The data for this study was provided by SalaryGuide

May has been brutal for marketers. Layoffs across companies like Meta, LinkedIn, Cisco, and Coinbase are pushing more SEOs and content folks into a market with fewer open roles.

To understand what hiring managers are looking for, we analyzed 1,543 full-time SEO job listings posted since October 1, 2025.

If you’re updating your resume or preparing to re-enter the job market, this report breaks down the top AI search skills and how to frame them for impact.

• Nearly half of all SEO job descriptions include AI search language
• Prompt engineering is not a core skill yet and only appears in 2% of roles
• Measurement is the most important SEO skill, appearing in 79% of job descriptions
• 53.6% of managerial roles require AI search skills, with salaries reaching $431,000 a year

This analysis is based on 1,543 full-time SEO roles posted since October 1, 2025. We grouped related terms into broader skill buckets to understand the capabilities hiring managers are asking for.

Percentages in this report don't add up to 100% because skill buckets overlap, and a single role can include several skill expectations.

Salary findings are based on roles with advertised compensation only. Treat them as directional signals, not proof that a specific skill drives higher pay.

AI search is becoming part of mainstream SEO hiring. Across 1,543 full-time SEO roles, nearly half mention AI search or AI workflow concepts with dominant terms like LLMs/generative AI, GEO, AI search, AI tools, and AEO. 

It points to a pattern where employers are asking for broad AI search fluency before they ask for platform-specific experience.

Implications for your resume

Platform-specific experience is still emerging 

Platform-specific terms such as AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT appear less often.

Employers are more likely to ask for broad AI search experience. It can help you stand out, but it should not be the whole pitch.

Do not build your CV around prompt engineering, yet

Prompt engineering appears in only 2.6% of roles. It may still be useful, but most employers are not asking for it.

Josh Peacock, CEO at SalaryGuide, notes that GEO and AEO are now standard hiring terms, while prompt engineering has faded as a vettable skill.

Make sure you’re using the right vocabulary with proof

The market has adopted specific language around AI search. Hence, describing your work as "SEO plus AI tools" undersells your achievement. Instead, translate your experience into terms that reflect measurable impact

We clustered terms into skills buckets and found that measurement is the strongest signal in the dataset, appearing in 79% of roles. 

Hiring managers may be adding AI search terminology to job descriptions, but they still want SEOs who can measure performance and explain changes.

As Josh Peacock explains; 

"Hiring managers use measurement to screen candidates within the first 15 minutes of an interview. It won’t get you hired, but it takes you out of consideration if you don’t have it.”

Implications for your resume

Explicitly define measurement skills in your resume

AI search complicates attribution through zero-click experiences and fragmented tracking. Employers want candidates who can measure AI search performance alongside traditional SEO metrics.

Measurement skills bucket includes:

• Analytics
• Reporting
• Dashboards
• Google Search Console
• GA4
• Performance tracking
• Proving SEO impact

Weak CV language: Experienced in GA4 and Search Console.

Stronger: Built reporting dashboards across answer engines, GA4, Google Search Console, and rank tracking data to monitor content performance, identify traffic losses, and prioritize updates.

Treat content for AI search as a core skill

Content for AI search appears in 48.4% of roles. Hiring managers are integrating AI search into existing content strategy rather than treating it as a separate discipline.

Content for AI search bucket includes: 

• Helpful content
• E-E-A-T
• Content quality
• Content work that supports visibility in AI-generated answers

Weak CV language: Optimized blog content.

Stronger: Updated priority content to improve answer clarity, topical depth, and visibility across traditional search and AI answer experiences.

Show workflow improvements, not tool usage

AI workflow appears in 33.4% of roles. This bucket includes prompt engineering, RAG, vector search, embeddings, and AI-assisted workflows.

The distinction employers are making is between people who use AI tools and those who build repeatable workflows that improve SEO outcomes.

As Daris Benallal, senior recruiter at Search for Hire, puts it: 

"Candidates see AI on a job description and say, 'I use AI all the time.' But when you dig in, it's custom GPTs for ideation. Clients want someone who can build scalable architecture, not just use a tool."

That could mean workflows for:

• Keyword clustering
• Content brief creation
• Reporting
• Content audits
• Competitor research
• Internal linking analysis & recommendations
• Repetitive data cleanup

Weak CV language: I use ChatGPT for SEO.

