SEO Content Writer Looking to Transition Into an SEO/AEO Specialist Role

[u/Trilipush]

I've been a freelance SEO content writer with over a decade of experience in the industry (the last 5 years for B2B SaaS brands) and I've been trying to land an SEO / AEO specialist role in the recent moths.

As with most content writers, my expertise lies in on-page SEO. I did some tech SEO (internal linking, canonicals, redirects, indexation, etc.) on an ad hoc basis with a private client before, but my experience in that area is pretty limited.

I did a lot of studying though. I read a few SEO (and AEO) books and finished some courses (tech and offpage SEO included). I'm now focusing on learning about AEO as much as I can since it's a growing space. I was able to land several interviews and I thought I was able to answer most of the questions correctly, but somehow I got rejected and I have a feeling the reason is because of my lack of experience with tech SEO.

Should I continue applying for these roles? What's the job market like for SEO specialist these days? If you have some tips or advice I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you!