# Top 100 SEO Experts in the World (2026) 100 SEO experts I have learned from and think you should follow too, grouped by what each one does best, with one free place to start with each of them. Source: https://iamnoorkhan.com/blog/top-seo-experts Author: Noor Khan (https://iamnoorkhan.com/) ## Key takeaways - Follow people for the problem you have, not for how famous they are: a traffic drop needs someone who tracks Google updates, a local business needs a Google Business Profile expert. - Keep an eye on the semantic SEO and AI search experts. Google and ChatGPT now answer more questions directly, and these people understand why. - Most of them share their best work for free. Every card links to one newsletter, podcast, tool or guide you can start with today. - Google's own Search Relations team (John Mueller, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt) explains how Search works on the free Search Off the Record podcast. - Some famous roles have changed: Danny Sullivan is no longer Google's Search Liaison, and Brian Dean sold Backlinko to Semrush in 2022. I didn't learn SEO from one course or one book. I learned it from people: their newsletters on a Sunday morning, their conference talks on YouTube, the studies they published for free, and the patient answers they gave to strangers online. This page is my list of 100 of them. I've grouped them by what they're best at, so you can find the right SEO experts to follow for whatever you're working on right now. Each card shows what they do today, what they're known for, and one free place to start. Type a name, a company or a skill in the search box, or jump straight to a specialty. > [!NOTE] A note from me > What I admire most about the people here isn't only how good they are. It's how much they share. Most of them could keep their best findings to themselves, and they don't. This list isn't a ranking. It's a thank-you, and every person on it is worth your time. ## Who are the top semantic SEO experts? Semantic SEO is about meaning: covering a topic so fully, with the right entities and the links between them, that Google and AI assistants see your site as a real source on it. These are the people I'd learn it from. If you're new to the idea, my [semantic SEO guide](/blog/semantic-seo-guide) is a gentle place to begin. ### Koray Tuğberk Gübür **Founder & CEO, Holistic SEO & Digital.** Known for: The topical authority method and teaching semantic SEO through courses and YouTube. - Set out the topical authority method in a February 2021 semantic SEO case study published on OnCrawl. - Founded Holistic SEO & Digital in 2020. - Start with: [Topical Authority YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@TopicalAuthority) - Note from Noor: Koray is my mentor. His course is where I learned to think in topics and entities instead of keywords. ### Jason Barnard **Founder & CEO, Kalicube.** Known for: 'The Brand SERP Guy': how Google and AI assistants present brands and people, including knowledge panels. - Founded Kalicube in 2015. - Wrote The Fundamentals of Brand SERPs for Business, published in January 2022. - Start with: [jasonbarnard.com](https://jasonbarnard.com/) ### Andrea Volpini **CEO, WordLift.** Known for: Knowledge graphs and structured data for websites through WordLift. - Introduced SEOntology, an open vocabulary for describing SEO data, in August 2024. - CEO of WordLift, the Rome-based knowledge graph company founded in 2017. - Start with: [The WordLift blog](https://wordlift.io/blog/en/) ### Muhammad Hamid Khan **Co-founder and CTO, CartCompound.** Known for: Semantic SEO for e-commerce: topical maps, semantic content briefs and entity-led content systems built on Koray's framework. - Co-founder and CTO of CartCompound, a semantic SEO agency for e-commerce stores. - Builds topical maps and semantic content briefs that turn large product catalogues into complete topic coverage. - Start with: [His LinkedIn posts on topical maps and semantic briefs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/imuhammadhamidkhan/) - Note from Noor: I have worked with Hamid. ### Dixon Jones **CEO and co-founder, InLinks.** Known for: Entity SEO pioneer, author of Entity SEO, co-founder of InLinks and long-time Majestic figure. - Founded UK SEO consultancy Receptional in 1999 and became a founding director of backlink-data company Majestic. - Co-founded entity SEO platform InLinks with Fred Laurent in 2019; InLinks released AI brand-visibility tool Waikay in March 2025. - Start with: [InLinks free SEO tools](https://inlinks.com/free-seo-tools/) ### Muhammad Ahmad Khan **Co-founder and CEO, CartCompound.** Known for: Semantic SEO for e-commerce stores, using topical authority, entity SEO and patent-based content architecture. - Co-founder and CEO of CartCompound, which applies semantic SEO to e-commerce category and product pages. - Founded Build Goat Ltd, the London-registered company behind CartCompound. - Start with: [CartCompound's e-commerce SEO guides](https://cartcompound.com/ecommerce-guides/) - Note from Noor: I have worked with Ahmad. ### Dawn Anderson **Founder and SEO consultant, Bertey.** Known for: Explaining Google BERT, crawl budget and information retrieval to SEOs in depth. - In April 2020, Search Engine Land's Barry Schwartz said she had written the most comprehensive deep dives on Google BERT. - Judges the UK, EU, MENA, US and Global Search Awards and sits on the SMX programming committee. - Start with: [Bertey newsletter](https://bertey.com/newsletter/) ### Lazarina Stoy **Founder of MLforSEO; organic growth and AI automation consultant.** Known for: Teaching SEOs to use machine learning and automation, through MLforSEO, tutorials and talks. - Senior Manager, SEO and Data Science at Intrepid Digital from 2021 to 2023. - Launched MLforSEO Academy in 2024 and founded Women in Marketing - Bulgaria the same year. - Start with: [MLforSEO newsletter](https://www.mlforseo.com/newsletter/) > [!TIP] Where to start > Watch one of Koray's topical authority videos to understand the method. Then look at Jason Barnard's site to see how the same thinking changes what Google shows when someone searches your brand name. ## Who are the best AI search (GEO) experts? These are the people testing how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews decide what to cite and recommend. They run real experiments and share the numbers, which is rare in a field full of guesses about [generative engine optimization](/glossary/geo). ### Kevin Indig **Growth advisor and writer of Growth Memo.