How to Find an SEO + GEO Specialist Who Can Drive Real Business Results

Search has changed. Again. AI Overviews now sit atop many Google results, and answer engines (Perplexity, ChatGPT, etc.) summarize content with (or without) citations.

That means “rankings and traffic” aren’t the full story anymore. You need an SEO specialist who protects your organic foundation and earns inclusion as a cited source in AI answers.

This guide shows you exactly how to hire that person: skills to look for, what you need to be prepared to pay, where to find them, and a simple evaluation flow that proves they can move revenue, not just GA4 line graphs.

Why SEO Specialists Are Critical to Business Growth in 2025

SEO specialists who understand modern search can drive measurable business growth, but only if they’re equipped for today’s AI-driven search environment.

While traditional Google search still matters, ending up on page one isn’t the traffic driver it once was.

Within Google itself, AI overviews are changing habits. Pew Research Center data shows that users are less likely to click on links when there’s an AI overview present. Just 8% of searches with an AI overview resulted in clicks to websites, compared to 15% for searches without them.

In addition to that, users are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools for research and discovery.

A good SEO specialist can optimize for traditional search engines, AI overviews, and LLM models that pull information from your content to answer user queries, making it more likely that you can still drive meaningful traffic to your site.

Here’s what SEO specialists can deliver for your business:

Organic visibility across multiple search platforms

Top SEO specialists understand how to optimize content so that it performs across:

• “Traditional” search results (Google, Bing)
• AI overviews
• Social search platforms (TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest)
• Voice search optimization (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant)

Content that shows up in AI-generated responses

When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question about your industry, you want your company’s content to get cited and referenced.

This requires understanding how LLM models evaluate source credibility, content structure, and topical authority. SEO specialists will be trying to ensure that their strategy accounts for all the current best practices in this area.

Sustainable growth through authority building

Top SEO specialists focus on building genuine expertise and authority that withstands algorithm changes. They create comprehensive content strategies that establish your company as the go-to source in your industry, rather than chasing quick ranking wins that disappear with the next update.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire an SEO Specialist?

In the US, hiring an SEO specialist typically costs between $44,000–$113,000 annually, but hiring in Latin America can reduce that by 45–64%.

If you’re trying to build out your marketing team without burning through your budget, those US salary expectations can stop you in your tracks.

A junior specialist at $44,000 might not have the skills you actually need, especially considering you need someone experienced who gets both traditional SEO and the new AI search game. But a senior one at $113,000 might be outside your budget.

That’s why many companies look outside the US to hire. From our experience sourcing SEO specialists across Latin America, you can access the same caliber of expertise you can find in the US but at significantly lower rates.

Here’s how the numbers compare:

These aren’t cost differences because the talent is any less capable. It’s just regional market rates and cost of living. You’re getting the same strategic thinking and technical chops, without the US price tag.

According to our recruiters who specialize in this role,

SEO specialists are relatively easy to source because there’s a huge talent pool in Latin America. There’s no shortage of great SEO professionals here, and from a cost perspective, it’s a great deal for clients.

‍

The savings allow many companies to hire senior-level SEO expertise on a junior-level budget or build an SEO team for what one senior US hire might cost.

It’s the difference between making do and actually getting the marketing firepower you need to grow.

What Skills Should You Look For When Hiring an SEO Specialist?

With AI search becoming part of how customers discover solutions, you need someone who understands how to show up in LLM outputs, as well as Google. That means having a strong grasp of the fundamentals of SEO with the ability to test new ways to win visibility in AI-generated answers.

Beyond classic rankings, today’s SEO must structure authoritative, extractable content that AI systems want to cite.

The best specialists treat classic SEO as the baseline and add generative engine optimization (GEO) visibility best practices: structuring pages so they’re easy to cite, answering questions clearly, using schema, and monitoring where/when your brand appears in AI Overviews and answer engines (and why).

They should understand how Google’s AI features surface links and how engines like Perplexity pick sources.

