The best SEO professionals for a business in 2026 are Julian Goldie (that's me, at Goldie Agency), Rand Fishkin, Brian Dean, Neil Patel, Lily Ray, Mike King, Barry Schwartz and Ross Hudgens.
Before you read any further, here's my disclosure.
This is my site and my list, so of course I've ranked myself first, and I'd rather you judge the evidence than trust the ranking.
The rest of the list is made up of people with long public track records that you can check on their own websites.
What makes this page different is that I've matched each professional to the type of business that gets the most out of them.
So if you run a local business, an agency, an online shop or a software company, you'll know exactly who to learn from or hire.
The Best SEO Professionals By Business Type
Here's the quick answer, matched to the kind of business you run.
| Your business | Best SEO professional to start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Local service business | Julian Goldie (Goldie Agency) | Link building and done-for-you SEO with public case studies |
| Small business on a tight budget | Neil Patel (NP Digital, Ubersuggest) | Lots of free content and a simple keyword tool |
| Beginner learning SEO from scratch | Brian Dean (Backlinko) | Clear, step-by-step SEO guides |
| Brand that wants to understand its audience | Rand Fishkin (SparkToro) | Audience research beyond rankings |
| Publisher hit by an algorithm update | Lily Ray (Algorythmic and Amsive) | Algorithm update and AI search research |
| Large or technical website | Mike King (iPullRank) | Technical and enterprise SEO |
| Anyone who needs Google news fast | Barry Schwartz (Search Engine Roundtable) | Daily coverage of search changes |
| Content-led brand or agency | Ross Hudgens (Siege Media) | Content marketing that earns links |
🔥 Want my exact Who Are The Best SEO Professionals setup, step by step? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get step-by-step video trainings, my installable Agent OS and four coaching calls a week with 3,400+ members building real automations. → Join the AI Profit Boardroom
How I Picked These SEO Professionals
I picked people a business owner can actually benefit from, not just people who are famous online.
Every name had to pass three checks.
- They have a public company, publication or training library that has lasted for years.
- What they offer is clear, so you know whether you can hire them or learn from them.
- Their work still matters in 2026, when AI search sits alongside classic Google rankings.
The 8 Best SEO Professionals, Ranked For Business Owners
1. Julian Goldie — Goldie Agency
I've been doing SEO for over a decade, and I started the hard way.
My first site was a cryptocurrency blog I built while travelling in Asia, and it got zero Google traffic for months.
Learning link building fixed that, and when it worked on my own affiliate sites, I turned it into a service.
That service became Goldie Agency, a 7-figure SEO and link-building agency in Bangkok with 70+ people, which I started completely solo.
For a business owner, the useful part is that the work is visible.
The agency publishes case studies, including one where Munten Letselschade grew traffic from 263 to 3,157 between June and December 2025 through link building.
Today the agency offers link building, complete site audits and AI automation, and AI runs around 80% of our internal operations.
How businesses use me: Local firms and online businesses hire the agency for links and audits, and owners who want to run SEO themselves join my communities to learn the AI agent workflow.
Start here: Book a free SEO strategy session.
2. Rand Fishkin — SparkToro
Rand Fishkin co-founded Moz, which began as SEOmoz, and he later founded SparkToro, an audience research tool.
He also wrote "Lost and Founder", a book about building a startup.
How businesses use him: Marketing teams use his ideas and his tool to find out which websites, podcasts and social accounts their customers actually pay attention to.
3. Brian Dean — Backlinko
Brian Dean founded Backlinko, a well-known SEO training site, and he's widely known for the Skyscraper Technique.
Semrush acquired Backlinko, and it still publishes practical, long-form SEO guides.
How businesses use him: Owners and junior marketers use Backlinko guides as a free training manual before they hire anyone.
4. Neil Patel — NP Digital
Neil Patel co-founded the agency NP Digital and runs the Ubersuggest SEO tool, and he earlier co-founded Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics.
How businesses use him: Small businesses use his free videos and blog posts to learn marketing basics, and they use Ubersuggest to find keyword ideas.
5. Lily Ray — Algorythmic and Amsive
According to her official site, Lily Ray founded Algorythmic, an SEO and AI search consultancy, and she's VP of SEO and AI Search at the agency Amsive.
She's known for research on Google algorithm updates, E-E-A-T and AI search visibility.
How businesses use her: Publishers and brands follow her research to understand why their traffic moved after an update.
6. Mike King — iPullRank
Mike King founded iPullRank, an agency known for technical SEO, enterprise SEO and content engineering.
How businesses use him: Larger companies with complex websites look to iPullRank for deep technical work that a generalist can't handle.
7. Barry Schwartz — Search Engine Roundtable
Barry Schwartz founded Search Engine Roundtable in 2003 and is CEO of the web firm RustyBrick, and he also writes news for Search Engine Land.
How businesses use him: Owners and SEOs check his site when traffic jumps or drops, because he covers Google changes almost daily.
8. Ross Hudgens — Siege Media
Ross Hudgens founded Siege Media in 2012, growing it from a one-person operation into a content-led SEO agency.