** Known for: Data-led research on SEO and AI search, published weekly in his Growth Memo newsletter. - Published The Consensus Gap in May 2026, an analysis of about 3.7 million citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews. - Previously led SEO and growth at Shopify, G2 and Atlassian. - Start with: [Growth Memo](https://www.growth-memo.com) ### Mike King **Founder & CEO, iPullRank.** Known for: Highly technical SEO, the 2024 Google documentation leak analysis and 'relevance engineering' for AI search. - Published a detailed analysis of Google Search's leaked internal engineering documentation on May 27, 2024. - Start with: [The AI Search Manual](https://ipullrank.com/ai-search-manual) ### Ethan Smith **CEO, Graphite.** Known for: Research-led growth and data studies on AI-generated content and answer engine optimization. - Graphite's October 2025 study found AI-written articles outnumbered human-written ones on the web from November 2024. - Start with: [Graphite's Five Percent research hub](https://graphite.io/five-percent) ### Ross Hudgens **Founder & CEO, Siege Media.** Known for: Content marketing and link-earning at scale, and connecting AI search to content strategy. - Wrote Generative Engine Optimization: The Definitive Guide to AI SEO, published by Wiley in 2026. - Start with: [The Content & Conversation podcast](https://www.youtube.com/@SiegeMedia/videos) ### Britney Muller **Founder of Orange Labs; AI consultant and educator.** Known for: Explaining how AI and language models work in plain terms for marketers. - Former Senior SEO Scientist at Moz; says she led the 2022 launch of BLOOM, Hugging Face's open multilingual language model. - Start with: [Britney Muller's free lessons on Maven](https://maven.com/britney-muller) ### Duane Forrester **Founder, CitationIQ.** Known for: Launched Bing Webmaster Tools at Microsoft; now advises companies on visibility in AI search. - Spent about a decade at Microsoft, where he ran SEO for MSN, launched Bing Webmaster Tools and helped launch Schema.org. - Author of The Machine Layer: How to Stay Visible and Trusted in the Age of AI Search, after earlier McGraw-Hill books. - Start with: [Duane Forrester Decodes (newsletter)](https://duaneforresterdecodes.substack.com/) ### Dan Petrovic **Founder, DEJAN AI.** Known for: Hands-on AI search research: probing LLMs to measure and influence how they talk about brands. - Gave an Enterprise Stage keynote at Semrush Spotlight 2025 in Amsterdam and spoke at SEO Week 2025 in New York. - Trained a language model from scratch to study how AI systems choose their words, and built DEJAN's own AI visibility tools. - Start with: [DEJAN blog](https://dejan.ai/blog/) ### Crystal Carter **Head of AI Search & SEO Communications, Wix.** Known for: Explaining AI search and SEO to businesses; author of The New Rules of AI Search. - Author of The New Rules of AI Search: SEO for Visibility in ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Generative Search (Wiley, 2026). - Co-hosted Wix's weekly SERP's Up SEO podcast with Mordy Oberstein, which marked its 100th episode in September 2024. - Start with: [Wix Studio AI Search Lab](https://www.wix.com/studio/ai-search-lab) ### Metehan Yesilyurt **GEO Researcher, Peec AI.** Known for: Experiments on how AI search engines like ChatGPT retrieve, rank and cite web content. - In October 2026 published a Peec AI experiment showing that 50,000 unverified AI-generated statistics pages kept getting cited by ChatGPT. - Spoke at brightonSEO in April 2025 on generative AI and GEO. - Start with: [His research on the Peec AI blog](https://peec.ai/blog) ### Chris Long **Co-founder, Nectiv.** Known for: B2B SEO and AI search strategy, plus data studies on ChatGPT and Gemini query fan-out. - Previously VP of Marketing at the agency Go Fish Digital. - Presented a study of 28,000+ ChatGPT and Gemini fan-out queries at brightonSEO. - Start with: [Chris's Substack](https://chrisnectiv.substack.com/) ### Jes Scholz **Growth marketing consultant.** Known for: Forward-looking SEO strategy on entities, AI agents and audience development for enterprise and media brands. - Named SEO World Champion at SEOktoberfest 2022. - Writes for Search Engine Land on AI search, including ChatGPT agent mode (October 2025) and measuring AI SEO beyond GA4 (February 2026). - Start with: [SEO Brief (monthly newsletter)](https://seobrief.substack.com/) > [!TIP] Where to start > Subscribe to Kevin Indig's Growth Memo for the data, and read Mike King's AI Search Manual for the technical side. Between the two, you'll understand most of what's happening in AI search. ## Who are the best experts on Google algorithm updates? When your traffic suddenly moves, these are the people to check first. They watch Google every day, notice changes early and share what they see, often before Google says anything. Read them after any [core update](https://developers.google.com/search/updates/core-updates). ### Barry Schwartz **CEO of RustyBrick; founder of Search Engine Roundtable.** Known for: Daily reporting on Google Search changes at Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land. - Founded Search Engine Roundtable in 2003 and still updates it daily with Google Search news. - News Editor of Search Engine Land, the trade publication co-founded by Danny Sullivan in 2006. - Start with: [Search Engine Roundtable](https://www.seroundtable.com) ### Lily Ray **Founder of Algorythmic; VP of SEO & AI Search at Amsive.** Known for: Analysing Google algorithm updates, E-E-A-T and how AI search chooses what to cite. - Launched Algorythmic, her SEO and AI search consultancy, in 2026; has worked at Amsive (formerly Path Interactive) since 2018. - June 2026 study of 100 'best software' queries: self-ranking brands were left out of AI Overview recommendations 69% of the time. - Start with: [Lily Ray's Substack](https://lilyraynyc.substack.com) ### Marie Haynes **Founder, Marie Haynes Consulting.** Known for: Google algorithm updates, quality guidance and how AI is changing Google Search. - Moved into SEO full time after Google's Penguin update in 2012. - Writes about AI and Google Search for Search Engine Journal. - Start with: [Marie Haynes newsletter](https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/) ### Glenn Gabe **SEO and AI Search Consultant, G-Squared Interactive.** Known for: Diagnosing traffic drops and recoveries after Google algorithm updates, with visibility data. - Started G-Squared Interactive (GSQi), his SEO consultancy, in 2001 in Princeton, New Jersey. - Start with: [The Internet Marketing Driver blog](https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/) ### Brodie Clark **Independent SEO consultant, Brodie Clark Consulting.