I feel this is a little pet issue of mine or maybe even its just due to my limited domain experience but I have still yet to meet a single "SEO" who doesn't feel slimy and feel like a snake oil salesman.
Everyone that I have personally encountered have been what seems in my eyes a few months behind, non technical and willing to ultimately screw over the client with stuff that is clearly aimed directly at manipulating google instead of improving the overall user experience for the end customers.<p>I personally see and feel better taking the approach of building a technically sound websites with good UX, getting a dedicated marketing manager who can write good copy (and not this SEO drivel of 10 paragraphs with no substance) and then know how to engage with customers instead.
I just read this before hitting HN, but isn't the title supposed to be "SEOs ARE Growth Hackers"? Some would argue that "SEOs are the original growth hackers", but that's just a very short sighted view as their domain of expertise is siloed in the domain of all things search engine related. I can see the overlap, as some more technically inclined SEOs have already made the jump, but there needs to be proficiency in understanding many different platforms (not just Google) and of course the ability to actually code to smartly exploit and scale marketing efforts. SEO is just one piece of the puzzle.