Real-time monitoring of wear on the working face of a dry gas seal is essential for ensuring equipment safety. However, current monitoring technologies are limited in their ability to produce signal features that directly quantify wear on the seal faces. This study presents the design of specialized shallow groove structures on the outer diameter of the primary ring. Following the acceleration of wear on the primary ring’s working face using a grinding machine, repeated start-stop experiments were conducted on a seal test rig, capturing real-time contact signals related to seal face wear with an acoustic emission sensor. Simulations and experiments demonstrate that the characteristics of acoustic emission signals generated by the designed structures can effectively reflect varying degrees of wear on the primary ring’s working face. Furthermore, this research introduces a novel methodology for online monitoring of wear in dry gas seals, emphasizing the importance of integrating monitoring capabilities into the initial design phase of sealing structures.