The best SEO speakers 2026 has booked onto its biggest stages are led by Mike King, Aleyda Solis and Ross Simmonds, and I checked every name on this page against a real 2026 conference programme.
If you run a business or an agency, the question behind that search is usually practical.
You want to know who to book for an event, who to send your team to hear, or who is worth an hour of your time this year.
This page answers all three, and it's written for people who need a return on the time and money they spend.
One quick note before the list is that I'm not on it, because I don't have a conference speaking record to show you.
If you'd like help with your own brand instead of a talk, book a free SEO strategy session and get a custom plan for traffic, mentions and leads.
Top 3 Best SEO Speakers 2026 At A Glance
- 🥇 Mike King (iPullRank) ranks first because MozCon 2026 and Tech SEO Connect 2026 both list him, and his MozCon bio credits him with creating the SEO Week conference.
- 🥈 Aleyda Solis (Orainti) ranks second because she spoke at brightonSEO in spring 2026 and she is on the Tech SEO Connect 2026 line-up.
- 🥉 Ross Simmonds (Foundation) ranks third because brightonSEO chose him to close its October 2026 conference on the main stage.
How I Picked These SEO Speakers
I only let someone onto this list if an official 2026 conference page named them.
After that gate, I ranked people higher if they appeared on more than one 2026 programme, held a keynote or closing slot, or spoke on topics business owners are asking about now, like AI search and measurement.
I haven't hired any of these speakers, and I haven't sat through every talk, so this is my judgement from public programmes rather than a measured score.
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The 10 Best SEO Speakers Of 2026
1. Mike King — Founder And CEO, iPullRank
Mike King is on the MozCon 2026 speakers page for New York and on the Tech SEO Connect 2026 speaker list.
His MozCon bio says he consults for companies around the world and created both Relevance Engineering and the SEO Week conference.
Best for: a business that wants its marketing team to understand how AI search actually retrieves and ranks content.
2. Aleyda Solis — Founder, Orainti
Aleyda Solis gave the talk "Redefining Success Metrics for the AI Search Era" at brightonSEO in spring 2026.
She is also on the Tech SEO Connect 2026 line-up.
Best for: leadership teams who need to change how they report on SEO now that AI answers take some of the clicks.
3. Ross Simmonds — Founder And CEO, Foundation
The brightonSEO October 2026 page names Ross Simmonds as the speaker closing the conference on the main stage.
Best for: founders and content teams who want to get more out of every piece of content they publish.
4. Crystal Carter — Head Of AI Search And SEO Communications, Wix
Crystal Carter is on the MozCon 2026 New York speaker list.
Her MozCon bio mentions 20 years of experience, including work for McDonald's and TripAdvisor, and describes her as an author and AI thought leader.
Best for: small business and creator audiences who need AI search explained in plain language.
5. Cindy Krum — Founder And CEO, MobileMoxie
Cindy Krum is listed on the brightonSEO San Diego 2026 page and on the Tech SEO Connect 2026 line-up.
Best for: technical teams and agencies with a lot of mobile traffic.
6. Dr. Pete Meyers — brightonSEO Spring 2026 Keynote
brightonSEO named Dr. Pete Meyers as the keynote speaker for its spring 2026 event in Brighton.
Best for: an opening keynote that sets the scene on how search results are changing.
7. Mark Williams-Cook — Digital Marketing Director, Candour
Mark Williams-Cook is on the MozCon London 2026 speaker list, and his name is also on the brightonSEO October 2026 schedule.
His MozCon bio calls him an SEO and AI-search professional, agency director and SaaS founder.
Best for: agency owners who want ideas they can turn into client work the following week.
8. Duane Forrester — Author, Machine Layer
Duane Forrester was a featured speaker at Pubcon Pro Virtual on 14 January 2026, with LLM visibility and entities as his topic.
Best for: brands asking why AI assistants mention their competitors and not them.
9. Patrick Stox — Ahrefs
Patrick Stox is on the brightonSEO San Diego 2026 speaker list as Product Advisor, Technical SEO and Brand Ambassador at Ahrefs.
The Tech SEO Connect site also names him as one of the event's co-founders.
Best for: in-house teams who like their advice backed by data.
10. Krishna Madhavan — Microsoft AI
Krishna Madhavan gave the Microsoft Bing AI keynote at Pubcon Pro Virtual 2026 and is on the Tech SEO Connect 2026 line-up.
Best for: audiences who want to hear directly from someone inside a search engine team.
📞 Thinking about an event because you want your brand seen more? Book a free SEO strategy session and Goldie Agency will show you why competitors get mentioned more often and where your brand can build a stronger presence. → Book your free session
Prefer To Learn From Me?
I'm not a conference speaker, so I've kept myself off the ranking.
I teach SEO and AI every day on YouTube, where 400,000+ subscribers follow along.
Inside the AI Profit Boardroom, 3,400+ members get four coaching calls a week, step-by-step training and the Agent OS I use to run my own SEO.
If you'd like my team's eyes on your brand, book a free SEO strategy session and get a clear AI visibility roadmap.
The Best SEO Speakers 2026 Compared For Business Use
| Speaker | 2026 stage I checked | Business use case |
|---|---|---|
| Mike King | MozCon New York and Tech SEO Connect | Training a marketing team on AI search |
| Aleyda Solis | brightonSEO spring and Tech SEO Connect | Changing how leadership measures SEO |
| Ross Simmonds | brightonSEO October closing keynote | Getting more from content |
| Crystal Carter | MozCon New York | Explaining AI search to non-specialists |
| Cindy Krum | brightonSEO San Diego and Tech SEO Connect | Technical and mobile search |
| Dr. Pete Meyers | brightonSEO spring keynote | Opening keynotes |
| Mark Williams-Cook | MozCon London and brightonSEO October | Agency client work |
| Duane Forrester | Pubcon Pro Virtual | Brand visibility in AI assistants |
| Patrick Stox | brightonSEO San Diego | Data-backed technical SEO |
| Krishna Madhavan | Pubcon Pro Virtual and Tech SEO Connect | The search engine's point of view |
How Businesses Actually Use The Best SEO Speakers Of 2026
People search for SEO speakers for very different reasons, so here are the five use cases I see most often.
