AI Search Research Intern

The Role

E4C5 is building its first dedicated research function focused on AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This is a fast-moving space, and we want someone who is interested in figuring it out alongside us. You will own the research cadence: tracking how answer engines behave across industries, writing up what you find for publication on the E4C5 site and LinkedIn, and turning those findings into strategy recommendations for our client base. You will also support the delivery team on analytics work, data pulls, and ad-hoc client analysis. Best fit for a master's or PhD student in a data science program who wants flex work alongside their studies, or an early-career analyst who wants to build real expertise in a field that is still wide open.

Core Responsibilities

• Track how major answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews) cite businesses in B2B SaaS, cybersecurity, construction, and adjacent industries. Document what is changing and why. Follow the major researchers in the space and do your own original research.
• Write 3-5 research posts per month for publication on the E4C5 website and LinkedIn. Grounded in real observations, not generic takes.
• Produce a weekly internal research brief keeping the team current on AEO/GEO developments, algorithm behavior changes, and emerging tactics.
• Build a library of AEO/GEO best practices and strategic frameworks the team can apply to client accounts.
• Build and maintain a centralized data process for ingesting GA4 and AEO/GEO performance data into a shared workbook. This starts as manual ETL and grows from there. The goal is a single place where the team can query raw data and pull tables for client conversations.
• Support analytics delivery: client data pulls, Looker dashboard work, GA4 analysis, and performance reporting.
• Help create sales enablement collateral: research-backed one-pagers, decks, and frameworks that support the team in selli...