But evaluating SEO expertise isn’t just about checking certifications or tool familiarity. You also need to consider how skill requirements and expectations change based on the seniority level you’re targeting for your specific needs.

A junior SEO specialist might excel at keyword research and basic on-page optimization but need guidance on technical SEO implementations and strategic planning. Meanwhile, a senior specialist should independently develop comprehensive SEO and GEO strategies, manage complex optimization projects, and provide strategic recommendations that align with broader business objectives.

Understanding these distinctions helps you evaluate candidates fairly and set realistic expectations for what each experience level can deliver from day one versus what they’ll grow into over time.

Regardless of seniority level, all SEO specialists should demonstrate certain fundamental capabilities.

Here are the core skills to evaluate:

Hard skills (the must-haves)

These technical competencies form the foundation of effective SEO work across all experience levels:

• Keyword research and analysis fundamentals: All candidates should understand how to identify relevant keywords, assess search intent, and use basic keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner. More experienced specialists should demonstrate proficiency with advanced tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs.
  
  
• On-page optimization basics: Solid understanding of title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, and basic content optimization principles. This includes knowing how to optimize for both search engines and user experience without over-optimization.
  
  
• Google Analytics and Search Console proficiency: Ability to navigate these essential platforms, set up basic tracking, and interpret fundamental SEO metrics. All candidates should understand how to connect SEO activities to measurable outcomes.
  
  
• Content optimization understanding: Knowledge of how content supports SEO goals, including topic targeting, keyword integration, and user intent matching. They should understand the relationship between content quality and search performance.
  
  
• Basic technical SEO awareness: Understanding of site speed, mobile optimization, crawlability, and other technical factors that impact search performance. Junior specialists need awareness; senior specialists need implementation skills.
• GEO fundamentals: This covers understanding how to optimize content for AI-powered search engines and LLMs, including structured data markup, natural language content creation, and the key difference between optimizing for traditional rankings versus AI citation.
• AI Overviews and featured snippet optimization: This focuses specifically on creating content that gets selected for Google’s AI Overviews, featured snippets, and answer boxes, including Q&A formatting, schema markup, and creating authoritative content that AI systems prefer to reference.

Soft skills (equally important)

Technical skills execute the work, but these soft skills determine how effectively your SEO specialist integrates with your team:

• Strategic thinking: The best SEO specialists don’t just follow playbooks. They analyze your specific business, competition, and goals to develop customized strategies. Look for candidates who ask about your customer journey and business objectives.
  
  
• Clear communication: SEO work often requires explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. Your specialist should be able to translate rankings and traffic into business impact that executives understand.
  
  
• Patience and persistence: SEO results take time, and algorithms change frequently. Strong candidates understand this reality and can manage expectations while maintaining consistent optimization efforts over months, not weeks.
  
  
• Adaptability: Google updates its algorithm hundreds of times yearly. Look for candidates who stay current with industry changes and can pivot strategies when necessary.
  
  
• Project management: SEO involves coordinating with content teams, developers, and marketing colleagues. Your specialist should be organized, proactive, and able to manage multiple optimization projects simultaneously.
  
  

Nice-to-have skills (the differentiators)

These skills aren’t essential but give candidates an edge:

• Local SEO experience: A local SEO expert is valuable for businesses with physical locations or geographic targeting needs
• E-commerce SEO knowledge: Specialized understanding of product pages, category optimization, and conversion-focused SEO
• International SEO expertise: For companies targeting multiple countries or languages
• Basic HTML/CSS skills: Helpful for implementing technical fixes without always relying on developers
• PPC understanding: Knowing how paid and organic search work together can inform better keyword strategies

In our experience placing SEO specialists, the most successful candidates typically combine strong technical skills with genuine curiosity about how businesses grow; they see SEO as a business function, not just a technical discipline.

Where Can You Find and Hire Great SEO Specialists?

You can find strong SEO specialists through job boards, referrals, freelance platforms, and recruiting partners. Your location and sourcing strategy will determine quality and cost.