Use case 1: You're hosting a client or industry event
Agencies and software companies often run their own events to build trust with clients.
A recognised SEO speaker gives people a reason to turn up, and the talk gives your team something to follow up on.
The trick is to choose a speaker whose topic leads naturally into the conversation you want to have afterwards.
Use case 2: You're training an in-house team
Some businesses book a speaker for a half-day internal session instead of sending everyone to a conference.
That works best when you send the speaker your real problems in advance, so the session isn't a generic talk.
Use case 3: You're choosing which conference to send staff to
Speaker line-ups are the easiest way to judge whether a conference is worth the trip.
If your team works on technical SEO, a programme with Mike King, Cindy Krum and Krishna Madhavan, like Tech SEO Connect, tells you a lot.
If your team is mixed marketing and SEO, MozCon or brightonSEO usually covers more ground.
Use case 4: You're a creator or podcaster looking for guests
If you run a podcast, newsletter or webinar series, recent conference speakers are a ready-made list of people who already explain their ideas well.
Contact them through the company named on the event page, and pitch a specific topic rather than a general chat.
Use case 5: You just want to learn faster
You don't need to book anyone to benefit from this list.
Follow two or three speakers whose topics match your biggest problem, and watch their recent talks where video is available.
🔥 Want to turn what you learn at conferences into AI agent workflows? Inside the AI Profit Boardroom, I show you how I turn SEO ideas into agent workflows that run every day. You'll learn alongside 3,400+ members with four coaching calls a week. → Get access here
The 2026 SEO Conference Calendar For Business Owners
These dates come straight from each organiser's own page.
| Event | 2026 date | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Pubcon Pro Virtual | 14 January 2026 | Online |
| SEO Week | April 2026 | New York City |
| brightonSEO spring | 30 April and 1 May 2026 | The Brighton Centre, UK |
| brightonSEO San Diego | 15 and 16 September 2026 | San Diego Convention Center, US |
| WTSFest Philadelphia | 1 October 2026 | Philadelphia, US |
| brightonSEO October | 8 and 9 October 2026 | The Brighton Centre, UK |
| Tech SEO Connect | 5 and 6 November 2026 | Durham, North Carolina, US |
| MozCon London | 13 November 2026 | London, UK |
If you're planning ahead, brightonSEO has already announced 15 and 16 April 2027 in Brighton and 9 and 10 September 2027 in San Diego.
You can check each one on the Tech SEO Connect site, the SEO Week site and the Women in Tech SEO site.
How To Get A Return From An SEO Speaker
A speaker doesn't make money for you on their own, so plan the return before you book.
- Decide what you want people to do after the talk, such as book a call, try a tool or change a process.
- Brief the speaker on your audience's level so the talk lands at the right depth.
- Record the session if the speaker agrees, so you can reuse it with new staff or clients.
- Follow up within a week while the ideas are still fresh.
- Measure one thing, such as enquiries or pages improved, so you know whether to do it again.
If you want a plan for traffic, mentions and leads that doesn't depend on an event, book a free SEO strategy session with Goldie Agency.
Nobody can promise that a talk will grow your business, and any speaker who guarantees results is one to be careful with.
Related Reading
- The best SEO professionals list is the one to read if you want to hire someone rather than hear them speak.
- My top SEO experts by speciality helps you match a person to the exact problem you have.
- What an AEO SEO consultant does from this same batch explains the hiring side of AI search.
FAQ: Best SEO Speakers 2026
Who is the best SEO speaker in 2026?
My number one is Mike King of iPullRank, who is on the MozCon 2026 programme and the Tech SEO Connect 2026 line-up.
Aleyda Solis and Ross Simmonds complete my top three.
Is it worth booking an SEO speaker for a business event?
It can be, if the speaker's topic matches a real problem your audience has.
The value comes from what your team or clients do with the ideas afterwards, so plan the follow-up first.
Which SEO conference should my team attend in 2026?
Tech SEO Connect on 5 and 6 November suits technical teams, and MozCon London on 13 November suits mixed marketing teams.
The next brightonSEO UK event is on 15 and 16 April 2027.
Does Julian Goldie speak at SEO conferences?
I don't have a verified conference speaking record, so I haven't ranked myself.
I teach SEO and AI daily on YouTube and inside the AI Profit Boardroom instead.
How much do SEO speakers charge?
The conference pages I used don't publish speaker fees.
Ask the speaker or their company directly with your format, audience size and date.
Also On Our Network
- 🌐 The operator walkthrough for booking an SEO speaker
- 🌐 The best SEO speakers of 2026 compared on a scorecard
- 🌐 How I'd shortlist SEO speakers inside an Agent OS
- 🌐 SEO speakers in 2026 and how the AI models behind search score
📺 Video notes + links to the tools 👉
🎥 Learn how I make these videos 👉
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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 started Goldie Agency on my own, and it is now a 7-figure SEO and link-building agency with 70+ people.
- I've grown my YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
- I wrote "Link Building Mastery".
- My Udemy courses have taught 29,000+ students.
→ Get my best AI training inside the AI Profit Boardroom
Before you book anyone, grab a free SEO strategy session with my team so you know exactly what your business needs from the best SEO speakers 2026 has to offer.