** Known for: Tracking changes to Google's search features, such as Discover, shopping results and new SERP layouts. - Named Young Search Professional of the Year at the 2019 Australian Search Awards. - Start with: [SERPAlert](https://serpalert.com) ### Roger Montti **Staff writer, Search Engine Journal.** Known for: Search Engine Journal reporting that digs into Google patents, research papers and algorithm changes. - Became a moderator at the WebmasterWorld forum in 2004 and has spoken at search marketing conferences since 2005. - Has served as Head Judge for the U.S. Search Awards. - Start with: [Roger Montti's articles on Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/roger-montti/) ### Danny Goodwin **Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX.** Known for: Leading Search Engine Land's search marketing news coverage after nearly two decades editing search publications. - Edited Search Engine Watch from 2007 to 2014, then was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal from 2017 to 2022. - Joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor; now directs editorial for Search Engine Land and SMX. - Start with: [Search Engine Land newsletters](https://searchengineland.com/newsletters) ### Barry Adams **Founder and SEO consultant, Polemic Digital.** Known for: SEO for news publishers, from technical crawling and indexing to newsroom workflows. - Began specialising in news SEO at the Belfast Telegraph in 2010 and founded consultancy Polemic Digital in 2014. - Co-founded the News and Editorial SEO Summit with John Shehata; its first edition in 2021 drew 500+ attendees from 50+ countries. - Start with: [SEO for Google News (newsletter)](https://www.seoforgooglenews.com/) ### Dr. Pete Meyers **Principal Innovation Architect, Moz.** Known for: Tracking Google algorithm changes and SERP volatility through Moz's MozCast and algorithm history. - Runs MozCast, the daily Google "weather" report tracking ranking volatility since 2012, and keeps Moz's Google Algorithm Update History. - Start with: [MozCast](https://moz.com/mozcast) ### Gisele Navarro **Managing Editor, HouseFresh.** Known for: Documenting how Google's updates hurt independent publishers, through HouseFresh's widely shared 2024 investigation. - Wrote 'How Google is killing independent sites like ours' on HouseFresh, published 19 February 2024. - Start with: [How Google is killing independent sites like ours (HouseFresh)](https://housefresh.com/david-vs-digital-goliaths/) ### Mordy Oberstein **Head of Brand Marketing, SE Ranking.** Known for: Brand-led SEO; led Wix's SEO brand turnaround and co-hosted the SERP's Up podcast. - As Wix's Head of SEO Branding for five years, led the shift in Wix's reputation from 'bad for SEO' to industry leader. - Co-hosted Wix's SERP's Up podcast, which marked its 100th episode with a live stream in September 2024. - Start with: [SERP's Up podcast archive (Wix)](https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast) > [!TIP] Where to start > Bookmark Search Engine Roundtable. If your rankings jump or drop, look there first to see if other site owners noticed the same thing that day. ## Who are the best technical SEO experts? Technical SEO is the part most people skip, and it's often why good content doesn't rank. These experts make sure search engines can crawl, render and index a site, and a few of them built the tools the rest of us use every day. If you want to see where their work fits, my guide to [what a good SEO audit includes](/blog/what-a-good-seo-audit-includes) walks through it. ### Jamie Indigo **Director of Technical SEO, Cox Automotive.** Known for: How search engines crawl, render and index pages, especially JavaScript sites. - Co-wrote the SEO chapter of HTTP Archive's Web Almanac in 2020 and was lead author of the 2024 chapter. - Start with: [Not a Robot](https://not-a-robot.com/) ### Peter Rota **Senior Technical SEO Manager, HUB International.** Known for: Technical SEO for enterprise sites, auditing for AI visibility, and daily practical SEO posts on LinkedIn. - More than 13 years in SEO across local, enterprise and affiliate sites. - Writes regularly on LinkedIn about technical SEO, AI search and building a personal brand. - Note from Noor: Peter was a guest on my podcast. ### Patrick Stox **Independent technical SEO consultant.** Known for: Technical SEO, data-driven research and co-founding the Tech SEO Connect conference. - Led the SEO chapter of HTTP Archive's 2021 Web Almanac. - Co-founded Tech SEO Connect, a technical SEO conference, in 2024. - Start with: [patrickstox.com](https://www.patrickstox.com/) ### Jono Alderson **Independent technical SEO consultant.** Known for: Technical SEO, structured data and the schema graph built into the Yoast SEO plugin. - Head of SEO at Yoast from 2018 to 2023. - His specification became the structured data graph that shipped in Yoast SEO 11.0 in April 2019. - Start with: [Jono Alderson's blog](https://www.jonoalderson.com/) ### Cindy Krum **Founder & CEO, MobileMoxie.** Known for: Mobile SEO, mobile-first indexing analysis and her 'Fraggles' theory of how Google ranks page fragments. - Founded MobileMoxie, a mobile SEO company, in 2008. - Wrote the book Mobile Marketing (Que, 2010). - Start with: [MobileMoxie on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUdSZIl4pmQjlq6KocxUCLQ) ### Dan Sharp **Co-founder and Director, Screaming Frog.** Known for: Designing and leading the build of the Screaming Frog SEO Spider website crawler. - Co-founded Screaming Frog and designed the SEO Spider, whose first release (version 1.0, Windows only) shipped on 23 November 2010. - Start with: [Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free version)](https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/) ### Patrick Hathaway **Co-founder and CEO, Sitebulb.** Known for: Co-founding Sitebulb, the website auditing crawler, after co-creating URL Profiler. - Co-founded Sitebulb with Gareth Brown; the website auditing tool launched in 2017. The pair previously created the SEO tool URL Profiler. - Start with: [Sitebulb SEO Newsletter](https://sitebulb.com/resources/newsletter/) ### JR Oakes **VP of Technology, LOCOMOTIVE Agency.** Known for: Applying Python, machine learning and LLM tooling to technical SEO; co-founding Tech SEO Connect. - Co-founded the Tech SEO Connect conference and is a founder and moderator of Reddit's /r/TechSEO (52,000+ members, per his site). - Spoke at iPullRank's SEO Week 2025 in New York on brand visibility in LLMs versus traditional search. - Start with: [r/TechSEO](https://www.reddit.com/r/TechSEO/) ### Tory Gray **Founder and CEO, Gray Dot Co.