Finding SEO specialists involves two key decisions:

1. Where your specialist will be located (local, national, or international)
2. Where and how you’ll find and hire candidates in that location

Let’s walk through each part of the decision.

Deciding between local, national, or global talent

Each approach offers distinct advantages:

• Local/in-office hiring provides direct collaboration and simplified administration but typically comes with the highest costs and smallest talent pool. This works best when you need constant face-to-face interaction or have complex compliance requirements.
• Remote US-based talent expands your options significantly while maintaining familiar business practices and time zones. However, you’ll still pay US market rates, which can be prohibitive for smaller companies or those needing multiple SEO specialists.
• International/global hiring opens up access to a massive talent pool with significant cost advantages. However, you may need to navigate time zone differences, cultural nuances, and international compliance requirements depending on the region you choose.

If you are open to offshore hiring, Latin America offers excellent benefits: strong SEO expertise, compatible time zones for real-time collaboration, cultural alignment with US business practices, and substantial cost savings.

Many companies also find value in hiring offshore SEO talent in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, though time zone differences can complicate collaboration for roles requiring frequent communication.

For a closer look at your options, read our article weighing up the hiring SEO talent in LatAm vs. India vs. the Philippines.

Also, our guide “SEO Roles You Should Offshore” lists which SEO positions work best for remote arrangements.

{{state-latam-hiring}}

Choosing the right sourcing channel

Once you’ve decided where geographically to search for talent, you need to determine how you’ll find and hire candidates.

Freelance platforms

Freelancing websites like Toptal, Upwork, and Guru are useful platforms for hiring freelance marketers like SEO experts.

They work well when you need someone for a specific project or want to test a specialist before making a longer commitment. You can review portfolios, read client feedback, and compare rates easily.

The downside? Quality is all over the map. You’ll sift through plenty of mediocre candidates to find the good ones, and platform fees add 10–20% to your costs (or to the freelancers’ rates).

If you need someone who understands your business deeply or requires ongoing strategic work, freelancers might not be the right fit.

Professional networks and referrals

Getting recommendations from your network often delivers the highest-quality candidates. Someone you trust has already worked with them, so you skip a lot of the guesswork around reliability and work style.

The catch is that your pool is limited to who your contacts know. If you need specialized industry experience or specific technical skills, your network might come up empty. LinkedIn can expand this somewhat, but building relationships and getting meaningful referrals takes time.

Job boards

Job boards can work, but you need to know what you’re getting into. Specialized boards like SEOJobs attract practitioners looking for dedicated roles. General remote boards like We Work Remotely cast a wider net.

But expect that if you post a job for an SEO specialist and you’ll get swamped. Expect 100+ applications, many from candidates who clearly didn’t read your requirements. If you don’t have time to screen hundreds of resumes and portfolios, job boards can become a time sink rather than a solution.

Job boards work best when you have clear hiring criteria, time to review applications thoroughly, and a good screening process.

Skip them if you’re in a hurry or don’t enjoy evaluating candidates.

Recruiting agencies

Working with a recruiting agency makes sense when you need to move fast or you’re hiring internationally.

The right agency brings four main benefits:

• Faster hiring: Instead of spending weeks posting jobs and screening candidates, agencies present you with a shortlist of qualified specialists, often within days.
• Pre-vetted candidates: Good agencies don’t just match keywords. They’ve already assessed technical skills, communication ability, and work style. You skip the first round of screening entirely.
• Understanding what separates strong SEO professionals from mediocre ones: Agencies with experience sourcing SEO talent can identify the subtle differences between candidates who understand SEO theory and those who can execute strategy under real business pressure.
• Expertise in international hiring: If you’re considering talent outside the US, specialist recruiters handle the complexity of international hiring—from legal compliance to cultural fit assessment—so the process is as easy as hiring within the US.

The downside is cost. You’ll pay agency fees, though this is often offset by faster hiring and better matches. Agencies work best when you value speed and quality over controlling every detail of the process.

How to Hire the Best SEO Specialist: Best Practices

Plenty of candidates will talk confidently about keywords, backlinks, and traffic charts. But if they can’t connect their work to leads, pipeline, and revenue, they will not move the needle for your business.