How businesses use him: Brands and agency owners study his content marketing approach to earn links without cold outreach.
🔥 Want to run SEO for your business with AI agents? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom, I show you how to set up AI agents that research keywords, write content and build reports. You'll get the installable Agent OS, four coaching calls a week, and 3,400+ members doing the same. → Get access here
Five Real Ways Businesses Use SEO Professionals
Knowing the names is only half the job.
The other half is knowing how to use them for your type of business.
Use case 1: The local service business
A plumber, dentist or law firm usually needs two things, which are a technically sound site and links from relevant local and industry websites.
A done-for-you agency is usually the right fit here, because the owner is busy running the business.
The Goldie Agency case study for Munten Letselschade, a legal services firm, is a good example of what links can do for a local practice.
Use case 2: The agency owner
If you run a marketing agency, the best SEO professionals are your teachers and your benchmark.
You can study content-led growth from Siege Media, technical depth from iPullRank, and link building plus AI delivery from my own work.
I've written a full breakdown of how to start an AI agency if you want to package SEO and AI as a service.
Use case 3: The online shop
Ecommerce stores live or die on category pages, product pages and site structure.
A store owner can learn the basics from Backlinko, research their audience with SparkToro, and use AI agents to write product descriptions at scale.
You still want a human to check every page, because thin, copied product text is exactly what Google's quality systems look for.
Use case 4: The software company
Software and SaaS brands often grow through content that answers buyer questions.
They tend to look at content-led agencies like Siege Media or technical agencies like iPullRank.
Use case 5: The creator or solo operator
If you're a creator, you probably can't afford a big retainer, and you don't need one.
The smart move is to learn from free content, then hand the repetitive work to AI agents.
My post on AI automation for small business shows where to start with that.
Hire, Learn Or Automate: Which Route Pays Off?
Here's how I'd think about it as a business owner.
| Route | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Hire an agency or professional | You have budget but no time | Vague reporting and long lock-in contracts |
| Hire a 1:1 consultant | You have a team that can do the work | Advice that never gets implemented |
| Learn it yourself | You have time and a tight budget | Learning from outdated pre-AI tactics |
| Automate with AI agents | You want scale without hiring | Publishing content nobody has checked |
If you're leaning towards a one-to-one advisor, my sister post on the best SEO consultant covers that hiring decision on its own.
How To Choose The Right SEO Professional For Your Business
Here's the checklist I'd use before spending a penny.
- Ask for case studies in your niche with real numbers and real dates.
- Ask exactly where links will come from and how content will be written.
- Ask how they handle AI Overviews, AI Mode and other AI answer engines.
- Ask what they'll report on each month and make sure clicks and leads are on the list.
- Start with one small project and measure it before signing anything long term.
Red Flags That Cost Businesses Money
I've seen businesses lose money on SEO in the same few ways for years.
- They hired someone who promised guaranteed number one rankings.
- They bought cheap link packages without asking where the links came from.
- They paid a monthly retainer with no clear list of what was being done.
- They published hundreds of AI pages that nobody had checked.
- They judged success on impressions instead of clicks, calls and sales.
Google's spam policies call out link schemes and scaled low-value content, so cutting corners can undo months of work.
If you want me to look at your SEO personally, book a free SEO strategy session and we'll find your best next move.
If you want ongoing help ranking with AI SEO, the SEO Elite Circle is my mastermind for exactly that.
FAQ: Best SEO Professionals For Business
Which SEO professional is best for a small business?
If you want the work done for you, look for an agency with public case studies, such as Goldie Agency, which is mine.
If you want to learn, Neil Patel's free content and Brian Dean's Backlinko guides are good places to start.
Should my business hire an SEO professional or learn SEO itself?
If you have more time than budget, learn the basics and let AI agents handle the repetitive work.
If you have more budget than time, hire a professional with dated case studies in your niche and start small.
How much does an SEO professional cost?
Prices vary a lot by country, scope and experience, so always get a written quote listing what's included.
Be wary of very cheap packages that promise guaranteed rankings.
Can an agency owner learn from the best SEO professionals?
Yes, and it's one of the fastest ways to raise your standards.
Study content from Siege Media, technical SEO from iPullRank and link building plus AI delivery from Goldie Agency.
How do I get a free SEO review from Julian Goldie?
You can book a free SEO strategy session and we'll look at your site together.
Related Reading
- King of AEO: my answer and the AEO setup I run daily
- How to start an AI agency
- The best SEO consultant to hire in 2026
Also On Our Network
- 🌐 The operator's guide to the best SEO professionals
- 🌐 The best SEO professionals, ranked with a verdict
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About Julian
I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.
I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.
- I've built a 7-figure SEO and link-building agency, Goldie Agency, with 70+ people in Bangkok.
- I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
- I wrote the book "Link Building Mastery", which covers nine link building strategies.
- My Udemy courses have taught 29,000+ students.
→ Get my best AI training inside the AI Profit Boardroom
Match the professional to your business type, start with one measurable project, and you'll get real value from the best SEO professionals.
