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OpenAI hired a Netflix SEO lead. The signal is clear.

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The biggest AI companies are hiring senior SEO talent.

OpenAI brought in a search leader from Netflix. Anthropic is offering $320k for an SEO Lead. Meta has roles at $300k

The same companies building the tools that were supposed to "kill" search are now investing in understanding it.

This is not a coincidence. When the companies that build LLMs pay top dollar for search expertise, they are telling you something: Organic visibility is becoming a strategic moat . The companies that win will be the ones that understand how search and AI discovery work together

AI is not replacing SEO. It is redefining it. The discipline is shifting from rankings to citations, from click-through rates to answer engine optimization. The fundamentals have not changed. The skills have evolved.

What I am curious about.

Do you know anyone who has been told that SEO is dead? What did they do next?

Imed Radhouani
Founder & CTO –

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That's a really interesting perspective.

Are you or your team currently using SEO as a strategy?

 We use Rankfender for Rankfender. The platform tracks our AI visibility, generates content that actually gets cited, and publishes it directly to our site. It is the same thing we offer to our customers.

For agencies and businesses, we go a step further. Beyond the platform, we provide human agents who work alongside the automation. Not to replace it. To provide the judgment, context, and experience that AI still cannot deliver. Strategy, oversight, and execution support from people who understand both SEO and GEO.

I would be happy to show you what this looks like for your project. No pressure. Just a 15-minute walkthrough.

Here is my calendar link:

Let me know what works for you.

Imed Radhouani
Founder & CTO – Rankfender

Building AI products, you see this from both sides. Everyone spending 2022-2024 saying 'AI will kill search' is quietly doing SEO audits six months into their startup. The job postings are just making it official.

The real shift isn't that SEO is back - it's that the game changed from 'rank in Google' to 'be cited in AI answers'. The fundamentals are the same: be the clearest, most authoritative source on the thing you own. The distribution channel is what's evolving.

Founders who skipped SEO entirely are now discovering they're invisible to both Google and ChatGPT. The companies smart enough to hire from Netflix SEO understood this 18 months ago.

 You nailed it. The "AI will kill search" line was a convenient narrative for selling AI tools. The reality is that the companies building those tools are quietly building out their SEO teams.

The shift from "rank in Google" to "be cited in AI answers" is the real story. The fundamentals are the same. Clarity, authority, and evidence still win. The distribution channel has changed. The game has not.

Founders who skipped SEO are now discovering they are invisible everywhere. Not just in Google. In ChatGPT. In Perplexity. In Gemini. They optimized for nothing.

The companies that hired from Netflix SEO understood this 18 months ago. They are not playing catch-up. They are building moats.

What is the most expensive SEO lesson you have seen a founder learn?

he irony is perfect companies building "Google killers" are now paying $300k to understand Google better.

SEO isn't dead. It just got more expensive to ignore. 😄

As a solo builder trying to rank with zero budget, this thread is both inspiring and terrifying at the same time.

 That is the part that stings. The companies telling you search is obsolete are the ones spending the most to understand how it works. The irony is perfect.

For a solo builder with zero budget, the advice is the same. You do not need to spend $300k. You need to be clear, authoritative, and evidence-based. That costs nothing. It just takes time.

The terrifying part is that the game has changed. The good news is that the fundamentals have not. Clarity, authority, and evidence still win. The distribution channel is what is evolving.

What is the one thing you are doing right now to build authority without spending money?

 I completely agree ,authority can't really be outsourced.

As a solo founder, my strategy is simple:

• Build tools people actually return to.
• Publish helpful content around those tools.
• Be active in communities like this instead of chasing spammy backlinks.
• Let user trust become the marketing.

KuberAgent is my experiment in that direction. Every feature I add is based on one question: Would this genuinely help someone without compromising their privacy?

If AI search starts rewarding evidence and real usefulness over pure link-building, I think small builders finally have a chance to compete.