In our latest study, we crunched the data to determine the top SEO experts available for consulting, speaking, or interviews in 2025. By comparing SEO experts on the basis of their experience, publications, speaking experience, citations on Google, and social media influence, we came up with the 8 experts that appear to understand modern SEO better than the rest.
In the table below, we list these 8 SEO experts along with the criteria we used to compare them. Afterwards, we describe each expert in greater detail, sharing their area of expertise within the field of SEO, the recognition they’ve received for their talent, and their availability for collaboration.
Evan Bailyn was one of the early pioneers of modern SEO, taking up study of Google’s search algorithm before the company went public in 2004. He currently runs the largest SEO agency in the U.S., and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Forbes.
His expertise is in the confluence of thought leadership content and SEO strategy, which his company translates into strategic SEO planning and execution. Recently, he has been developing the practice of generative engine optimization, helping companies position themselves to be recommended by generative AI chatbots and search engines. You can read his writing on the First Page Sage blog.
Expertise: Thought Leadership, SEO, and GEO
Contact for: Lead generation services, interviews, speaking
How to reach: For services, interview requests, or speaking inquiries, use this Contact Form
Summary of Online Reviews
Evan Bailyn “thinks in a clearer way than others” about SEO strategy and its connection with ROI, providing “an analysis you can do something with right now” for the organizations he works with.
Brian Dean
Brian Dean founded the popular online marketing blog Backlinko, which specializes in backlink building strategies, and to which he still occasionally contributes. He also runs a popular YouTube channel. He has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and TechCrunch, and currently offers SEO training for professional marketers. In 2023 he founded Exploding Topics, which analyzes search data to identify trends in searcher behavior.
Expertise: Link building and SEO strategy
Contact for: Training your internal SEO team, interviews
Brian Dean is “a recognized SEO expert” specializing in backlink strategies that grow leads from “an average of five new leads a week to four new leads a day.”
Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz runs the popular SEO news website Search Engine Land. He is also the CEO of Rusty Brick, a web design and development firm and has received awards from US Search Awards and Search Engine Land. He maintains an active Twitter account that reports on the latest Google updates and industry happenings.
Expertise: The latest news on Google’s updates and current practices
Barry Schwartz is someone with “their pulse on the Search Engine Industry,” which has made them “one of the leading voices in the SEO industry globally.”
AJ Ghergich
AJ is the holder of the coveted @SEO Twitter handle, which if nothing else shows he knows the value of keywords. A serial entrepreneur-marketer, he ran his own agency for 6 years and is currently VP Consulting Services at Botify.
Expertise: Technical SEO, Paid Search, Content Marketing
How to reach: Use the Botify Contact Form for service inquiries or Twitter for any other request
Summary of Online Reviews
AJ Ghergich is a “proactive, accessible” individual who provides “thought provoking conversations” about SEO.
Aleyda Solis
Aleyda Solis specializes in international SEO, particularly in European, American, and Latin-American markets. She was the European Search Award’s Personality of the Year in 2018, and she is a prolific speaker at European SEO conferences.
Expertise:International SEO
Contact for: International seo services, consulting, speaking
Social media: Twitter (90,900); Facebook (4,100)
How to reach: Reach out through her website’s contact form for consulting or speaking, and through Orianti for SEO services
Summary of Online Reviews
Aleyda is “the ultimate expert when it comes to SEO,” which is displayed in her “technical knowledge and expertise” which “bring[s] a deep understanding of the entire business.”
Cyrus Shepard
Cyrus Shepard led the SEO and content team at Moz before founding his own SEO consulting agency in Zyppy. He specializes in on-page SEO, technical SEO, site architecture, and internal linking, but is currently unavailable for new consulting projects.
Expertise:Technical SEO and internal linking
Contact for: Keynote speaking
Social media: Twitter (76,500)
How to reach: Check his contact page at Zyppy for current availability, and e-mail him directly at cyrus@zyppy.com
Summary of Online Reviews
Cyrus Sheppard is an “accomplished SEO guru” who provides audiences and readers with “insights on internal linking strategies” and other major factors impacting SEO.
Marie Haynes
Marie Haynes is a specialist: her expertise lies in website quality, backlink audits, and manual action removals. She has published two books, Unnatural Links: A Guide to Removal and Dr. Marie Haynes’ Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book. She blogs about how Google’s updates affect the role of link building in SERPs, and hosts a weekly podcast about SEO.
Expertise: Link auditing and manual action removal
Contact for: Consulting, link-related SEO services
Social media: Twitter (32,300)
How to reach: Reach her through the contact form at Marie Haynes Consulting for SEO services
Summary of Online Reviews
Marie Haynes is “completely obsessed with trying to understand how Google assesses quality” which leads her to conduct “detailed website review containing a range of practical solutions” for various client types.