The best hiring managers use a systematic approach that evaluates both technical skills and strategic thinking.

Stage 1: Before and during sourcing

Define your SEO priorities before hunting for talent

Too many companies default to “find someone great at SEO” without clarifying what success actually looks like for their business.

Do you need someone focused on technical optimization, content-driven organic growth, local search visibility, or e-commerce SEO? Are you primarily competing on informational content or transactional keywords?

We’ve found that companies get much better results when they prioritize depth over breadth. A specialist who excels at technical SEO for SaaS companies will deliver better results than a generalist trying to handle everything.

Craft a job description that attracts serious professionals

Your job description should emphasize specific SEO challenges rather than generic requirements. Instead of “looking for an SEO expert,” describe the actual work: “optimize our B2B software site to rank for competitive keywords.”

Great SEO specialists want to understand your competitive landscape, target audience, and business model before applying. The more context you provide, the better candidates you’ll attract.

For comprehensive guidance on writing effective job descriptions, check out our article on writing job descriptions for SEO roles.

Stage 2: Screening and evaluation

Review their portfolio and case studies

Request a portfolio or case studies from the candidates that demonstrate their previous SEO-related projects and successes. Analyze these materials to assess their industry experience, their ability to achieve tangible results, and the strategies they utilized to overcome challenges.

Evaluate communication and collaboration skills

SEO work requires constant coordination with content teams, developers, and marketing colleagues. During interviews, pay attention to how candidates explain complex concepts, ask clarifying questions, and handle disagreement or pushback.

Ask about a time they had to convince stakeholders to implement an SEO recommendation that required significant resources. Strong candidates will demonstrate diplomacy, data-driven arguments, and persistence without being pushy.

Give a case study test to your shortlist

After interviews, assign a short case study exercise.

We suggest this case study for our clients, and you’re welcome to use it as well:

Task:
Identify 10 keywords that would almost certainly bring in new business if they ranked on page one.

Create a 30, 60, and 90-day plan to get there.

Include the resources, freelancers, or hires you would use.

Then explain what additional steps you would take to become highly visible in LLM-generated search results for those same keywords.

It’s really great at determining how strong a candidate is and if they understand the current reality of search. It reveals:

• Whether they can prioritize high-value keywords over vanity terms
• Their ability to plan strategically and operationally
• How they think about resourcing to hit goals
• Their understanding of LLM-specific tactics

Weighing up your top candidates

Once you have completed the interviews and reviewed the case study exercise, you should be down to the people who can clearly do the job.

Now the goal is to figure out who will do it best for your business.

Look for:

• Business-first mindset: They talk about leads, pipeline, and revenue before they talk about rankings and traffic.
• Strategic and operational balance: They can set direction and also get into the details of execution.
• Resource planning: They understand they can’t do everything alone and have a plan for managing internal and external contributors.
• Adaptability: They’re already testing new approaches for LLM search and can adjust quickly as this space evolves.
• Clarity and communication: They explain complex strategies simply, showing they can work well with cross-functional teams.

Beware of:

• Candidates who rely on outdated SEO tactics and ignore LLM search
• Overemphasis on vanity metrics instead of high-intent outcomes
• Lack of experience managing a team or coordinating multiple contributors

The right choice will be the candidate who not only knows the playbook but can adapt it to your goals, your resources, and the changing search landscape.

Stage 3: Making the offer and closing the deal

Perform reference and background checks

Always check candidates’ references to validate their past work experience and achievements. Speaking with former employers or clients can provide additional insights into the candidate’s work style, reliability, and impact on previous SEO campaigns.

We have some tips on conducting international background checks if you are hiring from outside the US.

Move quickly once you find the right fit

Here’s what we’ve learned after placing hundreds of candidates: the best candidates evaluate offers differently than average ones. They’re not just comparing salaries. They’re assessing whether you can make decisions quickly and whether working with you will be straightforward or a constant battle.

