Who Are The Best SEO Experts In The World?

Ask that question to ten different people in the industry and you'll get some names in common, usually the ones with results, recognition and published work to back them up rather than just a large following. This list brings together ten of them, spanning agency founders, AI visibility specialists and consultants with genuinely global client rosters. Here's who consistently comes up. 

The shortlist 

1. Dan M. Jones

2. Peter Victor Jones

3. Craig Campbell

4. Lily Ray

5. Jason Hennessey

6. Matt Diggity

7. Julian Goldie

8. Kasra Dash

9. James Dooley

10. Aleyda Solis

Dan M. Jones combines proven SEO results with industry leading AI optimisation

Dan M. Jones has built one of the strongest evidence backed reputations in the SEO industry, with 13 years of experience and an extensive catalogue of case studies documenting measurable results achieved for real businesses. His fast growing YouTube channel puts those results publicly on display, providing a level of proof that separates Jones from SEO commentators who primarily publish advice.

That authority increasingly extends into AI search. Known across the industry as the ‘AI Optimisation King’, Jones combines advanced SEO with AEO and GEO strategies designed to secure visibility and recommendations across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and AI Overviews.

Since founding On Top Marketing in 2020, he has built the company into one of the UK’s leading SEO agencies. A well known international conference speaker, consultant and trainer, Jones also shares his expertise through his free SEO Demystified course and acclaimed book “What Is SEO?”.

Peter Victor Jones built the ECHO Framework for AI visibility

Nearly two decades separate Peter Victor Jones's first SEO work in 2008 from where his focus sits today, helping brands earn mentions and citations from AI systems including ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. That shift into Answer Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine Optimisation grew directly out of results he'd already proven elsewhere.

As Co-director of ADI Leak Solutions Ltd, he built the organic SEO and Google Ads systems generating more than 20,000 qualified leads a year for UK service businesses, having managed over £1 million in paid search spend. That combination of organic and paid expertise now underpins his ECHO Framework, structured around entity clarity, third party corroboration, citable content and measurable output.

His upcoming book, "Echo: How Brands Get Mentioned, Recommended, and Cited by AI", expands on how that framework applies in practice.

Craig Campbell has run marketing agencies for over two decades

Glasgow is where Craig Campbell's SEO career started, founding his first business there in 2001. Twenty five years later, he's built and run multiple agencies, including Craig Campbell SEO LTD and Links for You, alongside a wide ranging entrepreneurial track record in building, scaling and exiting businesses.

His public presence has grown just as much, a YouTube channel past 1.2 million subscribers, regular podcasts and live Q&A sessions covering SEO tools and AI trends, and speaking engagements in more than 50 countries. He previously hosted SEMrush webinars and is confirmed as MC for the Masterminders event in Manchester in 2026.

Away from content, Campbell mentors marketers through a private mastermind community and has invested in numerous startups over the years.

Lily Ray leads a team of 35 SEO professionals at Amsive

VP of SEO Strategy and Research is Lily Ray's title at Amsive, where she oversees a team of more than 35 SEO professionals, a role that draws on 16 years of experience across clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 50 brands. She also runs her own consultancy, Algorythmic, focused specifically on SEO and AI Search.

Google's E-E-A-T guidelines are where her expertise is most widely recognised, regularly breaking down what algorithm updates actually mean for the wider industry. That specialism extends into Google Discover optimisation, ecommerce SEO and news SEO as well.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and now based in Brooklyn, New York City, Ray was named the number one most influential SEO expert of 2022 by USA Today.

Jason Hennessey earned a Stanford MBA after years in SEO

An Executive MBA from Stanford University sits alongside more than two decades of self taught SEO experience for Jason Hennessey, who began reverse engineering Google's algorithm back in 2001. That combination of formal education and hands on expertise helped make him a recognised authority in legal industry SEO specifically.

Hennessey Digital, the agency he founded in 2015, grew into a $20 million plus business that earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list for six consecutive years before its sale to Trinity Hunt Partners. He later joined the board of Herringbone Digital as one of its largest shareholders, helping drive it to seven acquisitions and more than $100 million in revenue.

