Between Google’s algorithm updates, the rise of answer engines, and shifting user behavior, the world of SEO has never been so unpredictable.
The good news? We’ve got plenty of brilliant minds dedicating their time to discover fresh ideas, experiment new tactics, and generously share what they learn along the way.
If you’re a marketer, founder, or SEO professional looking to future-proof your website traffic, these top SEO influencers and voices should be on your follow list.
Top Voices to Follow for Fresh SEO Insights
If you want a daily dose of SEO news, tips, and advice, these are the people to have on your feed.
Aleyda Solis
Aleyda Solis is an international SEO consultant, speaker, and founder of Orainti. Through her daily LinkedIn posts and weekly newsletter, she brings the latest SEO news, tools, and strategies for business owners and marketers looking to establish a global presence.
Quick facts about Aleyda Solis:
- Current role: Founder of Orainti
- Area of expertise: International and technical SEO
- Active since: 2007
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: SEOFOMO (39.4k subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
Kevin Indig
Kevin Indig is a growth advisor to high-profile tech brands like Dropbox, Reddit, and Meta. He’s also the author of the Growth Memo newsletter, where he publishes weekly essays, experiments, and industry analysis on SEO and AI search.
Quick facts about Kevin Indig:
- Current role: Growth Consultant for SaaS Brands
- Area of expertise: SaaS SEO and AI search optimization
- Active since: 2011
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Growth Memo (22,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin is the former CEO of Moz, Co-Founder of Inbound.org (acquired by HubSpot in 2014), and current CEO and Co-Founder of SparkToro. He was the first person to report on the now infamous Google API leak.
Quick facts about Rand Fishkin:
- Current role: CEO and Co-Founder of SparkToro
- Area of expertise: Audience research, marketing
- Active since: 2003
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Audience Research Newsletter (40,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: No
Mark Williams-Cook
Mark Williams-Cook is best known for his Core Updates newsletter and ‘Unsolicited #SEO tips’ on LinkedIn. He’s also a speaker at international conferences including BrightonSEO, Tech SEO Summit, and SERPConf.
Quick facts about Mark Williams-Cook:
- Current role: Director at Candour & Founder at AlsoAsked
- Area of expertise: SEO strategy and analytics
- Active since: 2005
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Core Updates (12,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
Itamar Blauer
If you prefer listening rather than reading, Itamar Blauer hosts one of the best SEO podcasts out there. Each episode features a real expert sharing their authentic and intriguing story, along with actionable insights you can apply to your own digital strategy.
Quick facts about Itamar Blauer:
- Current role: Senior SEO Director at StudioHawk
- Area of expertise: SEO and content strategy
- Active since: 2018
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Podcast: SEO Unplugged
- Available for consultation: Yes
Joe Hall
Joe Hall is a web developer and SEO consultant that helps both startups and Fortune 500 companies achieve their online goals. He’s pretty active on LinkedIn, where he publishes 2–3 posts a day on SEO, AI search, and web development.
Quick facts about Joe Hall:
- Current role: Founder of Cloud22
- Area of expertise: Technical SEO and web development
- Active since: 2007
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Top Voices in AI Search Optimization
As AI reshapes how people search, a new wave of SEO experts is leading the charge in experimenting with AI SEO strategies to stay visible in AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, and other LLMs.
Sean Begg Flint
Sean Begg Flint is constantly testing AI search optimization tactics for his B2B clients and sharing what actually works. He’s been featured in HubSpot, Surfer, and Ahrefs, and was invited as a guest in the Paid Forward podcast to discuss the future of search.
Quick facts about Sean Begg Flint:
- Current role: Founder and CEO of Position Digital
- Area of expertise: B2B SEO, SaaS SEO, AI search optimization
- Active since: 2010
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Tom Niezgoda
Tom Niezgoda regularly shares AI SEO best practices and studies on his LinkedIn profile. He also recently launched the AI Search Optimization Masterclass for marketers and business owners looking to adapt to the rise of AI-driven search.
Quick facts about Tom Niezgoda:
- Current role: Co-Founder and CMO at Surfer
- Area of expertise: Content optimization for Google and AI
- Active since: 2018
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: No
Chris Long
Nearly 60,000 professionals (including me) follow Chris Long on LinkedIn to keep up with his original research on AI SEO. His latest work includes studies on user behavior in AI Mode and how ChatGPT runs its query fan-out process.
Quick facts about Chris Long:
- Current role: Co-Founder at Nectiv
- Area of expertise: B2B SEO, SaaS SEO, AI search optimization
- Active since: 2013
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: The Nectiv Top 5
- Available for consultation: Yes
Crystal Carter
Crystal Carter is an award-winning speaker, writer, and digital marketing leader. She frequently shares insights on brand discovery in the era of LLMs through the SERP’s Up SEO podcast, webinars, and global industry events like BrightonSEO.
