Director, SEO

The Director, SEO is responsible for setting the enterprise organic search vision and leading the strategy, execution, and performance of SEO across Auto Nation's portfolio of 260+ web properties and related digital experiences. This role owns organic discoverability across traditional search, AI-powered and zero-click experiences, and local search to drive qualified traffic, leads, and sales for new and used vehicles, service, and F&I products.

You will lead a team of internal specialists and agency partners to deliver a modern, data-driven SEO program that integrates technical SEO, content, local, and authority-building initiatives, all aligned to enterprise growth targets and customer journeys.

Key Responsibilities
1. Strategy, Leadership, and Roadmap Define the SEO vision, multi-year roadmap, and annual operating plan in support of enterprise revenue and customer acquisition goals, including sales, service, and digital retail experiences.

Shift the organization from keyword-centric SEO to intent- and topic-based strategies that align to end-to-end customer journeys and changing SERP and AI surfaces.

Set clear KPIs and OKRs for organic performance (traffic, leads, calls, store visits, sales influence, revenue) and ensure alignment with overall performance marketing measurement.

Champion SEO as a core growth lever across the organization, educating senior leaders and cross-functional partners on opportunities, trade-offs, and risks.
2. Enterprise SEO and AI-Driven Search Own enterprise SEO strategy across on-page, off-page, and technical pillars, ensuring that fundamentals (crawlability, indexation, site architecture, page speed, Core Web Vitals, structured data) are consistently strong across all sites.

Develop a strategy for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO) so Auto Nation content is eligible and frequently cited in AI overviews and assistant responses.

Implement and scale E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) signals across content, authorship, and site architecture to protect and grow visibility in both traditional and generative search.

Partner with content and product teams to create AI-friendly, structured, and synthesis-ready content (e.g., answer-first formats, FAQ/schema, entities, and topical hubs), especially for high-value categories and comparison journeys.
3. Local, Dealership, and Multi-Location SEOLead local SEO strategy for all Auto Nation stores, including Google Business Profiles, Apple Maps, and other key local platforms, optimizing for both search and map-based discovery.

Own business listings data strategy, including aggregators and citation management, to ensure accuracy, consistency, and scalability across 260+ locations.

Develop playbooks and governance for store-level pages, service content, and local promotions that balance national standards with local relevance and compliance requirements.
4. Content, On-Page Optimization, and User Experience Partner with content, merchandising, and UX teams to define content strategies and templates for SRPs/VDPs, service pages, EV content, and ownership resources that drive organic visibility and conversion.

Oversee on-page optimization at scale, including title/meta strategies, internal linking, structured data, and entity-based content models that reinforce topical authority.

Collaborate with product and design to ensure a mobile-first, fast, and accessible user experience that aligns with search engine best practices and improves engagement, leads, and sales.

Champion experimentation (A/B and multivariate testing) on SEO-influenced templates and content to systematically improve rankings and conversion performance.
5. Technical SEO and Platform Partnership Lead technical SEO strategy in partnership with Product, Engineering, and external platform vendors, influencing roadmap prioritization for site architecture, templates, and platform capabilities.

Oversee regular technical audits (crawl errors, redirects, sitemaps, index bloat, JavaScript rendering, site speed, Core Web Vitals) and drive remediation ablish standards and governance for new site launches,…