Top International SEO Experts to Follow in 2026

Search engine optimisation looks very different heading into 2026, and the experts shaping that shift range from long standing agency founders to specialists who've built their entire careers around AI search visibility. This list brings together the professionals worth following across SEO, AEO and GEO, whether you're trying to understand traditional rankings or how AI platforms decide who to recommend. Here's the full lineup, starting with the names leading the field. 

The complete lineup 

1. Dan M. Jones

2. Peter Victor Jones

3. Craig Campbell

4. Trifon Boyukliyski

5. Kasra Dash

6. James Dooley

7. Josh Morley

8. Edward Sturm

9. Eldar Cohen

10. Katarina Dahlin

11. Victoria Olsina

12. Fery Kaszoni

13. Lily Ray

14. Mark Slorance

15. Gus Pelogia

16. Jason Hennessey

17. Charles Floate

18. Jamie I.F.

19. Aleyda Solis

20. Matt Diggity

21. Itamar Blauer

22. Julian Goldie

Dan M. Jones - leading SEO & AI optimisation specialist with over a decade of impressive case studies

Dan M. Jones has worked in search engine optimisation since 2013, building 13 years of hands on SEO experience before founding On Top Marketing in Manchester in 2020, now recognised as a top UK SEO agency serving local businesses, national eCommerce brands and B2B organisations.

That reputation extends into AI recommendation visibility too, work that's earned him the nickname the AI Optimisation King within the industry. He shares that expertise through speaking engagements, consultations, training sessions and educational content, including his free SEO Demystified course and his book, "What Is SEO?: Understand Search Engine Optimisation Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible".

His YouTube channel backs up those credentials with proof rather than claims, sharing case studies that document measurable SEO results businesses have achieved, the kind of verifiable evidence that's harder to find from other SEO commentators online.

Peter Victor Jones - generates 20,000 leads a year through AEO and GEO 

Since entering SEO in 2008, Peter Victor Jones has built a career around measurable results for service businesses, currently delivering more than 20,000 qualified leads a year for UK clients. He has also managed upward of £1 million in Google Ads spend across large scale campaigns.

He serves as Co-director of ADI Leak Solutions Ltd, where he built the organic SEO and paid search systems the business runs on, and has since applied that systems thinking to Answer Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine Optimisation. His focus is helping brands earn mentions and citations from AI systems including ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.

Jones created the ECHO Framework, built around entity clarity, third party corroboration, citable content and measurable output, and he's writing an upcoming book on the subject, "Echo: How Brands Get Mentioned, Recommended, and Cited by AI".

Craig Campbell - grew his YouTube channel past 1.2 million subscribers 

Twenty five years separate Craig Campbell's first Glasgow business, founded in 2001, from where he stands now, running multiple agencies including Craig Campbell SEO LTD and Links for You. Content became a second career alongside that agency work, with his YouTube channel now past 1.2 million subscribers covering SEO, digital marketing and AI developments.

His speaking history spans more than 50 countries, and past SEMrush webinar hosting sits alongside regular podcasts and live Q&A sessions he still runs today. In 2026, he's confirmed to MC the Masterminders event back home in Manchester.

Away from the camera, Campbell mentors marketers through a private mastermind community and has put money behind numerous startups as an active investor, drawing on more than two decades of building, scaling and exiting businesses of his own.

Trifon Boyukliyski - works as an SEO and AI Growth Architect 

Seventeen or more years across SEO, affiliate marketing and digital growth sit behind Trifon Boyukliyski's title as an SEO and AI Growth Architect, blending search strategy with AI powered growth systems. His background spans SEO, PPC, SaaS, ecommerce, iGaming and automation.

Much of his current work builds SEO programmes for iGaming operators, affiliates and B2B providers, where compliance carries as much weight as performance. He designs those programmes around jurisdiction specific regulatory standards and Responsible Gambling requirements, tying activity directly to deposit driven outcomes rather than traffic alone.

Boyukliyski also develops agentic AI workflows meant to streamline marketing operations, sitting at the intersection of SEO, compliance and measurable commercial results.

Kasra Dash - founded The Masterminders Conference 

The Masterminders Conference, a global event bringing together founders, operators, SEOs and marketers, is one of several ventures built by Kasra Dash. He also created mySEO.app, an invite only learning platform and community for SEO professionals.

