AI Search Technical SEO Lead (AEO / GEO)

a. This pivotal role sits within the Digital Growth Marketing organization, positioned strategically adjacent to the SEO Content and SEO Strategy teams.

In the rapidly emerging field of Generative Answer search, this position represents a unique opportunity to define how a major financial institution interacts with the next generation of search technologies. The successful candidate will be primarily focused on ensuring that PNC's web properties are structured, coded, and optimized for peak performance across two distinct ecosystems: traditional search engines like Google and Bing, and the emerging generative search engines including Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

This is not a traditional technical SEO role; it is a technical discipline focused on AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). We are looking for a practitioner who understands that the future of search requires more than just keywords-it requires a fundamental understanding of how machines parse, process, and retrieve data. You will bridge the gap between technical web development and digital marketing, utilizing a blend of data analysis, trending insights, and a "test and learn" aptitude to secure PNC's authority in the age of AI.

The Evolution from SEO to AEO:
As the digital marketplace floods with AI SEO positions, PNC distinguishes this role by focusing heavily on technical infrastructure and entity authority. The transition to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) or AEO means that our digital assets must be intelligible not just to humans, but to the complex algorithms driving LLMs.

In this role, you will move beyond standard link-building and metadata optimization. You will focus on how PNC's digital footprint-from our main site to our insights blog to our branch and ATM listings -feeds into the knowledge graphs that power AI responses. This requires a deep understanding of how generative engines construct answers and a proactive approach to structuring data so it is cited as the primary source of truth.

By joining the Digital Growth Marketing organization, you will play a critical architect role. You will ensure that when a user asks an AI agent about financial advice, banking products, or market insights, PNC provides the authoritative answer. This position demands a professional who can navigate the ambiguity of a nascent field while delivering concrete, measurable improvements in visibility.

Key Responsibilities and Strategic Impact:
The AI Search Technical Lead will be responsible for a comprehensive scope of work that touches every aspect of our technical search strategy. You will be tasked with translating complex technical requirements into actionable marketing strategies.

1. Advanced AEO Platform Management
   To succeed in modern AEO, one must master the tools that track visibility in a fragmentation search landscape. You will maintain and optimize tracking in core AEO platforms, specifically acting as the primary owner for Profound, Conductor, and Semrush. Your role goes beyond mere usage; you will collaborate with these platforms as consultant partners, pushing for feature enhancements that benefit PNC and utilizing their advanced capabilities to monitor our share of voice in AI-generated responses.
2. Technical Architecture and Schema Implementation
   A critical component of this role involves creating and implementing Schema code across PNC.com and other PNC web properties. Structured data is the language of LLMs. You will design robust JSON-LD implementations that maximize visibility in Large Language Models (LLMs) by explicitly defining entities, relationships, and context for search crawlers. This ensures that our financial products, articles, and corporate information are machine-readable and primed for rich result inclusion.
3. Cross-Functional Collaboration for AI Visibility
   AI visibility is not solely a technical challenge; it is a reputational one. You will collaborate closely with Affiliate and Content partners-including the SEO team, External Communications, and PR-to ensure content is deployed in optimal spaces for maximum AI visibility. This includes advising on off-page strategies that influence how LLMs associate the PNC brand with specific financial topics, ensuring our citations appear in the high-authority sources that feed training data.
4. Executive Reporting and Strategy
   The impact of AI search is a high-priority topic for leadership. You will report and present progress on AI search visibility to executive stakeholders and partners. This requires the ability to distill complex technical concepts-such as token usage, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) optimization, and semantic search-into clear business metrics that demonstrate ROI.
5. Continuous Improvement and Testing
   The algorithms powering Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity change rapidly. You will ensure ongoing collaboration with internal and external teams to drive continuous improvement in AI-driven search and content strategies. This involves setting up controlled experiments to test how different content structures affect citation rates in generative responses.
   Technical Qualifications and Required Expertise

This is a technical leadership role. While it sits within marketing, the successful candidate must have 5+ years of experience in technical SEO and possess a strong understanding of technical SEO and web development. We are looking for someone who can look "under the hood" of a website to understand how its construction affects its discoverability.

