From Hands-On SEO to Leading Search in the AI Era

I started working in SEO in 2015. The early years were practical: auditing websites, fixing technical issues, planning content, testing ideas, and learning from the results.

Since then, I've worked across ecommerce, marketplaces, media, and education. My role grew from working on individual websites to leading teams and managing search across large platforms and multiple brands.

Those roles taught me that search never belongs to one team. The strongest work happens when content, engineering, product, and growth understand the same problem and move in the same direction.

My AI Search Visibility Framework

  1. STAGE 01

    Get Found

    Make sure important pages can be accessed, rendered, indexed, and retrieved by search engines and AI systems.

  2. STAGE 02

    Get Understood

    Clarify entities, relationships, and context so systems understand who the brand is, what it offers, and who it serves.

  3. STAGE 03

    Get Corroborated

    Support brand claims with evidence beyond its own website, including research, case studies, interviews, reviews, and industry coverage.

  4. STAGE 04

    Get Selected

    Create information that directly answers the questions people ask while making a decision, with important claims that are easy to identify and defend.

  5. STAGE 05

    Get Preferred

    Citation is not the final outcome. Reputation, positioning, proof, product quality, pricing, and experience still determine whether people choose the brand.

Read the full framework

Work Experience

September 2020 - Present

Ruangguru

Group Web, SEO/GEO & Product Manager

Lead SEO, GEO, and AI Search strategy across the PT Ruang Raya Indonesia group, including Ruangguru, Brain Academy, Skill Academy, English Academy, Alta Global School, Schoters, Ruangkerja, Kalananti, and Ruangpeduli. Named the group’s Manager of the Year in 2021.

July 2026 - Present

StoryMint

Chief Product Officer

Lead product strategy for StoryMint, an audience intelligence and AI Search visibility platform that helps brands understand their audiences, improve content, and measure how they appear in AI-generated answers.

2020 - 2023

iMpulse Digital

Managing Director

Built and led iMpulse Digital, a digital marketing agency handling clients’ digital marketing needs end to end.

January 2019 - August 2020

The Bramble Company

SEO Manager

Managed SEO and organic growth for The Bramble Company, a U.S.-based B2B custom-furniture company, while supporting its B2C ecommerce expansion in Indonesia.

October 2016 - December 2018

BLANJA

SEO Lead

Led marketplace SEO for BLANJA.com, a major Indonesian ecommerce platform established as a joint venture between Telkom Indonesia and eBay.

May 2016 - September 2016

HIJUP

Sr. SEO Specialist

Worked on ecommerce SEO for HIJUP, then known as Indonesia’s first and largest Muslim fashion ecommerce platform, focusing on category and product discovery.

July 2017 - Present

KabarGames

Owner

Built KabarGames from the ground up and grew it into a gaming media platform.

May 2015 - April 2016

Earlier SEO roles

SEO Staff, Specialist, and Engineer

Handled technical audits, site improvements, and content across Uptopromo, Konsula, and HelloPET—the hands-on roles that built my foundation in SEO.

Articles & Interviews

Video Appearances

Updates by Viktor Iwan

Google Search discussion with Joe Handaya and Ilman Akbar

Search Agency

Main Event - SEO Advanced Mindset You Should Avoid and Possess

Search Agency

The SEO Show 35 - How To Manage A Scalable SEO Campaign

Erwin Petas

How to Optimize Local SEO for Stronger Local Search Visibility

SEO is all about logic & common sense with creative & analytical skill built in. Knowledge is cheap, we can find any SEO tutorial on the internet, but the most important thing is, fix your #MindSet.
Joe Handaya I first shared this quote at SEOCON 2020.

Ready to improve your visibility in AI search?