AEO Specialist/Lead (AI / Answer Engine Optimization) - Contractor

Thorne; South Carolina; Hybrid; USD 124,000 - 179,000; Full time

Job summary

Thorne is seeking an AEO Specialist/Lead (contract) to own the execution layer of our AI/Answer Engine Optimization program. You will translate AI-visibility data into clear priorities and quarterback cross-functional work with content, product, dev, PR and affiliate teams.

Remote contractor role, 25–40 hours/week with flexibility during ramp-up and major roadmap pushes. Reporting to the VP of Growth Marketing, this role blends strategic analysis with hands-on execution in a fast-paced

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years in a technical or analytical marketing role.
• Hands-on SEO experience and understanding of how SEO and AEO/GEO overlap and diverge.
• Familiarity with AI-visibility platforms and turning data into actionable insights.
• Proven project management and cross-functional leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Daily AI visibility analysis and insights to inform strategy.
• Own and maintain the AEO/AI-visibility roadmap with cross-functional coordination.
• Project-manage AEO initiatives across content, site/ecommerce, PR and affiliate channels.
• Apply AI-native approaches to automate repetitive growth marketing tasks.

Skills

SEO

AI tools

Analytics

Project management

Content ops

Backlog mgmt

Tools

Profound

Croud

Job description

AEO Specialist/Lead (AI / Answer Engine Optimization) - Contractor

Department: Marketing

Employment Type: Contract

Location: Remote

Compensation: $90.00 - $130.00 / hour

Description

At Thorne, we work to deliver high-quality, science-backed solutions to empower individuals to take a proactive approach to their well-being. Each day begins with a mission to help others discover and achieve their best health. We count on our team members to challenge and push the boundaries to make that happen. At Thorne, you’ll be joining a team of more than 750 passionate individuals committed to our cause of providing superior health solutions at every age and life stage.

This is an Independent contractor (1099) role; hours flexible between 25–40/week based on workload, with more hours expected during initial ramp-up and major roadmap pushes.

Thorne is the #1 brand across all monitored AI platforms and a leading voice in AI search for the supplement and clinical‑nutrition category. AEO (AI/Answer Engine Optimization) continues to be a key objective for 2027. We're hiring an AEO Specialist/Lead to own the execution layer of that program: living in the AI-visibility data every day, translating it into clear insight and priorities, and quarterbacking the cross-functional work — content, site/product, PR and affiliate, and dev — required to defend and extend Thorne's lead.

This role partners closely with our SEO/AEO agency, on strategy and roadmap definition, and works day-to-day with our Sr. Director of Ecommerce, content, product, and PR teams to turn that strategy into shipped work. This person will report to the VP of Growth Marketing.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Daily AI Visibility Analysis & Insights

• Monitor Thorne's AI visibility, share of voice, average position, sentiment, and citation performance daily in Profound.
• Flag competitive movement and emerging negative sources before they erode rankings or sentiment.
• Distill Profound data into clear, actionable insights and recurring readouts for the VP of Growth and broader stakeholders.

Roadmap Ownership & Agency Collaboration

• Own and maintain the AEO/AI-visibility roadmap, translating Croud's strategic recommendations into a prioritized, resourced execution plan.
• Partner with Croud on quarterly strategy, topic prioritization (Defend / Grow / Repair / Build), and measurement — this person helps define the strategy, not just execute it.
• Relentlessly prioritize the backlog based on business impact, competitive pressure, and available resourcing.

Cross-Functional Execution — the Quarterback Role

• Project-manage AEO initiatives across every key channel + channel owner: content/blog, site/ecommerce, and PR / media affiliate.
• Partner directly with Product and Dev to scope, prioritize, and track AEO-related tickets (crawlability, structured data, PDP fixes) through a backlog with significant competing demand.
• Apply the repeatable citation model across owned and editorial (for credible third‑party validation)

AI-Native / Marketing Engineering Mindset (a plus)

• Bring a builder's instinct to the role — spot manual, repetitive AEO work (data pulls, competitive tracking, content briefs) and use AI tools or lightweight automation to remove it.
• Where there's appetite, extend that same AI-native approach to other growth marketing workflows across the broader team.

WHAT YOU NEED

Required

• 3–5+ years in a technical or analytical marketing role (SEO, growth, content ops, or similar) — or a clear track record of being AI-native even without traditional tenure.
• Hands‑on SEO experience and a working understanding of how SEO and AEO/GEO overlap and diverge.
• Comfort working in AI-visibility or analytics platforms (Profound or similar); able to turn raw data into a clear narrative and prioritized action plan.
• Demonstrated project management / quarterback experience — able to rally and hold accountable stakeholders across content, product, dev, PR, and agency partners without formal authority over them.
• Comfortable operating in a complex environment with a dev backlog and competing priorities; prioritizes relentlessly.
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI tools and workflows, with interest in applying them to scale marketing execution.

Nice to Have

• Experience with digital PR or earned‑media citation building.
• Familiarity with ecommerce PDP/PLP optimization.
• Prior experience managing an SEO/content agency relationship (agency‑or‑client‑side).
• DTC, health, wellness, or CPG category experience.