** Known for: Technical and JavaScript SEO consulting, and teaching JavaScript SEO through free training. - Founded The Gray Dot Company, a woman-owned SEO consultancy; its site gives 2017 as the founding date. - Leads Sitebulb's free JavaScript SEO training course and previously developed a course for Semrush Academy. - Start with: [Free JavaScript SEO Training Course (Sitebulb)](https://sitebulb.com/javascript-seo-training/) ### Fili Wiese **Co-founder and SEO consultant, SearchBrothers.** Known for: Ex-Google Search Quality engineer specialising in Google penalties, technical SEO audits and recovery. - Worked about seven years at Google (joined late 2005) as a senior Search Quality analyst and support engineer focused on spam detection. - International SEO consultant with SearchBrothers since 2013, which he runs with fellow ex-Googler Kaspar Szymanski. - Start with: [Disavow File Validator](https://disavowfile.com/) ### Serge Bezborodov **Co-founder and CTO, JetOctopus.** Known for: Building the JetOctopus crawler and log analyser for large websites; research on AI bot crawling. - Built the JetOctopus crawler for his own five-million-page site, then co-founded JetOctopus with Julia Nesterets as a standalone business in 2018. - Start with: [JetOctopus Blog](https://jetoctopus.com/blog/) ### Chris Green **Technical Director, Torque Partnership.** Known for: Technical SEO consulting, training and his 'It Depends' short-video series on grey-area SEO questions. - Created the 'It Depends' YouTube series answering 50+ grey-area SEO questions in under 60 seconds each. - Certified SISTRIX trainer; publishes free tools such as an AI Access Tester and XML Sitemap Auditor. - Start with: [Chris Green SEO YouTube ('It Depends' series)](https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisGreenSEO) ### Mark Williams-Cook **Director at Candour; founder of AlsoAsked.** Known for: Founder of AlsoAsked and the Core Updates newsletter; runs evidence-driven SEO and AI search experiments. - Voted the #1 audience speaker at Semrush Spotlight 2026, SERP Conf Bulgaria 2026 and Athens SEO 2026. - Published the joke cats.txt 'web standard' in September 2025 to show how thin the evidence behind llms.txt claims was. - Start with: [Core Updates (weekly SEO newsletter)](https://coreupdates.com) > [!TIP] Where to start > Download the free version of Screaming Frog, crawl your own site and fix one problem at a time. Doing it once teaches you more than reading about it ten times. ## Who are the best international and enterprise SEO experts? These experts work on very large sites: many countries, many languages, thousands of product pages. At that size, one small technical decision can affect millions of URLs, and they've learned how to get those decisions right. ### Aleyda Solis **Founder, Orainti.** Known for: International and technical SEO, the SEOFOMO newsletter and the free LearningSEO.io roadmap. - Founded Orainti, her SEO and AI search consultancy, in 2014. - Named European Search Personality of the Year in 2018. - Start with: [SEOFOMO](https://hub.seofomo.co/) ### Bastian Grimm **Managing Director, blackvine GmbH.** Known for: Large-scale international and technical SEO, and highly detailed free conference decks. - Named Search Personality of the Year at the 2019 European Search Awards. - Led Peak Ace, the Berlin SEO agency, through its sale to the HEROIKS Group. - Start with: [Bastian Grimm on Speaker Deck](https://speakerdeck.com/bastiangrimm) ### Gianluca Fiorelli **International SEO and AI search consultant, I Love SEO.** Known for: Strategic and international SEO thinking, plus long-form analysis of AI search on his blog I Love SEO. - Founder and content director of The Inbounder digital marketing conference series, which ran World Tour events in 2017. - Hosts The Search Session podcast for Advanced Web Ranking and writes for Search Engine Land. - Start with: [The Search Session (Advanced Web Ranking podcast)](https://www.advancedwebranking.com/categories/the-search-session) ### Motoko Hunt **Founder and President, AJPR.** Known for: International search marketing for Japan and Asia, helping multinational brands reach Japanese searchers. - Founded AJPR in 1998 to provide online marketing services targeting Japan, Asia and other markets. - Named Best Consultant at the 2014 US Search Awards; received the SEMPO President Award in 2009. - Start with: [AJPR Blog](https://www.ajpr.com/blog/) ### Bill Hunt **President, Bisan Digital.** Known for: Enterprise and international search strategy; co-author of the book Search Engine Marketing, Inc. - Co-authored Search Engine Marketing, Inc. with Mike Moran (IBM Press); the rewritten third edition was published in December 2014. - Previously CEO of Global Strategies International and Director of Global Search Strategy at Ogilvy. - Start with: [International Web Effectiveness Podcast](https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/) ### Nitin Manchanda **Founder and CEO, Botpresso.** Known for: Founding Botpresso after leading SEO for international travel brands trivago and Omio. - Led SEO for international brands trivago and Omio before founding the SEO agency Botpresso. - Botpresso lists itself as a European Search Awards 2025 winner on its about page. - Start with: [Botpresso YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@BotpressoSEO) ### Lidia Infante **SEO consultant, writer and speaker.** Known for: International and SaaS SEO leadership, including heading SEO at SurveyMonkey, plus brand-focused SEO talks. - Previously Head of SEO at SurveyMonkey and led international SEO for brands including BigCommerce and Sanity. - Spoke at SEO IRL 2026 in Toronto in October 2026 on brand as a competitive advantage. - Start with: [Lidia Infante on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@LidiaInfanteM/featured) ### AJ Ghergich **VP Consulting Services, Botify.** Known for: Enterprise SEO consulting and content marketing for Fortune 500 brands; leads Botify's consulting services. - Joined Botify as Vice President of Consulting Services in December 2022 to launch its consulting offering. - Previously Chief Technology Officer and Chief Digital Officer at Brado, a St. Louis marketing firm, after founding several agencies. - Start with: [Botify blog](https://www.botify.com/blog) ## Which SEO experts run the best research and testing? I trust people who test things. These experts run experiments, gather data and publish what they find, even when the results go against popular SEO advice. ### Rand Fishkin **CEO and co-founder, SparkToro.