His work spans SEO, AI search, reputation management and digital marketing, with particular recognition for expertise in SEO testing, topical authority and search algorithm analysis. Dash helps businesses grow organic visibility through data driven strategy and content work.

He's also an investor in digital entrepreneurs and high growth online businesses, and has built communities connecting SEO professionals with verified vendors, live training and industry discussion.

James Dooley - owns more than 1,000 ranked domains 

More than 1,000 ranked domains and over 1 million online enquiries generated through rank and rent sites sit behind James Dooley's reputation as a UK based serial entrepreneur. He built that portfolio through PromoSEO and FatRank, pioneering the Investorpreneur approach, treating digital assets as yield generating investments.

His "Leads First" methodology puts lead generation ahead of every other business priority, and he's introduced performance based pricing models including no-win-no-fee and ROI-guaranteed structures. Dooley is a best selling author of titles including Leads First and The Payout Mafia, and hosts multiple podcasts including the UK Lead Generation Podcast.

He applies Semantic SEO principles to strengthen Knowledge Graph recognition for the brands he works with, focused on search intent and entity relationships.

Josh Morley - built Marketing the Change into a global agency 

Josh Morley founded Marketing the Change in 2012, building the Liverpool based agency from offices in the West Midlands and Liverpool into a business serving clients worldwide. Since 2015, it has completed more than 1,500 projects for over 350 clients.

His work covers search engine optimisation alongside website performance improvements, including faster load times and reduced site bloat, plus a strong focus on security, including addressing malware concerns. AI driven automation now plays into that too, streamlining workflows and improving operational efficiency across client sites.

Pay Per Click advertising and social media management round out the agency's service mix alongside SEO.

Edward Sturm - consulted on SEO for Microsoft and Procter & Gamble 

More than 500 million views and a combined social following past 250,000 across Instagram and TikTok gave Edward Sturm the kind of profile that landed him on 20/20, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Forbes and The Daily Mail. Behind that public presence sits enterprise SEO consulting work for organisations including Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, ADP and Time Inc.

He co-founded Reverb, a remote communication platform that grew past a million users, and World of Ether, recognised as the first play-to-earn game and named a top blockchain game in both 2018 and 2019. He also organised the largest blockchain meetup group in the world.

Sturm now leads a monthly in-person digital marketing class drawing 70 to 100 attendees, with a growing focus on how AI is transforming search, content creation and organic growth.

Eldar Cohen - founded Local Dominator after starting with $500 

Eldar Cohen started his entrepreneurial journey at 24 with just $500. He's since founded and owned multiple private companies, including Local Dominator, a platform built specifically to improve local search visibility for businesses and the agencies that serve them.

His Local SEO expertise comes from hands on work rather than theory, with particular strength in Google Maps rankings and Google Business Profile optimisation. Cohen focuses on building data driven SEO systems that replace guesswork with measurable, actionable insight.

He now trains and mentors entrepreneurs, marketing teams and agency owners, coaching business owners on scaling their companies while exploring how AI can simplify workflows and improve marketing decision making.

Katarina Dahlin - leads growth hacking and SEO at WhitePress 

WhitePress is where Katarina Dahlin holds the title of Senior Growth Hacker and SEO Expert, running research and development efforts in link building and international SEO from her base in Tallinn. Clients across B2B, B2C and ecommerce sectors make up her portfolio.

Automation is where her work stands out most. She built a system that uses AI to optimise thousands of ecommerce product descriptions at once, and she's regarded as an early voice on off page LLM optimisation, the practice of helping brands build authority and trust specifically for AI systems. Her conference schedule has included BrightonSEO, SEO Vibes and WTS Fest.

Outside client work, Dahlin runs the SEO Case Stories webinar series and founded SEO Sauna Masterminds, an invite only community for SEO professionals, and holds a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from Åbo Akademi University.

Victoria Olsina - generated £1 million in sales for ConsenSys 

Web3, crypto, blockchain, DeFi and FinTech brands make up Victoria Olsina's specific client focus as a leading consultant in AI Search, Generative Engine Optimization and AI Content Systems. Her roster includes Polkadot, ConsenSys, Bankless, Near Protocol, Thesis, Aztec, Mezo and Barclays.

She generated £1 million in sales for ConsenSys through its Enterprise ETH campaign, increased demo booking leads by 12 times for a crypto compliance client, and drove 528 percent organic traffic growth for a DeFi project. She authored "Mastering AI Search for Crypto & Web3 Brands" and created the first Web3 SEO course.

