How to Hire or Build a GEO Team: Roles, Skills, and Structure
TL;DR: Most businesses should build GEO capability by training existing SEO and content staff rather than hiring dedicated GEO specialists. The core team needs three skill sets: content strategy/creation, technical SEO, and measurement/analytics. One skilled person can handle all three for smaller businesses. Scale by adding dedicated roles as GEO becomes a larger channel. As we discuss in Content Hub Strategy for Search & AI, this is a critical factor.
What Skill Sets Does a GEO Team Need?
GEO requires three distinct skill sets that can be combined in one person or distributed across a team.
Skill Set 1: Content Strategy and Creation. Creating comprehensive, well-structured, citation-optimized content. This person understands question-based content targeting, atomic paragraph writing, front-loaded answers, and how to produce original data and insights. They plan content calendars, create briefs, and write or manage writers.
Skill Set 2: Technical SEO for AI. Managing AI crawler access, implementing schema markup, ensuring server-side rendering, optimizing page speed, and handling robots.txt configuration. This person understands how AI crawlers interact with websites and can diagnose and fix technical issues that prevent AI citation. If you want to go deeper, GEO Dashboard: Key Metrics and Setup Guide breaks this down step by step.
Skill Set 3: Measurement and Analytics. Tracking AI citation rates, managing citation tools (GetCito or manual testing), analyzing AI referral traffic, benchmarking against competitors, and reporting on GEO performance. This person turns data into optimization decisions. (We explore this further in Content for Position Zero: Win Snippets & AI.)
How Do You Structure a GEO Team by Company Size?
Solo operator / small business (1 person): One person handles all three skill sets. Typically the marketing manager or founder. Focus on the highest-impact activities: fix technical blockers, create citation-optimized content, test citations monthly.
Time commitment: 10-15 hours/week.
Small team (2-3 people):
- Content strategist/writer: 60% content creation, 20% strategy, 20% measurement
- Technical SEO: 50% technical GEO, 50% traditional technical SEO
- (Optional) Analytics specialist: measurement and reporting
This structure works for most mid-size businesses. The technical SEO role can be shared with traditional SEO responsibilities. This relates closely to what we cover in How to Run a GEO Competitor Analysis.
Larger team (4-6 people):
- GEO lead/strategist: Strategy, planning, stakeholder management
- Content team (2-3 writers): Dedicated to citation-optimized content creation
- Technical SEO specialist: Full-time technical GEO and SEO
- Analytics/measurement: Full-time citation tracking and performance analysis
This structure suits companies where AI search is a strategic priority.
What Should You Look for When Hiring?
For content roles:
- Strong writing skills with ability to be concise and structured
- Understanding of SEO content principles (can learn GEO additions quickly)
- Ability to produce original insights and analysis (not just research summaries)
- Experience with topic clustering and comprehensive content planning
- Comfort with data-driven content (tables, statistics, comparisons)
For technical roles:
- Traditional technical SEO experience (crawling, indexing, schema, performance)
- Understanding of web rendering (SSR vs CSR, JavaScript implications)
- Familiarity with robots.txt management and crawler behavior
- Ability to diagnose and fix technical issues efficiently
- Bonus: Python skills for automation and analysis
For measurement roles:
- Google Analytics and Search Console proficiency
- Experience with SEO reporting and dashboards
- Ability to design and execute manual testing processes
- Comfort with data analysis and trend identification
- Bonus: Experience with AI-specific tools (GetCito, etc.)
How Do You Train Existing Staff in GEO?
Training existing SEO and content professionals is usually faster and more cost-effective than hiring GEO specialists. For more on this, see our guide to ChatGPT vs Perplexity vs Google AI Compared.
Training plan (2-4 weeks):
Week 1: GEO fundamentals. Understanding how AI search works, how AI engines select sources, the difference between SEO and GEO optimization. Resources: GEO guides, AI search platform documentation, industry research.
Week 2: Content optimization for AI. Hands-on practice with question headings, atomic paragraphs, front-loaded answers, FAQ sections, and comparison tables. Exercise: restructure 5 existing pages following GEO principles.
Week 3: Technical GEO. AI crawler management, schema markup implementation, content rendering verification. Exercise: conduct a full GEO audit on your site. Our GEO vs SEO: What’s the Difference and Do You Need Both? guide covers this in detail.
Week 4: Measurement and iteration. Citation testing process, tracking setup, competitive benchmarking, and reporting. Exercise: establish your baseline citation rates and build a tracking process.
After training: Team members should be capable of independently optimizing content for AI citation, conducting GEO audits, and tracking performance. As we discuss in Why Every Page Needs an FAQ Section for GEO, this is a critical factor.
When Should You Outsource vs Build In-House?
| Factor | Favor In-House | Favor Agency/Outsource |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Can wait 1-3 months to build capability | Need results within 1-2 months |
| Existing team | Have SEO/content staff with capacity | No existing search marketing staff |
| Domain expertise | Need deep industry knowledge for content | Generic industry (agency can research) |
| Budget | Have headcount budget | Have project/service budget |
| Long-term plan | AI search is strategic priority | Testing GEO viability |
| Volume | Consistent, ongoing GEO needs | Project-based or seasonal needs |
Hybrid approach: Many businesses start with agency support to build initial GEO foundation, then transition to in-house management once the team is trained and processes are established. This combines fast agency expertise with long-term in-house capability. If you want to go deeper, AI Citations Have Almost No Correlation with Web Traffic breaks this down step by step.
What’s the Career Path for GEO Professionals?
GEO is an emerging discipline with growing career opportunities.
Entry path: SEO specialist → GEO-trained SEO specialist → GEO specialist Mid-career path: GEO specialist → GEO strategist → Head of AI Search Leadership path: Head of AI Search → VP of Search/Discovery → CMO
The professionals who develop GEO expertise now are positioning themselves for leadership roles as AI search becomes a larger part of marketing. The skill set is scarce, demand is growing, and the runway is long.
Key Takeaways
- GEO requires three skill sets: content strategy, technical SEO, and measurement
- Most businesses should train existing staff rather than hire dedicated GEO specialists
- One skilled person can handle all GEO responsibilities for smaller businesses
- Training takes 2-4 weeks for experienced SEO/content professionals
- Consider agency partnership for fast-start, then transition to in-house for long-term
- GEO skills are scarce and growing in demand — early expertise creates career advantage