Senior Technical SEO Specialist: SEMrush Expert + AI SEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)

We are hiring a Senior Technical SEO Specialist with deep SEMrush expertise and proven experience in AI SEO / Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO). This is a focused 1 to 3 month project for a UK-based, FCA-regulated Islamic finance brand. We need someone who can (a) use SEMrush to its full potential to resolve technical issues, build a proper keyword architecture, and drive organic ranking gains, and (b) own the AI SEO workstream, auditing brand visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, identifying the source sites those systems cite, and running targeted outreach to secure backlinks, listings, corrections, or additions where our brand is missing or misrepresented. This is not a role for someone who runs SEMrush reports as a side skill, or whose AI SEO experience is limited to producing AI-generated content. Modern search happens across traditional and generative surfaces, and this role owns both. Include the phrase "entity-first" in your proposal opening line. What the project involves SEMrush execution: Full Site Audit: resolve errors, warnings and notices; deliver ongoing hygiene Keyword universe: research, clustering, search intent classification, page mapping Position tracking setup and ongoing monitoring against a priority keyword set Backlink audit including toxic link identification and disavow file management Organic and paid competitor gap analysis (keywords, content, backlinks) On-page SEO scoring and remediation across priority pages Ongoing use of SEMrush Site Audit, Position Tracking, Keyword Magic, Keyword Gap, Organic Research, Backlink Gap, Content Analysis, Topic Research and Domain Overview modules Monthly SEMrush-anchored performance reporting AI SEO / AEO execution: Baseline audit of brand and category visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for our priority commercial and informational queries Ongoing citation tracking (using tools such as Profound, Otterly, AthenaHQ, manual audits, or equivalent) Identification of the source sites, aggregators, and reference pages that these AI systems cite when answering our priority queries, including but not limited to Wikipedia, Reddit threads, listicle publishers, industry directories, comparison sites, and government / regulator pages Targeted outreach to those source sites to secure inclusion, listings, backlinks, or corrections where our brand is missing or where information about us is inaccurate Entity strengthening across Wikidata, Wikipedia, Google Knowledge Graph, and relevant industry directories Structured data / schema recommendations optimised for AI readability llms.txt setup and AI-crawler-friendly signal management Reddit, Quora and forum-level presence work where LLMs source community discussion Building a repeatable methodology and dashboard for measuring AI citation performance over time Mandatory requirements: apply only if you can clearly demonstrate all of these: SEMrush mastery. Deep, hands-on daily use: not just report generation. In your proposal, name the SEMrush module or workflow you use most and one specific example where you used it to drive a real outcome. AI SEO / AEO track record. Practical, evidenced experience improving AI visibility for a brand. Name a specific example, the LLMs / AI surfaces involved, the tools you used to measure, and the outcome. Outreach and relationship skills. AI SEO backlink acquisition is not traditional link building. It involves identifying specific high-value source pages (aggregators, Wikipedia editors, subreddit moderators, industry listicle publishers, comparison site editors) and running targeted, credible outreach to secure inclusions or corrections. You must be comfortable owning this end-to-end. Regulated / high-trust industry experience. Finance, fintech, banking, insurance, legal, or similar sectors where claims, structure and wording require compliance sign-off. You must understand how SEO changes when the copy cannot say certain things. White-hat only. No black-hat schemes, PBNs, spammy directory packages, keyword stuffing, or low-quality automated content approaches. Independent execution. You will own both workstreams. Prioritisation, sequencing, and delivery decisions sit with you against agreed KPIs. Clear reporting. Monthly reports that a senior stakeholder can read and act on, not just SEO practitioners. Reports should tie work done to measurable outcomes, not activity summaries. Project structure 1 to 3 months. Fixed-scope, fixed-price preferred, structured against monthly milestones with clear deliverables. Payment via Upwork escrow, released on milestone acceptance. KPI expectations, agreed together at kickoff, but the project should measure: SEMrush workstream: Reduction in Site Audit errors, warnings and notices (baseline vs target) Keyword universe expansion (baseline vs target) with clustering delivered Priority page ranking improvements against an agreed keyword set Total ranking keyword count growth Toxic backlink reduction and healthy backlink acquisition AI SEO workstream: Brand citation presence in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews across an agreed priority query set (baseline vs target) Number of AI source sites secured for inclusion, backlink, or correction (target: 15–25 quality placements over 6 months) Entity strengthening milestones (Wikidata entry, Wikipedia mentions, Knowledge Graph presence, industry directory listings) Corrections landed on high-impact source pages where our brand was previously misrepresented or absent Deliverables Initial full SEMrush audit and prioritised remediation roadmap Keyword universe with clustering, search intent classification, and page mapping AI visibility baseline audit across major LLMs and AI search surfaces Monthly progress reports covering both workstreams Outreach tracker (source site, contact, request, status, outcome) End-of-project handover pack, workflows, credentials, tracking dashboards, tooling documentation, and recommendations for continuation Important note If your approach is generic, if you are primarily a content freelancer with SEO as a secondary skill, if you have never worked on AI SEO before, or if your AI SEO experience is limited to producing AI-generated content or "AI-optimised" blog posts, this is not the right fit. We are looking for a serious SEO partner who has already been building AI SEO practice into their work, not someone treating it as a new experiment on our budget.