Answer Engine Optimization Specialist

Virtustant; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 600,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote option

Direct access to founder

High impact mandate

Own marketing

Job summary

Virtustant is seeking an Answer Engine Optimization Specialist to own the AEO function end-to-end in a growing fintech company. You will work closely with the founder to establish an AI-driven marketing engine, then scale with independent leadership, occasionally handling related content tasks such as social posts.

The role emphasizes hands-on AEO, SEO, content automation, and collaboration with sales and analytics teams to build inbound, high-value leads in a remote-friendly setup.

Qualifications

• Hands-on AEO or AI-search optimisation experience, with examples of getting a brand surfaced in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Google AI answers.

Responsibilities

• Rework the website's copy and landing pages for AI answer engines: structure, vocabulary and coverage of the questions buyers ask.

Skills

AEO experience

SEO foundations

AI tools

Analytical skills

English writing

Self-directed

South African citizen

No side jobs

Tools

Semrush AI

Ahrefs

CMS editing

ChatGPT

Claude

Gemini

Job description

Answer Engine Optimization Specialist

Our client builds loan origination and loan management software: the core system banks and alternative lenders use to run credit and manage loans. It has also built AI agents that sit on top of a lender's existing systems, so banks can adopt AI without replacing their core platforms. Deals are large and long-term, and many come through word of mouth today. The company has a strong in-house team of about 25 developers in South Africa, plus sales, customer success and business analysts, but no marketing team.

Job Description

Bank buyers now research vendors by asking ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants questions like "How do we implement AI at our bank?" Your job is to make sure the company shows up (and is recommended) in those answers, so inbound leads arrive already well informed. You will own AEO end to end as the company's sole marketer. The founder will work closely with you at the start to get things running, then expect you to drive the work independently, day to day. Other marketing tasks, such as social posts, may come up, but AEO is the core of the role.

Responsibilities Of The Role

• Rework the website's copy and landing pages for AI answer engines: structure, vocabulary and coverage of the questions buyers ask.
• Build and run an AI-assisted content pipeline that publishes blogs daily, and review and approve articles before they go live.
• Mine transcribed sales calls and demos for buyers' most common questions, and answer them in depth on the site.
• Map what each layer of a bank's buying team needs (the analyst researching vendors, the manager vetting the shortlist, the executive deciding) and publish content that answers it.
• Work with sales, customer success and business analysts to produce case studies, ROI stories and "why clients chose us" content.
• Grow third-party visibility through backlinks, reviews, directories and industry platforms that AI engines draw on.
• Track how often and how favourably AI assistants mention the company versus competitors, and report progress to the founder.

Required Experience And Qualifications

• Hands-on AEO or AI-search optimisation experience, with examples of getting a brand surfaced in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Google AI answers.
• A solid SEO and content marketing foundation, paired with a fast, test-and-iterate mindset rather than waiting months for results.
• Confident, daily use of AI tools to research, draft and scale content, with a sharp editorial eye for quality.
• Strong analytical ability: you can quickly understand complex B2B topics such as lending, credit and banking software, and write about them accurately.
• Excellent written English.
• Highly self-directed: you plan your own work, set priorities and deliver without day-to-day supervision.
• This is a full-time, exclusive role; it is not compatible with holding other jobs alongside it.
• South African citizen.

Preferred Skills

• Experience marketing B2B SaaS, fintech or financial services, especially to banks or lenders.
• Familiarity with US banking buyers and enterprise sales cycles.
• Experience setting up content automation, such as turning call transcripts into articles.
• Basic comfort editing website content directly in a CMS.
• As most of the South African team speaks Afrikaans, it is preferred that the candidate also speaks Afrikaans.

Personality

• Autonomous.
• Honest.
• Thick-skinned.

Software & Tools

• Loan management systems.
• Bank accounting systems for managing loans.
• Semrush AI Toolkit / Ahrefs Add-ons
• AIOSEO
• AthenaHQ / Rankscale / Peec AI / scrunch AI / Evertune / Kowatoa / xFunnel
• AI Models (ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini / Perplexity / CoPilot)

Schedule

Monday to Friday

09:00 to 17:00 SAST

40 hours per week

Salary And Benefits

• Payment in USD or Local Currency according to candidate's preference.
• Full-time remote opportunity.
• Full ownership of marketing at a growing fintech company, with direct access to the founder.
• A high-impact mandate: deals can be worth USD 2–3 million each, so the leads you generate matter.
• Hands-on onboarding, including a recorded walkthrough of a proven AEO playbook and tools.
• Flexibility to work from the Pretoria office or remotely, alongside colleagues in Pretoria and Cape Town.
• Scope to grow: the role may later expand to cover a second company in the same group.

Hiring Process

• 1. Screening and shortlisting by the recruitment team, including an aptitude assessment.
• 2. A technical AEO interview with a specialist, who reviews your approach and past results.
• 3. A final interview with the founder.
• 4. Offer, with a start in early November 2026.