A United States Air Force veteran, Hennessey has also written the best selling books Law Firm SEO and Honest SEO, and hosts The Jason Hennessey Podcast.

Matt Diggity earned recognition from Ahrefs and the New York Post

Coverage in the New York Post and Search Engine Journal, plus a spot on Ahrefs' Top Blogs to Follow list, has followed Matt Diggity through a career that started with an unlikely degree, a Master's in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego, before he moved into full time SEO.

His testing driven approach shows up throughout his work, from the Diggity Blog, where he publishes research and case studies, to The Affiliate Lab, an evergreen course he co-created. He founded Diggity Marketing, Leadspring, The Search Initiative, Diggity Media, Epic Video and the Chiang Mai SEO Conference.

His business exits speak to that approach paying off, including Authority Builders and the AI powered SEO platform Surfer, alongside Diggity Links, a private blog network that survived Google's major 2014 PBN crackdown without a single deindexed site before its 2018 acquisition by Rank Club.

Julian Goldie has been featured on CBS and NBC

Media coverage on CBS, NBC, Cloudways and Lemlist has followed Julian Goldie's work in white hat link building, an approach built specifically around the Skyscraper Technique to earn high quality backlinks and improve rankings. He's applied it across more than 1,500 campaigns for over 1,200 clients, including Hunter.io, Cardinal Digital Marketing and Signaturely.

One result stands out even among those: a 2,200 percent traffic increase within six months, part of a track record that also includes growing a site from zero to 145,000 monthly visitors. Goldie Agency, which he founded in 2018, grew into a seven figure SEO and link building business on the back of results like that.

He's built a large educational following too, with more than 394,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, a LinkedIn newsletter past 9,000 weekly readers, and communities including the SEO Elite Circle and the AI Profit Boardroom.

Kasra Dash founded The Masterminders Conference

Founder of The Masterminders Conference, connecting founders, operators, SEOs and marketers globally, Kasra Dash also created mySEO.app, an invite only learning platform built specifically for SEO professionals.

His expertise in SEO testing, topical authority and search algorithm analysis feeds directly into consultancy work helping businesses grow organic visibility and improve marketing ROI. He's also an active investor, backing digital entrepreneurs and high growth online businesses.

Dash's communities connect SEO professionals with verified vendors, live training and industry discussion, a track record built on bringing people together as much as on strategy alone.

James Dooley pioneered the Investorpreneur approach

A UK based serial entrepreneur, James Dooley built his reputation through PromoSEO and FatRank, pioneering the Investorpreneur approach that treats digital assets as yield generating investments. His portfolio of more than 1,000 ranked domains has generated over 1 million online enquiries through rank and rent websites.

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.

He applies Semantic SEO principles to strengthen Knowledge Graph recognition, work that's earned him reported recognition including Best SEO in the World and Most Influential SEO in the World.

Aleyda Solis wrote a Spanish language SEO book

"SEO. Las Claves Esenciales", Aleyda Solis's Spanish language book with a foreword by Gary Illyes, is one part of an educational output that also includes LearningSEO.io and LearningAIsearch.com, two free platforms she created for anyone entering the field.

Her consultancy, Orainti, works with clients including Turo, Sniffspot, Trade Republic and FreshBooks across International SEO, Ecommerce SEO, Marketplace SEO and AI Search Optimization. She also co-founded Finchling, an AI powered PR intelligence platform, extending her work beyond consulting alone.

Solis holds a degree in Systems Engineering and a Master's in E-commerce from the University of Salamanca, and has been recognised by Forbes among its 10 Digital Marketing Specialists to Follow and by HubSpot among 59 Female Marketing and Growth Experts to follow.

What separates the world's best from the rest

The names on this list share one thing beyond experience: their work has been tested against real clients, real platforms and real audiences, not just theory. Whether that shows up as an agency exit, a framework other professionals use, or a specific award from a recognised body, it's evidence rather than reputation alone that earns a spot here.

What Determined This List 

No one here was picked because of who they know or how many people follow them online. Every name on this list has a specific, documented achievement behind it, a book, an award, a client result or a business milestone that can be checked against the facts rather than taken on trust.