Quick facts about Crystal Carter:
- Current role: Head of AI Search and SEO Communications at Wix
- Area of expertise: Content marketing, digital PR, AI search
- Active since: 2006
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Searchlight SEO newsletter
- Available for consultation: No
Top Voices to Follow for Google Updates
These SEO experts have dedicated their entire life learning about how Google Search works, and sharing their findings with the rest of the community.
John Mueller
Want to hear about Google updates straight from the horse’s mouth? John Mueller is a Google insider you can’t miss. As Google’s Search Advocate, he answers SEO questions, debunks myths, and offers practical guidance through his social media profiles.
Quick facts about John Mueller:
Danny Sullivan
As a current Director within Google Search, Danny Sullivan is the bridge between the public and Google’s internal teams. Although he rarely posts these days, Danny remains one of the most credible voices for understanding how Google’s algorithms evolve.
Quick facts about Danny Sullivan:
- Current role: Director within Google Search at Google
- Area of expertise: Google search algorithms
- Active since: 1996
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: No
Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz has been covering SEO news for over 20 years. From algo updates to upcoming product testing and launches, he reports everything that’s happening in Google with unmatched speed and accuracy.
Quick facts about Barry Schwartz:
- Current role: President of RustyBrick & News Editor at Search Engine Land
- Area of expertise: Search marketing and web development
- Active since: 1994
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Lili Ray
Named the #1 most influential SEO expert of 2022 by USA Today, Lily Ray is known for her deep expertise in Google algorithm updates, E-E-A-T best practices, and e-commerce strategies (especially Amazon).
Quick facts about Lily Ray:
- Current role: VP, SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive
- Area of expertise: Google updates, E-E-A-T signals, e-commerce SEO
- Active since: 2010
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Cyrus Shepard
Cyrus Shepard spends the past 15 years learning how Google algorithms work. He even went as far as working as a Google Search Quality Rater to better understand how pages are evaluated for ranking.
Quick facts about Cyrus Shepard:
- Current role: Founder of Zyppy SEO
- Area of expertise: Google search algorithms
- Active since: 2009
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Ranking Factors (4,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
Marie Haynes
Marie Haynes has dedicated a good chunk of her life studying Google’s search algorithms. Her research is instrumental in shaping how SEOs interpret Google’s evolving definition of helpful content and adapt to the rise of AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Quick facts about Marie Haynes:
- Current role: Founder of Marie Haynes Consulting Inc.
- Area of expertise: Google search algorithms, AI Overviews, AI Mode
- Active since: 2008
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Marie Haynes Newsletter
- Available for consultation: Yes
Top Thought-Leadership Experts to Follow
In a world flooded with AI-generated content, authentic voices are like an oasis in the desert — refreshing, rare, and worth listening to.
These experts bring original thinking and unique perspectives to the table. They aren’t afraid to speak up their mind, even if it means challenging industry norms or questioning long-held SEO best practices.
Ryan Law
Known for his thought-provoking articles on SEO and content marketing, Ryan Law is an advocate for original, expertise-driven content that stands out in an increasingly saturated world of AI slop.
Quick facts about :
- Current role: Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs
- Area of expertise: Content marketing, SEO, AI search
- Active since: 2011
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Content Concepts
- Available for consultation: No
Andrew Holland
Famous for his catchphrase “traffic is vanity, profit is sanity,” Andrew Holland has long been a leading voice in connecting SEO with real business impact. He believes that whether it’s SEO or GEO, the end goal should be organic revenue growth.
Quick facts about Andrew Holland:
- Current role: Director of SEO at JBH
- Area of expertise: SEO, GEO, CRO, Digital PR
- Active since: 2015
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Top Voices to Follow for SEO Studies
If you’re the kind of marketer who values data over opinions, these are the voices to follow. They’re the ones running real experiments, publishing case studies, and turning complex SEO findings into insights you can actually use.
Glen Allsopp
Glen Allsopp first rose to prominence with Detailed, where he shares unique SEO insights by tracking the strategies of 3,078 major digital brands. After selling his company to Ahrefs, Glen is now working full time for Ahrefs’ product marketing team.
Quick facts about Glen Allsopp:
- Current role: Product Marketer at Ahrefs
- Area of expertise: SEO research and strategy
- Active since: 2021
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Detailed (40,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: No
Koray Tuğberk Gübür
Koray Tuğberk Gübür is a semantic SEO expert renowned for his in-depth research. His work blends data science, machine learning, and semantic search to explore how entities, context, and topical authority shape modern SEO.
Quick facts about Koray Tuğberk Gübür:
- Current role: Founder of Holistic SEO & Digital
- Area of expertise: Semantic and entity SEO
- Active since: 2016
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: SEO Newsletter
- Available for consultation: Yes
Top Founders and Innovators to Follow
From building popular software to pioneering new SEO frameworks, these founders are the driving force behind many of the strategies and tools marketers rely on today.