With more than 18 years in the industry, Olsina trained over 2,500 professionals globally in 2025 on AI powered SEO and content systems, and serves as a mentor at Outlier Ventures.

Fery Kaszoni - runs websites reaching millions of users monthly

Fery Kaszoni owns and operates dozens of websites, SaaS platforms and online tools that collectively reach millions of users every month. That scale comes from a software development background, building complex database systems, CRMs and system integrations alongside his organic search work.

He regularly publishes SEO case studies drawn from real world experiments, tracking algorithm developments and best practices as they emerge. Kaszoni also builds sophisticated front end web and mobile applications, applying that technical skill directly to the platforms he manages.

His work sits at the crossing point of development and marketing, applying new developments in SEO, AI and software engineering to the digital properties he runs.

Lily Ray - was named the world's most influential SEO expert

USA Today named Lily Ray the number one most influential SEO expert of 2022. That recognition reflects her role as VP of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive, where she leads a team of more than 35 SEO professionals, having moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to her current base in Brooklyn, New York City.

She also runs Algorythmic, an SEO and AI Search consultancy, bringing 16 years of experience to clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 50 brands. Ray is particularly well known for her expertise in Google's E-E-A-T guidelines, regularly breaking down major algorithm updates for the wider industry.

Her specialisms extend into AI search, Google Discover optimisation, and both ecommerce and news SEO.

Mark Slorance - combines SEO, AEO and reputation management

Mark Slorance founded Pixel Juice Digital Marketing and has spent more than 15 years developing SEO and search strategies for law firms, healthcare providers, trades and local businesses across the UK. Local SEO for service based businesses sits at the centre of that work.

He also specialises in Answer Engine Optimisation, helping businesses improve their visibility inside AI powered search experiences by aligning content with how answer engines actually work. Slorance combines SEO, AEO, content strategy and reputation management into a single unified approach.

Trust, credibility and verifiable data form the foundation of that approach, spanning local optimisation, content design and AI search readiness.

Gus Pelogia - manages SEO for the world's largest job site

Four countries across three continents mark Gus Pelogia's route into SEO, an international career that's taken him through Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and Ireland since 2011. He now works as SEO Product Manager at Indeed, the world's largest job site, which draws more than 250 million monthly unique visitors.

Journalism came first for Pelogia, who graduated from Faculdade Cásper Líbero and worked for Brazilian outlets including MTV, Terra and R7 before moving into SEO, a background that still shapes his approach to editorial quality. His campaign work has spanned travel, healthcare, education, ecommerce and professional services.

Recognition has followed that work in the form of judging roles at the EU Search Awards since 2021, alongside wins at The Drum Search Awards and the Irish Content Marketing Awards.

Jason Hennessey - grew Hennessey Digital into a $20 million agency

Jason Hennessey taught himself SEO by reverse engineering Google's algorithm starting in 2001. More than two decades later, he's recognised as a leading authority in legal industry SEO specifically, having founded Hennessey Digital in 2015 and grown it into a $20 million plus agency before selling it to Trinity Hunt Partners.

Under his leadership, Hennessey Digital earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list for six consecutive years. He later helped establish Herringbone Digital, a private equity backed platform where he sits on the board as one of the largest shareholders, helping drive it to seven acquisitions and more than $100 million in revenue.

He's the best selling author of Law Firm SEO and Honest SEO, hosts The Jason Hennessey Podcast, and holds an Executive MBA from Stanford University alongside his service as a United States Air Force veteran.

Charles Floate - ranked number one in ChatGPT for link building

Charles Floate started in SEO at age 12. Seventeen or more years later, he's published nearly 500 blog posts through The God of SEO blog, many covering controversial black hat SEO case studies that built his early industry recognition.

He now serves as CMO of PressWhizz, a link building marketplace he's helped grow to more than 40,000 publishers across over 90 countries and $10 million in annual recurring revenue. He's the creator of AI Visibility Seeding, a proprietary methodology for increasing brand visibility across AI platforms including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, and has ranked number one in ChatGPT for the term link building marketplace.

Floate has delivered more than 1,000 link building and digital PR campaigns, managing over $25 million in combined client spend, and now runs Charles Floate Training, offering SEO courses, masterminds and consulting.

