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Most Britons are unfamiliar with a growing number of new job titles linked to artificial intelligence and modern marketing, and many assume some of the roles are not even real, according to research commissioned by business management platform Tide.
A survey of more than 2,000 UK adults found that 80% had never heard of several emerging roles that employers have begun advertising in recent years. The findings also point to a credibility gap: nearly one in five respondents said titles such as "Belonging Manager" and "Empathy Engineer" sounded made up.
Tide compiled a list of newer roles across AI, technology and creator marketing and asked respondents whether they recognised them and understood what they involved. The results suggest missed opportunities for job seekers and for small firms competing with larger employers for skills.
Little-recognised roles
The least recognised title was Belonging Manager, with 80% of respondents unaware of it. Tide describes the role as promoting a positive workplace culture, with advertised salaries around £80,000 a year.
Empathy Engineer ranked second, with 79% saying they had not heard of it. GEO Strategist came third at 78%. Biostatistician followed at 76%, despite being long established in healthcare and life sciences. Augmented Intelligence Officer rounded out the top five at 75%.
Awareness was also low for AI-focused roles. The survey found 73% had not heard of Prompt Engineer, while 66% had not heard of AI Product Manager. Prompt engineers test and refine AI outputs, Tide said. It put the average salary at around £53,500 a year, with some listings offering up to £775 a day.
Search data also points to rising demand. Tide reported that interest in prompt engineers rose by 49% over the past two years, based on Google Keyword Planner search volume. Demand for AI product managers grew by 83% in the past 12 months.
Creator Partnerships Executive also scored poorly on awareness, with 73% saying they had not heard of it. Tide said listings for the role can reach £60,000 a year, and described the work as connecting content creators with brands and coordinating commercial partnerships.
AI skills gap
The research suggests a mixed picture of interest and readiness. Two-fifths of respondents said they would consider AI training to improve their career or business prospects. Interest was highest in Belfast and London (both 54%), followed by Manchester (51%).
Tide said the results show smaller businesses can still differentiate themselves by embedding AI skills early. Heather Cobb, UK managing director of Tide, said: "Taking the time to build knowledge around the in-demand roles and skillsets can be a great advantage for job seekers and business owners alike."
She added: "For smaller businesses, upskilling in areas such as AI and embedding these skills into the workplace early can be a more beneficial focus, especially given that even the largest organisations are grappling with how to use AI effectively to sustain year-on-year growth."
Cobb also linked the issue to investment constraints that many small firms face when hiring or training staff. "Whatever the role, hiring focus or marketing strategy, it takes investment, both from a training and a salary viewpoint - something that a business loan can help with, especially if an owner wants to capitalise on a growing opportunity before it passes," she said.
Search and discovery
One of the lesser-known roles highlighted by the research is the GEO strategist, a title linked to generative AI-driven discovery tools. Tide member James Congdon, recruiter and founder of WithFrontier, said the shift is already visible in hiring language for search roles.
"A growing proportion of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) roles now explicitly reference GEO in the title, where people are expected to think beyond traditional rankings and into visibility across AI-led discovery surfaces such as ChatGPT or Gemini. SEO experts, as well as businesses, will lose out in the long run if they don't look at their marketing efforts through an AI lens," Congdon said.
Pay for SEO and GEO specialists varies by experience, according to Tide. It cited entry-level salaries in the £20,000 to £30,000 range and said experienced directors can command six-figure packages of £100,000 or more.
Creator economy
The survey suggests a similar awareness gap in influencer marketing and content-led roles. Only 52% of respondents said they had heard of influencer marketing roles, and recognition was also low for titles such as Brand Editorial Lead and Social Storyteller.
Verity Park, founder and CEO of tbh talent, said creator relationships are not limited to large brands with sizeable advertising budgets. "As soon as you start a business, you should be thinking about creators. Influencer marketing isn't something you 'graduate' into once you have budgets - it's something that should be integrated into your marketing strategy at every level. Starting small, learning and testing can help you get to the point where you have big budgets to play with," Park said.
She pointed to Gymshark as an example of a business built with creators at its core. "There are so many examples of brands that did this brilliantly. Gymshark is the obvious one - now valued at around $1.5 billion - and I remember when they were simply seeding product out to creators. Influencers were their entire strategy from day one," Park said.
Park said storytelling is a differentiator in a crowded attention economy. "Finding talent who are genuine storytellers - creators who can integrate a product in a way that feels natural, fun and interesting - is key," she said.
She added: "Roles like social storytellers exist (and are expanding) because attention has shifted. Creators are where people spend their time - they're the new billboards, the new TV shows, the new 'entertainment'. And as more digitally native people move into senior decision-making roles, this space (and budgets) will only keep growing."