Brian Dean
Brian Dean is the man behind the award-winning blog Backlinko and the trend research platform Exploding Topics, both acquired by Semrush. He also invented the skyscraper technique, a popular framework for getting high-quality backlinks.
Quick facts about Brian Dean:
- Current role: Founder of Backlinko and Exploding Topics
- Area of expertise: Digital marketing, SEO, entrepreneurship
- Active since: 2010
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Backlinko Newsletter (180,531 subscribers)
- Available for consultation: No
Brian Halligan
Brian Halligan popularized the concept of inbound marketing with HubSpot, transforming how businesses attract and engage customers online. Under his leadership, the HubSpot Blog grew into one of the most popular marketing content resources in the world.
Quick facts about Brian Halligan:
- Current role: Co-Founder and Board Member at HubSpot
- Area of expertise: Inbound marketing, entrepreneurship
- Active since: 1995
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: No
Neil Patel
Widely regarded as one of the top digital marketers in the world, Neil Patel is a New York Times bestselling author with over 4 million blog readers, 774,000 LinkedIn followers, and nearly 1.5 million YouTube subscribers.
Quick facts about Neil Patel:
- Current role: Co-Founder of Neil Patel Digital
- Area of expertise: Digital marketing, SEO, paid advertising
- Active since: 2001
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Neil Patel’s Newsletter (over 1.5 million subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
Joost de Valk
Joost de Valk is best known as the founder of Yoast, one of the world’s most widely used SEO plugins for WordPress. After scaling and successfully exiting Yoast, Joost now focuses on investing in and advising founders who want to build sustainable, long-term businesses.
Quick facts about Joost de Valk:
- Current role: Investors and Advisors
- Area of expertise: WordPress, technical SEO
- Active since: 2006
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Specialized SEO Influencers to Follow
If you work in a specific industry or niche, you’ll get the most value from following experts with a proven track record in that particular field.
From news and enterprise SEO to SaaS marketing, these specialists use deep domain knowledge to share strategies that actually work in their respective verticals.
Harry Clarkson-Bennett
As a SEO director for one of the leading news publications in the UK, Harry Clarkson-Bennett certainly has the pedigree to share thoughtful commentary on how publishers can create content that ranks in Google and LLMs.
Quick facts about Harry Clarkson-Bennett:
- Current role: SEO Director at The Telegraph
- Area of expertise: SEO for publishers
- Active since: 2017
- Social media: LinkedIn
- Newsletter: Leadership in SEO Substack (1,000+ subscribers)
- Available for consultation: No
Daniel Foley Carter
For decades, Daniel Foley Carter has been working with large global brands across competitive industries like healthcare, finance, and banking. His impressive clientele includes the likes of Barclays, Lenovo, Sage, Capterra, and Gartner.
Quick facts about Daniel Foley Carter:
- Current role: Founder and Director of Assertive, SEO Audits IO, and SEO Stack
- Area of expertise: Enterprise SEO
- Active since: 2000
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Jo Furnival
Having worked as a content marketer and copywriter at various media brands, Jo Furnival now leads the marketing department at a SaaS company. She’s also an SEO webinar organizer, host, and (occasional) speaker.
Quick facts about Jo Furnival:
- Current role: Marketing Manager at Sitebulb
- Area of expertise: Content strategy, digital media editorial
- Active since: 2010
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Jo Juliana Turnbull
Jo Juliana Turnbull is a growth marketer who’s helped countless tech brands (including Semrush) scale their digital presence through SEO and content marketing. She runs the Search London event and co-hosts the weekly SEO Office Hours podcast.
Quick facts about Jo Juliana Turnbull:
- Current role: Growth Marketing Senior Manager at Holafly
- Area of expertise: Fintech, telco, and SaaS marketing
- Active since: 2003
- Social media: LinkedIn and Twitter (X)
- Podcast: SEO Office Hours
- Available for consultation: No
Fery Kaszoni
Digital PR has become so important to build your brand presence in the age of AI, and Fery Kaszoni is the right person to learn about it. He frequently shares SEO and digital PR case studies on his LinkedIn, so make sure to follow him there.
Quick facts about Fery Kaszoni:
- Current role: CEO at Search Intelligence Ltd
- Area of expertise: Digital PR
- Active since: 2008
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: N/A
- Available for consultation: Yes
Ann Smarty
Ann Smarty is an expert in brand marketing, which includes digital PR, link building, and Reddit reputation management. Through her weekly Smarty’s Digest newsletter, Ann keeps her audience updated on emerging AI and marketing tools and ideas.
Quick facts about Ann Smarty:
- Current role: Co-Founder of Smarty Marketing
- Area of expertise: Digital PR, Reddit reputation management
- Active since: 2008
- Social media: YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X)
- Newsletter: Smarty’s Digest (3,121 subscribers)
- Available for consultation: Yes