A drawn-out decision process signals to strong candidates that you might be indecisive about other things, too. We’ve seen companies lose their top choice because they took three weeks to “think it over” while a competitor made an offer in three days.

If someone checks all your boxes and you’re confident they can do the job, make the offer. The small risk of moving quickly is far outweighed by the cost of losing a great hire to a more decisive competitor.

For guidance on crafting competitive offers that attract and retain top talent, see our article on Making a Good Job Offer to Hire and Retain Top Talent.

What Are the Top Interview Questions for Hiring SEO Specialists Who Will Also Excel at GEO?

These questions help you identify candidates who can handle both traditional SEO and GEO, so your business stays visible as search evolves.

They are real questions we recommend that our clients use.

“Walk me through an SEO initiative you’ve personally led in the last 12 months.”

This question, recommended by our VP of Marketing, Andres Bahamon, separates strategic SEO professionals from those who just execute tactics. You’re looking for candidates who had an active role leading strategy, not just following someone else’s playbook.

The best answers will demonstrate they understand SEO as a business function that drives pipeline and leads, not just rankings and traffic.

Strong candidates should explain their decision-making process and resource management approach. They should mention coordinating with internal or external writers, content editors, and other team members, because no one executes successful SEO initiatives alone.

Look for advanced tool usage beyond basic SEMrush, like NLP tools and strategic keyword selection based on business impact rather than search volume alone. Listen for mention of consideration of content volume and internal linking strategy.

The key is often in your follow-up questions. Like “Why did you make that decision? How did that translate into more business?

Red flags include focusing only on vanity metrics without connecting to business impact, or candidates who can’t explain how their SEO work actually drove leads or revenue for the company.

“Describe your experience generating traffic from LLMs.”

This question immediately separates candidates who understand the current search landscape from those still living in the past.

It’s another one from Near’s VP of Marketing, and he notes,

If candidates don’t understand how LLMs are changing the game, that’s already a red flag.

‍

Strong SEO specialists should demonstrate awareness that AI-powered search engines are changing how users find information, even if their direct experience is limited.

What you want to hear is how they’re approaching SEO as the baseline for being surfaced by LLMs, because good traditional SEO foundations are essential for AI visibility.

Look for candidates who discuss investing in brand mentions, backlinks, and PR efforts specifically to support LLM optimization.

Strong answers will show they’re already testing and measuring impact, not just theorizing. They might mention tracking brand mentions in AI responses, optimizing content for featured snippets that feed into AI summaries, or understanding how traditional SEO supports LLM visibility.

The best candidates will explain how they’re tracking this impact and measuring results in conversions, leads, or whatever metrics matter to the business.

Major red flags include dismissing AI search as irrelevant, claiming extensive experience without specific examples, or candidates who haven’t at least started experimenting in this area.

“Walk me through how you’d approach SEO and GEO for our specific business model.”

This question reveals strategic thinking and research habits. Strong candidates will ask clarifying questions about your target audience, competition, current performance, and business goals before suggesting tactics.

Listen for candidates who want to understand your customer journey, competitive landscape, and conversion funnel.

Weak responses jump straight into generic tactics without understanding your unique situation.

“How do you measure whether your SEO and LLM strategies are working?”

This question assesses whether candidates understand the connection between SEO activities and business outcomes. Strong responses will go beyond basic metrics like rankings and traffic to include conversion rates, lead quality, and revenue attribution.

They should understand that LLM-generated traffic might convert differently from traditional search traffic. (At least one study showed that conversions from traffic from LLMs are 9x higher than from traditional search.)

The best candidates will explain how they track both traditional SEO metrics and newer indicators like brand mentions in AI responses, featured snippet captures, and traffic quality from different sources.

They should demonstrate understanding of attribution challenges and how to connect SEO efforts to business growth. Look for candidates who can explain how they measure ROI and communicate SEO value to executives.

Avoid candidates who focus only on vanity metrics like impressions or rankings without connecting to business value.

Strong candidates should be able to explain why certain metrics matter more than others for different business types.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring SEO Specialists?