** Known for: Co-founding Moz and SparkToro, and audience research including zero-click search studies. - Co-founded Moz (starting the SEOmoz blog in 2003), stepped down as CEO in 2014 and left in 2018. - Started SparkToro with Casey Henry in 2018 and published Lost and Founder (Penguin Random House) the same year. - Start with: [SparkToro blog](https://sparktoro.com/blog/) ### Cyrus Shepard **Founder, Zyppy.** Known for: Ranking factor research and SEO testing, and the Zyppy Signal newsletter. - Joined Moz (then SEOmoz) in 2010 and led its audience development team from 2013; founded Zyppy in 2018. - Published a Google ranking factors survey of 131 practitioners in September 2026. - Start with: [Zyppy Signal](https://signal.zyppy.com) ### Eli Schwartz **SEO consultant and advisor.** Known for: Product-led SEO: building organic growth into the product rather than chasing single keywords. - Led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, including international SEO before and after its IPO. - Wrote the book Product-Led SEO (2021). - Start with: [The Future of SEO & AEO newsletter](https://www.productledseo.com/) ### Tom Anthony **Chief Technology Officer, SearchPilot.** Known for: SEO A/B testing technology at SearchPilot and security research on Google and Zoom. - Found a Google XML sitemap ping flaw letting one site rank via another; reported Sept 2017, disclosed March 2018, Google paid a $5,000 bounty. - Disclosed in July 2020 a flaw that let attackers crack Zoom's six-digit meeting passwords; Zoom mitigated it in April 2020. - Start with: [Tom Anthony's blog](https://www.tomanthony.co.uk/blog/) ### Will Critchlow **Founder and CEO, SearchPilot.** Known for: Pioneering SEO A/B testing at SearchPilot after co-founding the agency Distilled. - Co-founded the SEO agency Distilled in 2005. - Spun out SearchPilot as an independent SEO A/B testing company in February 2020, when Brainlabs acquired the rest of Distilled. - Start with: [SearchPilot newsletter (SEO test case study every two weeks)](https://www.searchpilot.com/resources/newsletter) ### Glen Allsopp **Head of Marketing Strategy & Research, Ahrefs.** Known for: Data-led SEO industry research at Detailed, and the free Detailed SEO Extension; formerly known as ViperChill. - Founded Detailed, which Ahrefs acquired in September 2025; he joined Ahrefs to work with its marketing and product teams. - Grew the free Detailed SEO Extension to 450,000 weekly users, per his Ahrefs author bio. - Start with: [Detailed SEO Extension](https://detailed.com/extension/) ### AJ Kohn **Owner, Blind Five Year Old.** Known for: Long, analytical essays on how Google really works, published on his Blind Five Year Old blog. - Published 'What Pandu Nayak Taught Me About SEO' in November 2023, analysing Google testimony released in the US v. Google antitrust trial. - Was a panelist for SEOmoz's Search Engine Ranking Factors and Google News Ranking Factors studies in 2011. - Start with: [Blind Five Year Old blog](https://www.blindfiveyearold.com/) ### Tim Soulo **Chief Marketing Officer, Ahrefs.** Known for: Data-driven SEO studies and content marketing at Ahrefs, including research on content that gets no Google traffic. - Published Ahrefs' May 2017 study of 3 million searches on how many keywords a single page can rank for. - His widely cited study '96.55% of Content Gets No Traffic From Google' was refreshed with new research in December 2023. - Start with: [Ahrefs Blog](https://ahrefs.com/blog/) ### Wil Reynolds **Founder and CEO, Seer Interactive.** Known for: Founding Seer Interactive and pushing search marketing toward data-driven, AI-aware thinking; candid conference speaker. - Started Seer Interactive in 2002 as a one-man operation in his living room; it now has 200+ team members. - Has spoken at 100+ conferences worldwide, including MozCon and SearchLove. - Start with: [Wil Reynolds' posts on the Seer Interactive blog](https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights?tag=author-wil-reynolds) ## Who are the best content, link building and digital PR experts? Links and mentions still matter, but you can't fake them for long. These experts know how to create content people actually want to cite, and stories journalists actually want to cover. ### Ann Smarty **Co-founder, Smarty.Marketing.** Known for: Digital PR, Reddit marketing and getting brands mentioned in AI answers. - Former editor at Search Engine Journal. - Founded the content-sharing community Viral Content Bee. - Start with: [SEO & AI (GEO / AEO) Newsletter](https://www.annsmarty.com/) ### Bernard Huang **Founder, Clearscope.** Known for: Co-founding Clearscope, the content optimisation platform, and teaching content SEO through its free webinars. - Co-founded Clearscope with Kevin Su in 2016. - Before Clearscope he was an early growth hire at the Y Combinator startup 42Floors and advised 500 Startups companies on SEO. - Start with: [Clearscope Webinars](https://www.clearscope.io/webinars) ### Andy Crestodina **Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Orbit Media Studios.** Known for: Practical content marketing and web optimisation advice, and Orbit Media's long-running annual blogger survey. - Has co-led Chicago agency Orbit Media Studios since 2001 and wrote 'Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing', now in its 7th edition. - Has run Orbit's annual survey of bloggers and content marketers since 2014; the 2026 edition drew 1,042 respondents. - Start with: [Orbit Media Blogging Statistics 2026 (annual blogger survey)](https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/blogging-statistics/) ### Fery Kaszoni **Owner, Search Intelligence Ltd.** Known for: Fast-growing digital PR agency Search Intelligence and humorous parody videos built around digital PR case studies. - Founded the digital PR agency Search Intelligence in 2020. - Spoke on the Future of SEO panel at SERP Conf. Vienna 2025. - Start with: [Fery Kaszoni on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/ferykaszoni) ### Julie Joyce **Owner, Link Fish Media.** Known for: Hands-on, manual link building at Link Fish Media and years of link building columns for search trade press. - Founding member of the SEO Chicks blog and author of more than 120 articles for Search Engine Land, per her Search Engine Journal bio. - Hosted a monthly 'Show Me The Links!' webinar for Semrush. - Start with: [Julie Joyce's articles on Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/julie-joyce/) ### Emina Demiri-Watson **Head of Digital Marketing, Vixen Digital.