Director, SEO (AI Engine Optimization)

Who we are At CarGurus (NASDAQ: CARG), our mission is to give people the power to reach their destination. We started as a small team of developers determined to bring trust and transparency to car shopping. Since then, our history of innovation and go-to-market acceleration has driven industry-leading growth. In fact, we’re the largest and fastest-growing automotive marketplace, and we’ve been profitable for over 15 years. What we do The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step. That includes everything from the sale of an old car to the financing, purchase, and delivery of a new one. Today, tens of millions of consumers visit CarGurus.com each month, and ~30,000 dealerships use our products. But they're not the only ones who love CarGurus—our employees do, too. We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth. Disrupting a trillion-dollar industry requires fresh and diverse perspectives. Come join us for the ride! Role overview We’re looking for an analytical, strategic-thinker, result-oriented leader with experience in search and AI engine optimization (SEO/AIO) to join our team at CarGurus and drive our innovation in AI organic traffic. Within the Performance Marketing team, this individual will be responsible for growing CarGurus organic traffic and conversions, focused on AI search and AI/social engines, building a best-in-class organic program and cementing CarGurus as a top organic result for automotive search in the US and our International markets, Canada and the UK. This role will proactively research, analyze and communicate emerging trends in new AI channels, drive the strategy and aggressive testing plans, and execute, measure and optimize SEO/organic initiatives to ensure we are on the leading edge, in partnership with a team of SEO specialists, engineers, Editorial, Product, Marketing & Analytics teams. What you'll do Executive Communication & Strategic Alignment: Proactively communicate AI search and emerging SEO trends, key implications for CarGurus and suggested strategic priorities to senior executives and board-level audiences. This includes crafting compelling narratives supported by data, anticipating objections, and driving alignment around recommendations. Leadership & Results Driven Innovation: Balance strategic risk-taking and the practical implementation of new ideas to drive SEO/AIO conversions growth and industry leadership. Demonstrate a willingness to allocate resources toward testing innovative high-potential tactics—like AI-driven content clusters or unconventional site architectures—while driving a framework for measurable results. Strategy Development: Define and size opportunities, strategic priorities, and roadmap to drive organic AI/social growth based on emerging trends, current performance and data insights; includes informing the Editorial Content team’s roadmap and prioritization. Execution: Oversee execution and optimization of performance-oriented campaigns & initiatives across search AI (e.g. Google AI overviews), emerging AI engines (e.g. Chat-GPT) and social platforms (e.g. Reddit, X, Meta, YouTube) to drive organic visits and conversions. Conversion Optimization: Continuously optimize landing page conversion rates at various stages of the customer journey, from content/research to conversion-oriented pages. Testing and Measurement: Analyze marketing data and metrics to measure the effectiveness of SEO efforts, including A/B testing, report building and analysis, and communicate the results and data-driven decisions to key stakeholders. Reporting & Forecasting: Monitor SEO/AI performance across all CarGurus markets, reporting regularly to the Executive Team on synthesized trends, work and impact. Resource Management: Define and manage budget and engineering resource allocation. Cross-functional Collaboration: Lead internal communications and collaborate with other departments, such as Engineering, Product, Editorial Content, Analytics and Other Marketing teams to align efforts with overall business goals and ensure adequate prioritization. Market Research: Stay updated on industry trends, competitor strategies, and customer preferences to inform SEO initiatives and strategy. What you'll bring SEO/AI Knowledge: 8+ years of professional experience in SEO, preferably in-house and enterprise-level, with a strong understanding of SEO principles, strategies, and recent AI trends. Strategic Thinking: Strong critical thinking and problem solving skills to identify opportunities and priorities with strategic context and understanding. Communication Skills: Strong ability to concisely synthesize and communicate key insights, results and recommendations to key partners and senior leadership, in verbal presentations and written communications. Data Analytics: Passion for data, and testing new features or improvements. Proficiency in using data analytics tools (Looker, Google Analytics) and SEO tracking platforms to analyze performance and make data-driven decisions. Adaptability: Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, learn and adapt to changing marketing trends and technologies, and adapting priorities to critical business needs. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Ability to effectively liaison with internal teams, subsidiary partners, and executive team regarding SEO initiatives and progress. Team Management: Experience leading teams, particularly content and/or engineering teams Attention to Detail: Precision in tracking data and ensuring roadmap elements are executed correctly. The displayed range represents the expected annual base salary / On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this position. On-Target Earnings (OTE) is inclusive of base salary and on-target commission earnings, which applies exclusively to sales roles. Individual pay within this range is determined by work location and other factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. This annual base salary forms part of a comprehensive Total Rewards Package. In addition to benefits, this role may qualify for discretionary bonuses/incentives and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). Position Pay Range $162,000 — $203,000 USD Working at CarGurus We reward our Gurus’ curiosity and passion with best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they continue to grow with us. Our career development and corporate giving programs, as well as our employee resource groups (ERGs) and communities, help people build connections while making an impact in personally meaningful ways. A flexible hybrid model and robust time off policies encourage work-life balance and individual well-being. Thoughtful perks like daily free lunch, a new car discount, meditation and fitness apps, commuting cost coverage, and more help our people create space for what matters most in their personal and professional lives. We welcome all CarGurus strives to be a place to which people can bring the ultimate expression of themselves and their potential—starting with our hiring process. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We foster an inclusive environment that values people for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. That’s why we hope you’ll apply even if you don’t check every box listed in the job description. We also encourage you to tell your recruiter if you require accommodations to participate in our hiring process due to a disability so we can provide the appropriate support. We want to know what only you can bring to CarGurus. #LI-Hybrid

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