Local SEO / AI Search Expert — Multi-Location Seasonal Retail

Local SEO / AI Search Expert — Multi-Location Seasonal Retail Summary I own several established retail stores serving the greater Chicago market. The stores are physically located just across state lines, but a large percentage of our customers come from Chicagoland. SEO is the lifeblood of the business. We have been doing it for roughly 15 years, have strong domain history/backlinks/content, and more than 7,000 combined 5-star Google reviews. You are not starting from scratch. The business is extremely seasonal: roughly 80% of annual revenue occurs during the final 10 days before July 4. We historically dominated organic and Local Pack results, but competition has become much more sophisticated and a recent website migration/search-console issue appears to have cost us meaningful traffic and revenue. I’m looking for someone to own this function, not wait for me to manage it. Primary Goal Maintain/restore dominant Google visibility for our two primary locations and, ideally, get 2–4 locations represented strongly across the relevant Chicagoland Local Pack/Maps results. Secondary goal: make sure we are positioned correctly as search continues shifting toward Google AI Mode/AI Overviews and other AI-assisted discovery. The simple version: Audit what we have, preserve 15 years of authority, find what competitors are doing, fix what is broken, and outmaneuver them before peak season. What You Own Complete technical/local SEO audit of all sites and Google Business Profiles Audit the recent site migrations, redirects, backlinks, indexing and Google Search Console/domain-property setup Identify any authority, traffic, pages or links lost during migrations Keyword + GeoGrid/Local Pack competitive analysis GBP category/profile optimization and monitoring On-page/local SEO and internal-link architecture Existing blog/content audit and optimization where worthwhile New blogs if you think it helps (I don't care and encourage AI tools/writing if they are not detrimental) Schema/structured-data review High-quality local/industry/partner link opportunities — no spam, PBNs or mass backlink packages Competitor monitoring throughout the season AI-assisted search visibility/AEO strategy based on real evidence rather than buzzwords Clear reporting that tells me what changed, what worked and what needs attention A late-season strategy for the final 3–4 weeks when competitors become aggressive Routine posting/photos can be handled internally if that is the best use of resources. Seasonal Strategy Matters This is not a normal 12-month retail business. Everyone is relatively quiet during the off-season, and competitors copy what works. I do not want us showing our entire hand in February. I want the foundation fixed early, followed by a deliberate ramp-up and competitive push as July 4 approaches. The final few weeks matter enormously. AI I encourage aggressive use of ChatGPT, Claude, Semrush and other AI/automation tools for research, audits, competitive analysis and execution. I am particularly interested in someone who understands that AI can eliminate a great deal of SEO busywork while human judgment, local-market strategy and accountability still matter. This article reflects some of the direction I’m exploring. I’m not treating every claim in it as gospel, but I expect the person I hire to understand and evaluate workflows like these: https://x.com/bloggersarvesh/article/2095896040155340809 Related workflows from the same author focus on using AI to accelerate GBP/category audits, competitor analysis, schema audits and content-gap analysis rather than simply having AI write endless blog posts. Existing Situation 2 primary revenue-producing locations 2 additional locations we may also target 15+ years of SEO history Established websites, backlinks and blogs 7,000+ combined 5-star Google reviews Historically strong organic/Local Pack rankings One recently rebuilt/migrated flagship site Another major site professionally rebuilt last year A Search Console/migration issue needs to be independently audited Semrush access can be provided I know enough SEO to be dangerous, but I don’t want to manage SEO anymore. If I have to repeatedly discover problems myself, this engagement is not working. Communication / Personality I want a low-drama, direct professional who takes ownership. If I ask for something unreasonable or outside scope, simply tell me: “Aaron, that’s outside scope. Here’s what it would cost.” That works perfectly for me. I’m wrong plenty. I don’t need agreement; I need competent advice, accountability and someone who will raise their hand when something is wrong. U.S.