AI Search Optimization (GEO) + Technical SEO Expert — Make Our Site AI-Recommendable

We have a complete, audited strategy document (we will share it with you) covering technical SEO fixes, schema/structured data, Google Merchant Center optimization, a product review system, content strategy, and AI-crawler access. We need a hands-on specialist to execute this plan, not write a new one. You'll work through a prioritized task list with clear deliverables, in sequence, reporting progress weekly against a shared tracker. You will: Audit and fix technical issues (AI crawler access, robots.txt, Cloudflare settings, site speed, indexation) Implement structured data / schema.org (Organization, Product, LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Review, Breadcrumb) via a clean custom solution — no plugin bloat Fix data-consistency issues across our site, Google Business Profile, and directory listings (NAP, business facts) Audit and optimize our Google Merchant Center product feed (attributes, GTIN/MPN, categories, freshness) Rebuild product and category page templates to a specification we provide (structured, fact-dense, AI/RAG-friendly) Clean up thin/duplicate indexed pages (taxonomy pruning) and internal linking Help draft/format 10–15 SEO+AI content assets from outlines and source material we provide (you don't need lighting expertise — we provide the facts, you handle structure, on-page SEO and publishing) Report monthly on AI visibility using a tracking method we'll define together (mentions/citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini/AI Overviews for a fixed set of test queries) About us: We are an online lighting store, serving homeowners, interior designers, architects and corporate clients. We run on WordPress/WooCommerce. We want to make our brand the lighting brand that AI assistants (ChatGPT, Google AI Mode/Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude) naturally recommend when someone in the country asks where to buy lighting and other questions and shopping recommendations — not just classic Google rankings. Ideal skills: Strong hands-on WordPress/WooCommerce development (PHP, child themes, custom plugins/mu-plugins) Deep, current knowledge of schema.org / JSON-LD implementation (not just "install Rank Math") Real experience with Google Merchant Center feed management and Google Search Console Familiarity with how AI search/LLM retrieval works (crawler access, robots.txt, llms.txt, AI Overviews, ChatGPT/Perplexity citations) — this is not classic SEO only Excellent written English for light content/copy editing Comfortable working async, reporting against a shared checklist/tracker (we will provide one), and flagging blockers proactively How we'll work together: We'll share a detailed task tracker (spreadsheet) with sequenced tasks, deliverables, deadlines and verification steps Weekly async check-in (Loom video walkthrough or written update) — no meetings required unless something needs discussion We review and approve before anything customer-facing goes live Payment: Milestone-based, tied to the tracker's checkboxes Timeline: Target to complete everything with 6 weeks max. To apply, please answer: 1. Have you implemented schema.org/JSON-LD manually (not just via a plugin UI) on a WooCommerce site before? Please share an example or a code snippet. 2. Have you managed a Google Merchant Center feed for a store outside the US? What issues did you typically catch in feed audits? 3. In one paragraph: what's the difference between optimizing for Google's classic search index vs. optimizing for how ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini answer a shopping question? (We want to see you actually understand this distinction, not paste a generic answer.) 4. What's your availability over the next 6 week (hours/week)? 5. What paid tools access do you have?