** Known for: Full-stack digital marketing blending technical SEO, paid media and AI; co-hosts SEOs Getting Coffee. - Co-hosts the SEOs Getting Coffee podcast and organises the SEMantics digital marketing meetup in Brighton. - Regular brightonSEO speaker; also spoke at WTSFest on scaling with AI responsibly and writes for Search Engine Land. - Start with: [The SEOs Getting Coffee Podcast](https://www.vixendigital.com/seos-getting-coffee/) ## Which SEO educators should beginners follow? If you're just starting, these educators are a good first stop. They've taught SEO to huge audiences through YouTube, podcasts, courses and conferences, and they explain things in plain language. ### Neil Patel **Co-founder, NP Digital.** Known for: Marketing education, the Ubersuggest SEO tool and the Marketing School podcast. - Co-founded the agency NP Digital in 2017 and bought Ubersuggest the same year. - NP Digital acquired AnswerThePublic in 2022. - Start with: [Marketing School podcast](https://marketingschool.io/) ### Brian Dean **Co-founder and CEO, Exploding Topics.** Known for: Founding Backlinko and its detailed link building and SEO content guides. - Semrush acquired Backlinko in January 2022. - Semrush acquired Exploding Topics, which he co-founded, in 2024; Adobe completed its Semrush acquisition in April 2026. - Start with: [Exploding Topics](https://explodingtopics.com/) ### Matt Diggity **Founder and CEO, Diggity Marketing.** Known for: Affiliate SEO and test-driven SEO experiments taught on his blog and YouTube channel. - Founded the Chiang Mai SEO Conference, first held in 2017 after a 2016 invitation-only mastermind of 35 SEOs. - Start with: [Matt Diggity YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5A5lVxaT7cO_LehpxjTZg) ### Eric Siu **CEO & Founder, Single Grain.** Known for: Running growth agency Single Grain and co-hosting the daily Marketing School podcast with Neil Patel. - Bought Single Grain, then a struggling SEO agency, for $2 in 2014 and rebuilt it into a full-service marketing agency. - Co-hosts Marketing School with Neil Patel; new episodes were still publishing in October 2026. - Start with: [Marketing School podcast](https://marketingschool.io/) ### Nathan Gotch **Co-Founder & CEO, Rankability.** Known for: SEO training for agencies, first as Gotch SEO and now as co-founder of AI SEO platform Rankability. - Co-founded Rankability, AI SEO software for agencies, with Simon L. Smith in 2024. - Wrote 'AI SEO For Dummies' (Wiley), published 22 September 2026. - Start with: [Nathan Gotch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@nathangotch) ### Craig Campbell **Founder, Craig Campbell SEO Ltd.** Known for: Straight-talking SEO training on YouTube and frequent conference speaking. - Started doing SEO from home in 2001 and ran his own digital marketing agency until 2015. - Moved into affiliate sites and SEO education after 2015, building his YouTube channel and speaking at industry events. - Start with: [Craig Campbell SEO on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPeOzstGV1FB0cGSBg2piDg) ### Kasra Dash **Founder of The Masterminders and Searcharoo.** Known for: Recovering websites from Google algorithm updates and founding The Masterminders SEO conference. - Founded The Masterminders conference; his site lists the 2026 edition for 24-26 June 2026 in Manchester. - Created mySEO.app, a free learning platform and community for verified SEOs, and founded link building agency Searcharoo. - Start with: [Kasra Dash on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@kasradash) ### Matthew Woodward **Director, Search Logistics.** Known for: Detailed SEO tutorials and transparent case studies, including years of public income reports on his blog. - Launched his SEO blog and YouTube channel in August 2012 as an experiment in ranking a site without link building. - Published monthly income reports for nearly six years documenting the blog's journey. - Start with: [Search Logistics on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@SearchLogisticsHQ) > [!TIP] Where to start > Pick one educator and finish their free series before moving to the next. Learning one thing properly beats collecting a hundred tips. ## Who are the best local SEO experts? If you run a local business or a clinic, follow these people. They know Google Business Profile, Maps and reviews inside out, and most of the local SEO advice you'll find online started with their research. ### Joy Hawkins **Founder and owner, Sterling Sky.** Known for: Local SEO and Google Business Profile troubleshooting; owns the Local Search Forum. - Opened Sterling Sky in April 2017; it acquired the Local Search Forum in September 2018 and LocalU in December 2019. - Volunteers as a Product Expert in Google's Business Profile community. - Start with: [Local Search Forum](https://www.localsearchforum.com/) ### Darren Shaw **President and founder, Whitespark.** Known for: Local SEO research, especially the annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey. - Founded Whitespark in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2005. - Has run the Local Search Ranking Factors survey since 2017; the 2026 edition came out in November 2025. - Start with: [Local Search Ranking Factors](https://whitespark.ca/local-search-ranking-factors/) ### Greg Gifford **Chief Strategy Officer, SearchLab Digital.** Known for: High-energy, movie-themed local SEO talks and the weekly Local Search Tuesdays video series. - Joined local SEO and PPC agency SearchLab Digital in December 2019. - Hosts SearchLab's weekly 'Local Search Tuesdays' video series and has spoken at brightonSEO on Google Business Profiles and reviews. - Start with: [Local Search Tuesdays](https://searchlabdigital.com/local-search-tuesdays/) ### Mike Blumenthal **Local search analyst and podcast co-host, Near Media.** Known for: Two decades of writing and research on Google Maps and local search, now at Near Media. - Launched the blog 'Understanding Google Maps and Local Search' in 2006. - Co-founded LocalU in 2009 (acquired by Sterling Sky in 2019) and GatherUp in 2012 (acquired by Traject in 2019). - Start with: [Near Media podcast](https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/) ### Andrew Shotland **Founder & CEO, Local SEO Guide.** Known for: Local and multi-location SEO consulting and data-driven posts on the LSG SEO blog. - Founded Local SEO Guide in 2006 after InsiderPages, where he was a founding member, was acquired by CitySearch. - Was previously general manager of NBC.com. - Start with: [The LSG SEO Blog](https://www.localseoguide.com/the-lsg-seo-blog/) ### Claire Carlile **Local Visibility Expert, Whitespark.