Core Technical Competencies:
*Web Development Fundamentals: Familiarity with basic web design and HTML, JavaScript, and CSS is essential. You must understand how these languages intersect to create-or hinder-the optimal discoverability of a website. You should be able to audit code for rendering issues that might prevent AI crawlers from accessing content.
*Data Analysis: The ability to analyze large datasets to identify trending topics and performance anomalies is critical. You must be comfortable with data visualization and interpretation to guide strategy.
*Test and Learn Aptitude: Given the nascent nature of AI search, there are no established playbooks. You must possess the curiosity and scientific rigor to formulate hypotheses, run tests, and operationalize the results.
Recommended Technology Familiarity
To hit the ground running, candidates should have hands-on experience with the following enterprise-grade tools:
*CMS Platforms: Experience with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) or similar enterprise Content Management Systems is highly recommended, as you will need to understand the constraints and capabilities of our publishing environment.
*Technical Auditing: Proficiency with the ScreamingFrog SEO crawler to perform deep technical audits of site architecture and response codes.
*Search Intelligence: Expertise in Conductor Web Intelligence for enterprise-level visibility tracking.
*Performance Analytics: Deep knowledge of Google Search Console for search performance data, as well as Google or Adobe Analytics for user behavior tracking.
*Server-Side Analysis: Familiarity with Log File analysis tools to understand exactly how search and LLM bots are crawling the site, allowing you to optimize crawl budgets and identify accessibility barriers.

This position is primarily based in a location within PNC's footprint.

PNC will not provide sponsorship for employment visas or participate in STEM OPT for this position.

Job Description

• Leads the analytics processes across multiple functions or business units leveraging an array of complex analytical tools to create data driven solutions. Serves as mentor to more junior employees.

• Consults with clients and mentors consultants on tool and strategy implementation and monitoring, statistical scoring, business intelligence, data quality, and analytical product / solution development.

• Determining the optimal analytic approach and supporting development, implementation and enhancements.

• Assists peers with guidance on analytic approaches related to more complex solutions.

• Conceptualizing, developing and continuously optimizing analytical solutions for business leadership to enable data driven decision making.

• Analyze results and make recommendations for key business partners and senior management or communicate conclusions from complex analytical solutions to a wide range of audiences.

PNC Employees take pride in our reputation and to continue building upon that we expect our employees to be:

• Customer Focused - Knowledgeable of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and able to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions.

• Managing Risk - Assessing and effectively managing all of the risks associated with their business objectives and activities to ensure they adhere to and support PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

Qualifications

Successful candidates must demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities for a role. Listed below are skills, competencies, work experience, education, and required certifications/licensures needed to be successful in this position.

Preferred Skills

Analytical Thinking, Business Intelligence (BI), Concept Development, Data-Driven Decision Making, Data Integration, Market Research, Performance Metrics, Qualitative Research, Strategic Planning

Competencies

Analytical Thinking, Business Acumen, Business Analytics, Consulting, Decision Making and Critical Thinking, Effective Communications, Emerging Technologies

Work Experience

Roles at this level typically require a university / college degree, with 5+ years of industry-relevant experience. Specific certifications are often required. In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered.

Education

Bachelors

Certifications

No Required Certification(s)

Licenses

No Required License(s)

Pay Transparency

Base Salary: $65,000.00 - $161,000.00

Salaries may vary based on geographic location, market data and on individual skills, experience, and education. This role is incentive eligible with the payment based upon company, business and/or individual performance.

Application Window

Generally, this opening is expected to be posted for two business days from 01/07/2026, although it may be longer with business discretion.

Benefits

PNC offers a comprehensive range of benefits to help meet your needs now and in the future. Depending on your eligibility, options for full-time employees include: medical/prescription drug coverage (with a Health Savings Account feature), dental and vision options; employee and spouse/child life insurance; short and long-term disability protection; 401(k) with PNC match, pension and stock purchase plans; dependent care reimbursement account; back-up child/elder care; adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement; educational assistance, including select programs fully paid; a robust wellness program with financial incentives.

In addition, PNC generally provides the following paid time off, depending on your eligibility: maternity and/or parental leave; up to 11 paid holidays each year; 9 occasional absence days each year, unless otherwise required by law; between 15 to 25 vacation days each year, depending on career level; and years of service.

To learn more about these and other programs, including benefits for full time and part-time employees, visit Your PNC Total Rewards.

Disability Accommodations Statement

If an accommodation is required to participate in the application process, please contact us via email at [email protected]. Please include 'accommodation request' in the subject line title and be sure to include your name, the job ID, and your preferred method of contact in the body of the email. Emails not related to accommodation requests will not receive responses. Applicants may also call 877-968-7762 and say "Workday" for accommodation assistance. All information provided will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

At PNC we foster an inclusive and accessible workplace. We provide reasonable accommodations to employment applicants and qualified individuals with a disability who need an accommodation to perform the essential functions of their positions.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

PNC provides equal employment opportunity to qualified persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or other categories protected by law.

This position is subject to the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and, for any registered role, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) and/or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which prohibit the hiring of individuals with certain criminal history.

California Residents

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