17. Who owns implementation when the findings cross SEO, content, product marketing and PR?

Do not buy recurring diagnosis without a route to implementation.

Put to: Wil Reynolds and Aleyda Solís, alongside an in-house marketing owner.

Why it matters to buyers: A Harvey SEO/GEO Lead vacancy combines traditional search, AI-answer visibility, content strategy and operating processes. It is an illustrative hiring signal that these responsibilities can be bundled—not evidence of an industry-wide organisational standard. (jobs.ashbyhq.com)

Ask: “Who should own the programme, which teams own the changes, and what would you do if the client can monitor answers but cannot publish fixes?”

A good answer should cover:

• One accountable programme owner, with separate technical, editorial, product-fact and external-communications responsibilities.
• A prioritised backlog in the buyer’s normal delivery system.
• Capacity commitments and approval paths before work begins.
• Definitions of implemented, verified and measured—not merely recommended.
• Escalation when actions depend on independent publishers or platform behaviour.

Press for: a sample monthly meeting that ends in decisions, owners and deadlines rather than another reporting presentation.

Ask the in-house participant which agency deliverables they could realistically implement with their existing team. Use that answer to challenge the proposed scope.

Expert quote — pending: ____________________