** Known for: Google Business Profile and local SEO education, and co-hosting The Whitespark Local Update podcast. - Platinum Google Business Profile Product Expert and an expert contributor to the annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey. - Previously BrightLocal's resident Local Search Expert, writing and presenting BrightLocal Academy courses. - Start with: [The Whitespark Local Update podcast](https://whitespark.ca/the-whitespark-local-update-podcast/) ### Ben Fisher **Co-founder and Lead Consultant, Steady Demand.** Known for: Google Business Profile troubleshooting, suspensions and map spam fighting as a Diamond Google Product Expert. - Began experimenting with and practising SEO and social media in 1994. - Recognised by Google as a Diamond Product Expert for Google Business Profile; contributor to the annual Local Search Ranking Factors study. - Start with: [Steady Demand blog](https://www.steadydemand.com/blog/) > [!TIP] Where to start > Read the free Local Search Ranking Factors report once a year. And before you panic about a Google Business Profile problem, search the Local Search Forum: someone has almost always had the same issue. ## Who are the best e-commerce and legal SEO experts? Online stores and law firms compete in some of the hardest search results there are. These specialists have spent years working in exactly those spaces. ### Luke Carthy **E-commerce growth and CRO consultant.** Known for: Ecommerce SEO, conversion rate optimisation and analytics for online retailers. - Spoke at MozCon 2019 with 'Killer CRO and UX Wins Using an SEO Crawler'. - Has helped brands including Caterpillar, Renault and Chemist Direct grow online sales. - Start with: [Let's Talk Shop! Newsletter](https://lukecarthy.com/lets-talk-shop-newsletter/) ### Jeff Oxford **Founder and CEO, 180 Marketing.** Known for: Ecommerce-only SEO, especially link building and Shopify SEO, through his agency 180 Marketing. - Turned to SEO after a 2013 dropshipping venture selling beer pong tables failed, then launched ecommerce SEO agency 180 Marketing. - Start with: [180 Marketing blog](https://www.180marketing.com/blog/) ### Jason Hennessey **Founder and CEO, Hennessey Digital.** Known for: Law firm SEO; built Hennessey Digital into a leading legal marketing agency; author of 'Law Firm SEO'. - Founded Hennessey Digital in 2015; the agency made the Inc. 5000 list in 2019. - Hennessey Digital was acquired by Herringbone Digital in June 2025, keeping its brand and executive team. - Start with: [The Jason Hennessey Podcast](https://www.jasonhennessey.com/podcast/) ## Who at Google explains how Google Search works? These are the people at Google who talk to site owners about how Search works, mostly on the free [Search Off the Record](https://search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/) podcast. They don't sell SEO services, so what they say is as close as you'll get to Google's own view. Danny Sullivan was Google's public Search Liaison until he [stepped down in August 2025](https://www.seroundtable.com/danny-sullivan-drops-google-search-liaison-39872.html). ### John Mueller **Search Advocate at Google.** Known for: Answering site owners' questions about Google Search in public; coordinates Google Search Relations. - Joined Google in 2007. - Co-launched Google's Search Off the Record podcast in 2020 with Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt. - Start with: [Search Off the Record podcast](https://search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/) ### Gary Illyes **Analyst on the Google Search team.** Known for: Explaining how Google crawls, indexes and serves pages. - Has worked on Google Search since 2011. - Co-authored RFC 9309, the robots.txt internet standard, published September 2022. - Start with: [Search Off the Record podcast](https://search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/) ### Martin Splitt **Google Search Relations team.** Known for: JavaScript SEO and helping developers and SEOs work together. - Hosted Google's SEO Mythbusting video series in 2019. - Co-hosts Google's Search Off the Record podcast, launched in 2020. - Start with: [Search Off the Record podcast](https://search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/) ### Danny Sullivan **Director within Google Search.** Known for: Founding Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Land, then serving as Google's Search Liaison from 2017 to 2025. - Started Search Engine Watch in 1997 and co-founded Search Engine Land in 2006. - Joined Google in 2017 as Search Liaison; stepped down from that role on August 1, 2025. - Start with: [His posts on the Google Search Central blog](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/authors/danny-sullivan) > [!TIP] Where to start > Put on an episode of Search Off the Record during a walk. Hearing how Googlers talk about crawling and ranking quietly changes how you look at your own site. ## Who are the SEO industry's biggest community builders? Some people make the whole industry better by bringing it together. These are the people behind the publications, conferences and communities where so many of us learn, meet and find work. ### Loren Baker **Founder of Search Engine Journal.** Known for: Founding Search Engine Journal, one of the longest-running SEO and search marketing publications. - Started Search Engine Journal in 2003 as a personal blog; it grew into a major search marketing publication. - Start with: [Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/) ### Kelvin Newman **Founder of brightonSEO, Rough Agenda.** Known for: Founding brightonSEO, which grew from a meet-up in a pub into one of the largest search conferences. - Won the Search Personality award at the UK Search Awards in 2013. - Voted by Econsultancy the most influential individual in digital in 2014. - Start with: [brightonSEO YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd5ImzajBK2cOcbj3PTHb6w) ### Areej AbuAli **Founder of Women in Tech SEO and Crawlina.** Known for: Founding the Women in Tech SEO community and technical SEO consulting. - Founded Women in Tech SEO in 2019; its about page now lists more than 12,000 members. - Wrote Community Building for Marketers, published by Kogan Page in 2025. - Start with: [The Women in Tech SEO newsletter](https://www.womenintechseo.com/newsletter/) ### Olga Andrienko **CMO, Foxtery.