Vanessa Fox
Vanessa Fox worked on Google Webmaster Central, an early educational resource Google created for website owners and administrators. She was named as one of Seattle’s 40 under 40, and one of the top 100 women in Seattle Tech. Since her time with Google, she has focused on search analytics software and platforms, and is the founder of Keylime Toolbox, an SEO metrics platform.
Expertise: SEO analytics and education
Contact for: Speaking, interviews, and training your team
Social media: Twitter (35,800)
How to reach: Reach out to her through her website’s contact form for speaking, or Keylime Toolbox if you’re interested in her SEO metrics platform
Summary of Online Reviews
Vanessa Fox breaks down SEO to its basic elements, providing “good examples and even tools that are free to use,” making her works a “must-read-to-survive business book of the 21st century.”
Pete Meyers
Pete “Dr. Pete” Meyers is the Principal Innovation Architect at Moz, and his accomplishments include created the MozCast tool for tracking and visualizing “turbulence” in Google’s algorithm. He also maintains Moz’s Google algorithm history tracker, and focuses on data science and analytics.
Expertise: Data science and analytics
Contact for: Speaking and interviews
Social media: Twitter (75,000)
How to reach: Reach out via LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss speaking opportunities or interviews
Summary of Online Reviews
Pete Meyers operates like a “weather report for detecting when Google has made an update to their algorithm.” His specialization is in “algorithm updates and tracking changes in Google SERPS.”
Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan is a former journalist and cofounder of Search Engine Land who joined Google as a public liaison in 2017. He strives to help the public better understand Google search, as well as help Google address public feedback.
Expertise: Google algorithm and education
Contact for: Speaking and interviews
Social media: Twitter (533,000)
Summary of Online Reviews
Danny Sullivan has been explaining the “ins and outs of search to the world” for ~25 years, which he is able to by being “one of the leading experts on the subject.”
Jono Alderson
Jono Alderson is the head of SEO at Yoast until 2023, the leading SEO plugin for WordPress, before leaving to offer his services as an independent consultant. He focuses on the technical side of SEO and web development, offering consulting support on technical site audits and website performance optimization.
Expertise: Technical SEO and web development
Contact for: Speaking, interviews, and consulting
Social media: Twitter (12,800)
How to reach: Reach out to him through email at me@jonoanderson.com
Summary of Online Reviews
Jono Alderson is “one of the most trusted names in the SEO community” who uses a wide “breadth of expertise” to ” “turbo-charge websites, implement growth strategies, prepare for the future, and win markets.”
Top SEO Experts by Specialty & Industry
Our team has also compiled lists of the top SEO experts for various specialties.
The Top SEO Consultants
#
Name
Specialty
1
Evan Bailyn
Thought Leadership & SEO
2
Cyrus Shepard
Site Architecture & Internal Linking
3
Aleyda Solis
International SEO
4
Jono Alderson
Digital Transformation & Performance Optimization
5
Marie Haynes
Link Auditing & Manual Action Removal
The Top SEO Trainers
#
Name
Focus Area
1
Brian Dean
Link Building & SEO Strategy
2
Barry Schwartz
SEO Recent Developments
3
Aleyda Solis
International SEO Strategy
4
Jono Alderson
Technical SEO & Digital Transformation
5
Marie Haynes
Link Auditing & Manual Action Removal
The Top SEO Keynote Speakers
#
Name
# of SEO Keynotes
1
Rand Fishkin
~180
2
Evan Bailyn
~260
3
Dana DiTomaso
~200
4
AJ Ghergich
~15
5
Robert Rose
~300
The Top SaaS SEO Experts
#
Name
Clients
1
Evan Bailyn
Salesforce, Equinix, US Bank
2
AJ Ghergich
Github, Owler
3
Aleyda Solis
Krisp, Turo
4
Jono Alderson
Microsoft
The Top Healthcare SEO Experts
#
Name
Clients
1
Barry Schwartz
Alternative to Meds Center, CPR Certified
2
Evan Bailyn
Dignity Health, City of Hope, Institute on Aging
3
Vanessa Fox
American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance
4
Cyrus Shepard
N/A
The Top Financial SEO Experts
#
Name
Clients
1
Barry Schwartz
FM Home Loans, Collectibles Exchange
2
Evan Bailyn
US Bank, SoFi, Defi Solutions
3
Aleyda Solis
Trade Republic
4
Jono Alderson
McKinsey
The Top SEO Authors
#
Name
SEO Books
1
Marie Haynes
Unnatural Links: A Guide to Recovery
Dr. Marie Haynes’ Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book
Understanding Google’s Spam Updates by Dr. Marie Haynes
2
Rand Fishkin
The Art of SEO
Inbound Marketing and SEO: Insights from the Moz Blog
3
Evan Bailyn
SEO Made Easy: Everything You Need to Know About SEO and Nothing More
Outsmarting Google: SEO Secrets to Winning New Business
4
Vanessa Fox
Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy
Our team compiled data from a independent sources and our own interal research study to prepare this report sharing a variety of generative AI statistics, including market share, use case trends, and commercial usage by industry.