-Based Only The contractor who actually performs the work must be physically based in the United States. Please be transparent about where you and anyone working on the account are located. Do not apply using a U.S. profile while the work is actually being performed overseas. This is not a criticism of overseas talent — it is simply a requirement for this engagement. Timing / Budget Target ongoing engagement: February 5 – July 5 each year Target budget: $1,500–$2,500/month I’m willing to pay separately before February for worthwhile technical/on-site cleanup that should be completed sooner. I would also consider an ongoing annual arrangement if you believe that produces better results. Performance Bonus I’m open to a 1–2 month fee bonus for exceptional, objectively measurable peak-season performance. We would define the exact KPI together before the season — likely based primarily on agreed Local Pack/GeoGrid coverage across our most valuable Chicagoland keywords and geographies, with organic and AI-search visibility as supporting metrics. I’m a man of my word. If we agree to a bonus metric and you hit it, I will pay it. Proposal — Please Include Please keep your proposal concise and tell me: 2–3 examples of Local Pack wins you personally produced. What you would audit during the first two weeks. How you would investigate the prior migration/Search Console/traffic-loss issue. What tools you use — Semrush, Local Falcon/BrightLocal/Places Scout, GSC, etc. How you currently approach AI-assisted search/AEO without abandoning sound SEO fundamentals. Your philosophy on link building. What you would do differently for a business where 80% of revenue occurs in 10 days. Your proposed monthly fee and whether you are comfortable with the performance-bonus concept. Confirm that the people actually performing the work are U.S.-based. Please do not send me a generic agency proposal. I’m looking for someone who sees an established, strong account and thinks: “I can make this dominant.” I SPOKE ALL THAT INTO CHATGPT AND TOLD IT TO MAKE THE JOB POSTING. I'm big into AI (both personal investment and usage and I think alot of what used to be work can be farmed out to AI and it would be foolish if you didn't ask the programs we are trying to get in front of what they are looking for and to just do it....now I do know and have been guilty of endless tinkering). I'm a reasonable guy and been on both sides of this desk - if I'm being unfair, tell me I'm being a a$$ and let's figure it out. A former employee, whose younger and hungrier than me, started his own store and has started to really eat into my business model of using the internet to advertise (revolutionary as that is...haha)...the goal is to get back in front of him and his rankings. We've been #1, 2 and/or 3 for most of the past 15 year but slipped a bit last year due to a botched website migration at peak season that I did not catch. It's all ultimately my responsibility as the CEO, but I want someone to take that lead. If you made it this far, start your proposal with July 4 is the deadline so I know you actually read the posting. I expect plenty of proposals, so please skip the long AI-generated sales pitch. Save the AI for the job. Give me a brief executive summary: your most relevant local SEO experience, the first 2–3 things you’d investigate on this account, how you’d approach the next few months, and your proposed fee. Five bullets is plenty. If there’s one thing in this posting you think I’m wrong about, tell me that too — I value expertise over agreement. Websites / Properties Feel free to audit these before applying: * USFireworks.com — Uncle Sam Fireworks; one of the two primary revenue locations near the Chicago/Indiana border. * DynamiteFireworks.com — the other primary Chicago-market location. * MichiganCityFireworks.com — smaller regional store near the Indiana/Michigan border. * We also control an additional Dynamite/Chicago Fireworks Store web property and a broader Chicago Fireworks Stores site. The person hired can have access to all relevant properties. The priority is Uncle Sam and Dynamite. Michigan City and the ancillary properties are additional opportunities to expand Local Pack coverage and overall search dominance. You can probably figure out the competition that is a thorn in my side from that info. Please spend 10–15 minutes looking at the sites before applying. I’d much rather hear 3 specific things you noticed than receive a generic 1,000-word SEO proposal. Lastly not going to step over dollars to pick up pennies and since SEO IS lifeblood if there's a case for more capital/time needed. Please be upfront in your proposal. Goal is regaining dominance of top 2-3 spots for Chicago area market. And the negotiation is now...but I'm a fair guy too. I just don't like preventable changes. One more thing, and sorry this was soo long, the botched website migration I mentioned is kind handled...we reverted back to the old one and uploaded all the links and modernized it last month (usfireworks.com). My previous SEO guy built it and it looks like that. but can't win them all. The webpages are mostly just to bolster that Google Places rankings anyway for a once a year business. People just want to know they are being treated fair...and they ARE. We love our customers and they love us.