries.
  • Experience working on a team, for both thought partnership and delegation.

Preferred

  • Comfort navigating CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce is a plus.
  • 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.

Benefits

  • In exchange for your contributions, Marcel offers a competitive salary, great benefits, and a casual, laid-back, and fun work environment. But more than that, you get the autonomy to work independently and solve the problems that get in your way. You get a voice in the development process and an environment that encourages you to master the latest trends.

Marcel Digital

Marcel Digital is a premier B2B digital marketing and web development agency purpose-built to drive measurable growth, deeper insight, and transformative digital experiences for B2B organizations. As a full-service partner, we combine performance marketing, advanced analytics, and enterprise web development with a relentless focus on business outcomes. Our integrated approach bridges strategic planning with execution, empowering B2B brands to accelerate lead generation, optimize conversion paths, and scale revenue through data-informed decision-making. With over two decades of experience guiding global B2B leaders, Marcel Digital delivers senior-level expertise across SEO, paid media, CRO, UX, analytics, and website development.We are a Google Premier Partner, achieving the highest level of recognition within the Google Partners Program and putting us in the top 3% of all partners. We are also an Umbraco Certified Platinum Partner - the highest tier level available for Umbraco Partners - and HubSpot Solutions Partner.

Founded in 2003
Chicago, Illinois, USA
46 employees (17 in marketing)

Salaries

Posted range

$80K/yr – $100K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

See all Marcel Digital salaries

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
16 (35% of company)
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
5

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
20.8K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
44.8%
Direct
38.6%
Referral
9.9%
Social
5.2%
Paid
1.1%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~46

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Manager

Marcel Digital · Chicago, IL · Hybrid