Agencies Need to Rethink the SEO Project Manager
Because why not? :)
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Agency Life
“AI won’t replace project managers, because there’s nothing to replace” 😂
I saw this joke on twitter the other day and it inspired this post…!
Throughout my career, I’ve worked at several agencies and experienced different models of working with SEO project managers. They also go by other titles—SEO account managers, SEO coordinators, client success managers, and more.
In one setup, the project manager was the primary client contact. They managed timelines, assigned tasks, followed up on deliverables, removed blockers, and handled most client communication. The SEO specialists focused on strategy and execution.
Many of these project managers had little or no hands-on SEO experience. They were excellent project managers, but not necessarily SEO practitioners.
A large portion of the role involved coordination: chasing updates, writing meeting notes, updating project boards, preparing status reports, scheduling meetings, documenting action items, and making sure nothing slipped through the cracks.
In other words… SEO clerking.
But that was years ago… today a lot of things have changed, my perspective for one as well as AI tools becoming integral part of our work.
So buckle up, as in this blog I intend to share my 2 cents on the role of SPM in 2026!
SEO depth
I really think we need to reconsider how we select people for the SPM role. After being in this industry for over 12 years, I believe an SEO project manager should have some hands-on SEO experience.
Some of the they should have done before:
Build or contribute to building a strategy
performed technical audits, even simple ones
collaborated with developers to get things done
created content recommendations for SEO
worked directly with content writers to update/create new content
worked with external third party agencies on top of an internal SEO team
….. and more just to name a few!
I’m not undermining people with pure project management backgrounds. Traditional PM skills are still important.
But SEO is one of those fields where you can’t fully “coordinate” your way through complexity.
Without hands-on exposure, there’s a real risk of slowing things down, misinterpreting priorities, or becoming an unnecessary layer between execution and decision-making.
If you’re currently in an SEO project manager role without SEO experience, the fix is simple: start getting closer to the work.
Play around with the tools, learn, try things even minor things here and there….
You’re not trying to convert to a full stack SEO, you are trying to build enough fluency to not be a blocker, and ideally to be able to step in when needed.
AI leverage
Not all agencies even have a dedicated SPM role. In many cases, SEO managers inherit the coordination and “clerical” side of delivery. That works too.
So whether you have an SPM or not, the person handling delivery just got a massive unlock.
Because AI is already handling a big chunk of the administrative workload:
Meeting summaries
Turning conversations into structured tasks
Drafting client updates and follow-ups
Organizing project documentation
Rewriting or refining status reports
Converting notes into actionable briefs
And more….
A lot of this admin work was never the “value” part of the job to begin with, it was just necessary overhead.
If you’re an SPM or doing SPM as part of your role, here are two additional areas I recommend you explore:
Optimize the project plan. Once you have a strategy in place, use AI tools to stress test it. AI can help you take it even to the next level, make it better, suggest changes here and there in priorities to drive more value to your clients.
Agility management. Changes happen as you go in any project. SEO is far from being a static field. Instead of maintaining static documents that quickly become outdated, use AI to continuously reframe plans based on new inputs.
Not to mention how I think Claude code should be your best friend.
Familiarize yourself with the idea of “Claude skills” or reusable AI workflows. For example, I recently built a simple SEO Claude skill that turns a single issue name into a structured SEO user story.
For example, here’s the output using this skill for the issue “organization schema missing on the homepage”
Small input → structured output → faster execution. Right?
And That’s a Wrap (Almost 😄)
Basically what I’m trying to say is that, in 2026 the role/skills for SEO project management have changed.
and this blog was my attempt to change the joke “AI won’t replace project managers, because there’s nothing to replace” to a no-joke.
If you pickup some hands-on SEO experience, and upskill yourself with necessary AI tools for project management, AI cannot replace you because you are down to the bones… you’re down to the real value that AI cannot replace!
That’s that for today folks and see you in the next newsletter!
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Disclaimer: LLMs were used to assist in wording and phrasing this blog.