r/RankWithAI

i handle marketing for a few pool companys in FL. this year we noticed a chunk of leads were drying up even though rankings held steady. figured out people are asking chatgpt and perplexity stuff like "who should i hire to replaster my pool in tampa" and there getting answers that aren't us.

hired an agency in february that said they did AEO. four months later i looked at what they actaully did. backlinks and meta descriptions. thats it. same stuff i could of done myself for free.

before that i tried doing structured data and FAQ pages on our own sites. barley moved anything.

is the whole AEO category just a rebrand? genuinely asking because i cant tell anymore

I'll be completely unbiased.

All-in-One SEO Plugins

Yoast SEO — 13 million+ installs, most widely used, best for beginners.

Rank Math — feature-rich free tier, schema markup, Search Console integration, content AI.

All in One SEO (AIOSEO) — great for beginners and advanced users, TruSEO scoring system.

SEOPress — lightweight, privacy focused, unlimited keywords in free version, no upsell banners.

Squirrly SEO — AI powered, real-time coaching while writing, keyword research in 140+ languages.

Slim SEO — ultra lightweight, zero configuration, fully automated SEO in the background.

The SEO Framework — minimal, privacy focused, no ads or upsells, popular with developers.

SureRank — newer plugin, good for beginners.

Rankology — newest all-in-one with caching, Core Web Vitals, AI content, and Cloudflare built in.

Specialist/Niche SEO Plugins

Ahrefs SEO — site audit and backlink data inside WordPress, requires Ahrefs subscription.

LiteSpeed Cache — server level caching and performance, best on LiteSpeed servers.

Redirection — free redirect manager, fixes 404 errors, real-time error monitoring.

Broken Link Checker — detects broken links across posts, pages, comments and images.

Schema Pro — dedicated advanced schema markup plugin.

WP Rocket — premium caching and performance plugin.

Smush — dedicated image compression and optimization.

Semrush SEO Writing Assistant — requires Semrush subscription, content optimization inside.

MonsterInsights — Google Analytics integration for WordPress.

Yoast Local SEO — dedicated local business schema and Google Maps optimization.

Internal Link Juicer — automated internal linking suggestions.

I work at a small digital marketing agency, and I’m trying to figure out if this type of role exists or what I should even be looking for.

We haven’t really dug into digital PR, backlink building, etc. but with how much SEO is shifting with AI, it feels like something we need to start taking seriously.

Our last SEO manager left, and I’ve been moved up into more of a lead SEO role. I’ve been doing SEO at the same company for about 2 years, so I could probably figure out and build the process myself over time. The issue is that I’m also responsible for day-to-day client deliverables, reporting, strategy, content direction, audits, etc. So I don’t realistically have the bandwidth to build an entirely new digital PR/backlinks system from scratch.

What I’m wondering is: does it make sense to bring someone in part-time or on contract whose job is specifically to help us develop those processes, document them, maybe run a few pilot campaigns, and then train our team so we can continue it ourselves?

I’m not looking for someone to just “build links” in a spammy way. I’m more wondering if there’s a specific type of consultant for this. Like a digital PR strategist, Off page SEO consultant, link building process consultant, or fractional SEO ops person.

Has anyone hired for something like this before? What would you call this role, and what would you look for to avoid hiring the wrong kind of backlink vendor?