AEO/SEO Lead

About Clerk

Clerk is a globally-distributed team dedicated to providing a best-in-class developer experience, with obsessive attention to every detail. Today, we provide developers with React components like <SignUp/>, <SignIn/>, and <UserProfile/>. These components allow developers to drop authentication and user management into their applications. We believe that a component is worth a thousand APIs.

What you will do

As the AEO/SEO Lead, you will own Clerk's organic discoverability across both traditional search and the rapidly evolving landscape of LLMs. Your mission is to ensure that when developers ask LLMs about authentication and user management, Clerk is cited accurately and frequently. In this role, you will:

• Identify content opportunities: Lead content research across SEO and AEO. Analyze keyword trends, monitor competitor coverage, track LLM citation patterns, and identify gaps where Clerk can establish or strengthen authority.

• Create and ship content. Manage content generation using LLMs and by collaborating with technical team members. Scale distribution beyond clerk.com by building presence on high-authority developer platforms (Reddit, Medium, dev.to, GitHub, technical newsletters, community hubs) to increase domain authority and citation surface area.

• Measure and report on performance. Define what success looks like for both AEO and SEO. Instrument metrics for AI visibility, including citation frequency, accuracy, and referral traffic from AI sources. Own channel analysis and reporting to keep the wider organization informed and to surface opportunities for optimization.

• Own website discoverability. Ensure proper structure, functionality, and crawlability for both traditional search engines and LLMs. This includes technical SEO fundamentals as well as emerging best practices for schema markup, structured data, and content architecture that improve LLM citation rates.

• Build the AEO playbook. Document frameworks for content structure, FAQ patterns, and comparison formats. Understand how models evaluate authority and technical depth, then translate that into actionable guidelines. Iterate based on observed model behavior and emerging research.

• Bridge SEO and AEO. Traditional search still matters. Balance investments between Google/Bing visibility and the growing share of traffic originating from AI interfaces. Understand where these strategies overlap and where they diverge.

Who you are

• You're in North America: You live in a location that is ±3 hours within U.S. Mountain Time (MDT, UTC−06:00).

• You have deep SEO expertise: 5+ years owning organic search strategy, with demonstrable results in technical or developer-focused products. You understand technical SEO fundamentals: site architecture, structured data, crawlability, and can execute indepdently.

• You're ahead on AEO: You demonstrate an understanding of how LLMs source information and have opinions (backed by experimentation) on what makes content citable. You understand that this field is nascent and evolving rapidly.

• You speak developer: You can read technical documentation, understand authentication concepts (OAuth, SSO, session management), and create content that earns credibility with a technical audience. Prior experience marketing to developers is strongly preferred.

• You're analytically rigorous: You set hypotheses, design experiments, and make decisions based on data. You're comfortable working with imperfect metrics in an emerging space while building toward better instrumentation.

• You own your time: You identify high-impact opportunities independently rather than waiting for direction. Clerk operates with significant autonomy, and you'll need to prioritize ruthlessly.

• You balance precision with speed: Content fidelity is paramount with this audience. Any misstep significantly impacts our brand’s credibility. You must be able to balance moving quickly and iteratively, rather than over-planning.

Benefits:

• Competitive Salary – We want you to know that we value the skills and experience you bring to the table. We go out of our way to make sure that you feel fairly compensated.

• Equity Ownership – At Clerk, we believe in shared success. That's why we offer a stock option plan so that everyone can benefit from the growth and prosperity of the company.

• Health Coverage – We care about your well-being. That's why we offer top-tier health insurance to ensure that your health needs are fully met.

• Work Gear - Set up your ideal home office with the gear of your choice. At Clerk, we want to ensure that you have everything you need to perform at your best.

• Flexible Vacation Policy – We believe in work-life balance and trust you to take the time you need. Although we recommend 25 days per year, our vacation policy is unlimited. This is in addition to observing national holidays specific to your country of residence.

• Diverse and Inclusive Team – Join our exceptional, diverse, and globally distributed team at Clerk. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their best in building impactful products and tools for the modern web.