Jamie I.F. - made $1 million in affiliate revenue before turning 25

Jamie I.F. generated more than $1 million in affiliate marketing revenue before turning 25. That early success fed into co-founding Gains App and building multiple growth focused brands, including AffiliateFinder.ai, an AI powered affiliate recruitment platform, and Endorsely, an affiliate tracking solution built for SaaS companies.

He co-owns Answer Socrates, a free SEO keyword research tool used for search intent and content ideation, and runs a seven figure affiliate website built on SEO. Before that, he served as Marketing Lead at Lasso, helping grow the business by tens of thousands in monthly recurring revenue within a year.

Jamie has created several widely adopted marketing frameworks, including the SPEAR Framework and the Movie Casting Method, and speaks regularly at industry events including FinCon and Affiliate Gathering.

Aleyda Solis - publishes the newsletter SEOFOMO

Orainti is the consultancy Aleyda Solis built to focus on International SEO, Ecommerce SEO, Marketplace SEO, SaaS SEO and AI Search Optimization, working with brands including Turo, Sniffspot, Trade Republic and FreshBooks over a career now past 18 years.

Two free platforms carry her educational work forward: LearningSEO.io and LearningAIsearch.com. Her newsletter SEOFOMO has grown into one of the industry's most read independent publications, and her conference schedule includes talks delivered in both English and Spanish across dozens of countries worldwide.

Awards have followed that reach, including European Search Personality of the Year in 2018 and a listing among USA Today's 10 Most Influential SEO Experts of 2022.

Matt Diggity - exited Surfer and built the Chiang Mai SEO Conference

An engineering degree took Matt Diggity into affiliate SEO and Amazon Affiliates before he moved into full time SEO, eventually founding Diggity Marketing, Leadspring, The Search Initiative, Diggity Media and Epic Video. He holds a Master's in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego and also founded the Chiang Mai SEO Conference.

His business exits include Authority Builders and the AI powered SEO platform Surfer. He built Diggity Links into a private blog network that stayed fully indexed through Google's major 2014 PBN crackdown before its 2018 acquisition by Rank Club.

Through the Diggity Blog and The Affiliate Lab course, Diggity continues to champion experimentation and evidence based testing as the foundation of effective SEO, work that's earned him coverage in the New York Post and Search Engine Journal.

Itamar Blauer - began building digital assets at age nine

Nine years old is when Itamar Blauer started building and ranking digital assets, an unusually early start to what's now more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and content strategy. He currently leads Marketing and Growth for the UK at WhitePress.

More than 100 brands across ecommerce, SaaS, fintech, travel, education, legal and healthcare have worked with him, including a Best Local SEO Campaign win at the UK Search Awards 2024. His book "Keywords for SEO" and his podcast "SEO Unplugged" both extend that experience into education for others in the field.

International speaking rounds out his profile, including a session for travel industry leaders on how AI is reshaping travel search, alongside pieces he's written for Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land.

Julian Goldie - grew a site from zero to 145,000 monthly visitors

Julian Goldie built his reputation around white hat link building, delivering a 2,200 percent increase in website traffic within six months and helping one site grow from zero to 145,000 monthly visitors through SEO alone. He's completed more than 1,500 link building campaigns for over 1,200 clients, working with companies including Hunter.io, Cardinal Digital Marketing and Signaturely.

He founded Goldie Agency in 2018 and grew it into a seven figure SEO and link building business, while building a following of more than 394,000 subscribers on his Julian Goldie SEO YouTube channel. Goldie also grew a LinkedIn newsletter to more than 9,000 weekly subscribers.

He founded the SEO Elite Circle for senior SEO professionals and the AI Profit Boardroom, focused on helping SEOs apply AI within their businesses, building a combined community of more than 75,000 members across his free and paid offerings.

Where SEO is heading in 2026 

What stands out across this group isn't experience alone, it's how differently each person has applied it. Some built their names through agency growth and client delivery, others through education, investment or platform building, and a growing number through work specifically aimed at AI visibility. Following a spread of these experts, rather than just one type, gives a much clearer picture of where search is heading than focusing on a single specialism.

How This Lineup Was Chosen 

Nobody on this list was chosen for their social following or their connections. Selection came down to what's actually documented: agency growth, published books, proprietary frameworks, measurable client results and roles at recognised companies. Where an expert's work overlaps with AI visibility specifically, that's noted too, since it's increasingly part of what makes an SEO professional worth following in 2026.