** Known for: Building Semrush's global brand and international marketing community as its long-time marketing leader. - Led brand marketing at Semrush for years, rising to VP of Brand Marketing, before joining the AI learning company Foxtery as CMO. - Start with: [No Hacks podcast, Episode 205: AI, Search, and the Jobs of Tomorrow with Olga Andrienko](https://nohacks.co/guest/olga-andrienko) ## Which SEO pioneers shaped the industry? Before most of us started, these people were already building the tools, standards, books and ideas we still use. Some of them are no longer with us, including Bruce Clay, often called the "Father of SEO", who [died in 2026](https://www.seroundtable.com/bruce-clay-rip-41581.html). People still read their work today. ### Bill Slawski **Director of SEO Research, Go Fish Digital (died 2022).** Known for: Explaining Google's search patents on his blog SEO by the Sea. - Started SEO by the Sea in 2005, analysing search engine patents. - Director of SEO Research at Go Fish Digital from 2013; died May 17, 2022. - Start with: [SEO by the Sea archive](https://www.seobythesea.com/) ### Vanessa Fox **Search and AI consultant, writer and tool builder.** Known for: Building Google Webmaster Central (now Search Console); now writes about search and AI crawlers. - Built Google Webmaster Central and helped launch sitemaps.org; wrote Marketing in the Age of Google (Wiley, 2010; 2nd edition 2012). - Founded Nine By Blue in 2008 (sold 2013); CEO of Keylime Toolbox until 2026. - Start with: [Complete Reference On Allowing & Blocking LLM Crawlers](https://www.vanessafox.com/complete-reference-blocking-llm-crawlers/) ### Eric Enge **President, Pilot Holding.** Known for: Co-authoring The Art of SEO and founding the SEO agency Stone Temple Consulting. - Founded Stone Temple Consulting in 1997 and sold it to Perficient in July 2018. - Co-wrote The Art of SEO (O'Reilly, 4th edition) and Using Generative AI for SEO (O'Reilly, 2025). - Start with: [Eric Enge's Search Engine Journal articles](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/eric-enge/) ### Stephan Spencer **SEO consultant, author and podcast host.** Known for: Co-authoring The Art of SEO and hosting the Marketing Speak podcast. - Founded the agency Netconcepts in 1995; Covario acquired it in 2010. - Co-authored The Art of SEO (O'Reilly, first published 2009), now in its 4th edition. - Start with: [Marketing Speak podcast](https://www.marketingspeak.com/) ### Joost de Valk **Group Head of AI & Growth, Your.Online.** Known for: Founding Yoast and its Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress. - Founded Yoast in 2010; sold it to Newfold Digital in August 2021 and left in April 2023. - Launched Progress Planner in 2024; it joined the hosting group Your.Online in June 2026. - Start with: [joost.blog](https://joost.blog/) ### Matt Cutts **Former head of webspam at Google.** Known for: Leading Google's webspam team and being Google's public voice on search quality for years. - Wrote the first version of SafeSearch, Google's family filter, and headed Google's webspam team for many years. - Served as Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service from January 2017 to April 2021. - Start with: [Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO (his blog)](https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/) ### Bruce Clay **Founder of Bruce Clay, Inc. (died 2026).** Known for: Called the 'Father of SEO'; content siloing, SEO training and an early SEO agency. - Founded Bruce Clay, Inc. in January 1996; wrote Search Engine Optimization All-In-One For Dummies, now in its fourth edition. - Received the History of SEO advisory board's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. - Start with: [Bruce Clay, Inc. blog](https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/) ### Hamlet Batista **Founder of RankSense (died 2021).** Known for: Bringing Python and automation to the SEO community; founder of the RankSense SEO platform. - Started doing SEO as an affiliate marketer in 2002; later founded RankSense and held US patents on SEO technologies. - Search Engine Journal VIP contributor from 2019, widely credited with bringing Python to the SEO community. - Start with: [Hamlet Batista's articles on Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/author/hamlet-batista/) ## A final note to the experts and to you To everyone on this list: thank you. Your newsletters, talks, tools and experiments taught me most of what I know, and they're a big reason this industry feels so open to newcomers. > [!NOTE] Is your profile out of date? > If you're on this list and your role has changed, or you'd like me to use a different photo, message me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/im-noor-khan/) and I'll update it. Each photo comes from the person's own website, company, podcast or conference speaker page. And to you, reading this: you don't need to follow all 100. Pick two or three people who match what you're working on this month, read what they share, and try one of their ideas on your own site this week. That's how the learning actually sticks. ## FAQ ### Who is the number one SEO expert in the world? No one holds an official number one spot, because no independent body ranks SEO experts. Aleyda Solis appears on more published "top SEO experts" lists than anyone else, and Rand Fishkin, Lily Ray, Barry Schwartz and Brian Dean are among the most widely followed. ### Who are the best semantic SEO experts? Koray Tuğberk Gübür, Jason Barnard, Andrea Volpini, Dixon Jones and Dawn Anderson are among the best semantic SEO experts. Koray is known for the topical authority method, Jason Barnard for brand and entity visibility, and Andrea Volpini and Dixon Jones for knowledge graphs and entity SEO. ### Who are the best AI SEO experts in the world? Kevin Indig, Mike King, Ethan Smith, Duane Forrester, Lily Ray and Aleyda Solis are among the most credible AI search experts, because each publishes original research or frameworks about AI answers. Kevin Indig's Growth Memo and Mike King's AI Search Manual are free places to start. ### Which SEO expert should a beginner follow? A beginner should start with Aleyda Solis's free LearningSEO.io roadmap and Google's Search Off the Record podcast. Add Barry Schwartz's Search Engine Roundtable once you want daily news about Google changes. ### Who is known as the father of SEO? Bruce Clay is widely called the "Father of SEO". He founded Bruce Clay, Inc. in 1996, wrote Search Engine Optimization All-In-One For Dummies and ran one of the earliest SEO agencies. He died in 2026. ### Is Danny Sullivan still Google's Search Liaison? No, Danny Sullivan stepped down as Google's Search Liaison on August 1, 2025. Google said he was moving to a new role on the Search team, and the Search Liaison account on X is no longer active.