Even experienced hiring managers make costly errors when recruiting SEO talent.

Here are the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them:

1. Expecting immediate results and quick wins

SEO is a long-term strategy that typically takes 3–6 months to show significant results. Companies that expect overnight ranking improvements often create unrealistic pressure that leads to poor tactics or frustrated specialists.

During interviews, set clear expectations about timelines and discuss how you’ll measure progress during the initial months.

Strong candidates will appreciate your realistic understanding of SEO timelines and be more likely to join your team.

2. Hiring based solely on past ranking achievements

“We took a client from page 3 to #1 for their main keyword” sounds impressive, but it doesn’t tell the full story. What was the competition level? How long did it take? What was the business impact beyond rankings?

Past successes matter, but they need context. Use the interview questions we sugested to get candidates to explain their role in specific achievements, the challenges they faced, and how their work connected to business outcomes.

Look for ownership of the process, not just credit for results.

3. Overlooking content strategy and communication skills

Many companies treat SEO as purely technical work, but modern SEO requires close collaboration with content creators, designers, and developers. Specialists who can’t communicate clearly or provide strategic guidance will limit their own effectiveness.

During interviews, evaluate how candidates explain complex concepts, provide feedback, and handle disagreement. These soft skills often determine whether an SEO specialist becomes a valuable team member or a bottleneck.

4. Limiting your search to US hires only

This might be the biggest mistake of all. Great SEO talent exists everywhere, and by restricting your search to the US, you’re missing out on exceptional candidates who could be perfect for your role, while also passing up significant cost savings.

For example, the talent pool in Latin America is massive, packed with professionals who’ve built SEO strategies for Fortune 500 companies, scaled startups, and solved the exact challenges you’re facing. You can hire seasoned specialists who understand American business culture, work with the same tools you use, and deliver results at up to 64% lower costs than US hires.

Take R\nd, a US-based company that was struggling with a long hiring process for marketing roles. After expanding their search to Latin America, and with the help of Near, they cut their hiring time to just 2 weeks and slashed overhead costs. They hired for 3 roles, including a senior SEO strategist, and ended up saving $175,000 annually compared to hiring in the US.

They didn’t compromise on quality. They found better candidates faster than they ever had domestically.

Their co-founder and CEO commented,

Near not only helped us navigate the hiring process, but fundamentally changed our approach to building our team. Their ability to connect us with high-quality, dedicated talent has been invaluable.

‍

By looking outside the US you can access specialized expertise that doesn’t exist in your local market, build a more strategically diverse team, and stretch your budget to hire senior-level SEO experts or entire SEO teams instead of settling for one junior hire who might not have the experience you actually need.

Final Thoughts

Search is changing fast, and you need someone who can keep up. The right SEO specialist optimizes for today’s algorithms while building the foundation that keeps you visible as AI reshapes how customers find solutions.

You can spend months posting job descriptions, sifting through hundreds of applications, and hoping to find someone who actually gets it. Or you can skip that entire headache and start interviewing pre-vetted candidates next week.

We’ve already done the hard work. Within days of a kickoff call, we’ll connect you with Latin American SEO specialists or SEO managers who’ve built strategies for companies just like yours. These aren’t junior practitioners learning on your dime. They’re seasoned professionals who understand both traditional SEO and the new AI landscape.

Not convinced international hiring is right for you? Fair enough. Talk to us anyway. Understand our process, then interview our candidates for free. No commitment, no pressure. Just see what’s actually available. You might discover that the perfect hire has been waiting in a talent pool you never considered.

If you want a concrete example of what smart SEO hiring can unlock, see how Rankings.io hired six SEO specialists plus other marketing roles in ~3 weeks and saved $463,000 annually compared to hiring in the US.

Whether you need technical expertise, content strategy leadership, or someone who can scale your entire organic program, we’ll find someone who fits your specific needs, works during your hours, and delivers results at rates that make sense.

Schedule a free, no-commitment consultation call today, and we’ll show you what’s possible when you expand your search.