Stronger: Built AI-assisted workflows that automated keyword clustering, content brief creation, and internal linking recommendation while keeping editorial review in place.

It’s very interesting to see how the requirements for AI search skills increase as you move up the career ladder.

Employers are not treating AI search as a small execution task. They increasingly expect senior SEOs and managers to understand how AI search affects the entire ecosystem.

Entry-level roles focus on execution and fundamentals; senior roles lean into AI search strategy; and manager roles require cross-functional leadership.

Implications for your resume

If you're entry-level, lead with execution, analysis, and awareness

Companies are hiring junior SEOs who understand the basics of technical SEO, support content creation, and measure performance. Employers want candidates who can execute, work with data, and learn quickly.

Weak CV language: Used SEO and AI tools to create content.

Stronger: Supported SEO reporting, helped identify content update opportunities, and used AI-assisted research to speed up brief preparation under editorial review.

If you’re senior, lead with strategy and AI search fluency

AI search language becomes harder to avoid at the senior level, appearing in 42.1% of senior roles. Employers expect senior candidates to understand AEO and LLM visibility.

More importantly, they expect you to translate changes into content strategy, technical priorities, and reporting.

Weak CV language: Experienced in GEO, AEO, and AI search.

Stronger: Led AI search visibility analysis across priority topics to improve brand presence in GEO and AEO results.

If you’re a manager, lead with cross-functional leadership and operational systems

At the manager level, AI search names appear in 53.6% of roles, representing the sharpest jump in the dataset. The focus shifts from individual execution to building search capabilities across teams. 

These positions require a comprehensive skill set spanning technical SEO, authority signals, and AI search proficiency.

Candidates need to show they can connect:

• Strategy
• Content priorities
• Technical SEO
• AI workflow adoption
• Measurement
• Stakeholder communication

Weak CV language: Managed SEO strategy and AI initiatives.

Stronger: Built cross-functional SEO workflows that connected content, engineering, analytics, and digital PR teams around organic growth and AI search priorities.

The salary ceiling is rising for SEOs who can lead AI search strategy. The roles commanding the highest salaries sit at the intersection of organic search, AI search surfaces, and business outcomes.

The table below highlights the top-paying roles in the dataset. This is a snapshot, not a benchmark. Many roles don't advertise salary, so treat these as directional signals rather than market averages.

Implications for your resume

If you want to compete for these higher-paying roles, your resume needs to show leadership, strategy, cross-functional execution, and business impact.

Weak CV language: Managed SEO strategy

Stronger: Led SEO and AI search strategy across content, technical SEO, and emerging answer surfaces like GEO, AEO, and AI Overviews.

A compelling SEO CV must prove you can apply SEO, content, and analytics skills within AI search environments.

Here’s what to include in your resume:

1. Keep the fundamentals, but make them outcome-based

Standard skills like analytics, technical SEO, and structured data remain essential. Add these to your resume, but structured as outcome-oriented descriptions.

• Weak CV language: SEO reporting, content optimization, and technical SEO.
• Stronger: Improved crawlability and indexing across key templates, leading to higher discoverability for priority pages by x%.

Also, make sure you’re adding performance metrics to each of these deliverables, as it ties outcomes to ROI.

2. Include AI-search language, only where you can prove it

The standout terms in the data are:

• GEO
• AEO
• AI search / LLM search
• AI Overviews / AIO
• LLMs / generative AI

You don’t need to stuff them in your SEO resume, only those you can defend.

Weak CV language: Familiar with GEO, AEO, and AI tools.

Stronger: Developed GEO and AEO strategies for priority topics based on answer patterns and source analysis.

3. Show workflow improvements, not tool usage

The candidates who stand out combine SEO fundamentals with AI search awareness and technical application.

“Used ChatGPT” says very little. Hiring managers need to know what changed as a result of the workflow.

Weak CV language: Used ChatGPT for SEO tasks.

Stronger: Built AI-assisted workflows for keyword clustering, content brief creation, and internal linking recommendations

The modern SEO hire is someone who can apply SEO knowledge to an AI search market. They can build with AI, measure the impact, and explain it to a non-technical stakeholder.

Treat the next 6 to 12 months as a skill investment. Experiment with GEO and AEO strategies, document changes, and include evidence to support claims on your resume.