55 Best People to Learn AEO From in 2026

Aleyda is the person I point beginners to first, because SEOFOMO and LearningSEO turned "keeping up with search" into something you can actually do without quitting your day job. She's operated at the international, enterprise level for years, so when she talks about how AI search changes the playbook, it's grounded in real client work rather than speculation.

Mike coined "relevance engineering," and he's the person I go to when I want to understand what's actually happening under the hood of an AI answer instead of hand-waving about it. He reads the patents. He does the work.

If AEO has a founding parent, it's Jason. He was talking about being genuinely understood by machines back when the rest of us were still stuffing keywords into meta tags. His whole world is entities and knowledge panels.

Lily has a rare talent for flagging risky tactics before they blow up in your face. She lives in the world of algorithm updates and E-E-A-T, so her take on GEO is refreshingly realistic: no magic buttons, just what genuinely holds up over time.

Rand is the healthy skeptic every hype cycle needs, and AEO has hype to spare. He'll happily walk you through the data on why AI citations might matter less, or just differently, than the loudest voices are claiming this week.

Barry is basically the wire service for search. If Google is quietly testing a new AI interface at 6am, he's written it up before most of us have had coffee.

Wil talks about search the way a great coach talks about a game: zoomed out, deeply human, obsessed with intent over tactics. When AI changes how people find answers, his relentless "what does the searcher actually want?" framing stops you chasing shiny nonsense.

Duane spent years at Bing and Microsoft helping shape how search engines surface answers, and now he runs UnboundAnswers with a sharp focus on AI search and structured data. He's measured, experienced, and refreshingly free of the hype.

Andrea has been building the bridge between structured data and AI longer than most people have been thinking about it. WordLift turns schema markup from a chore into a competitive weapon.

Dixon lives and breathes entities. If you want to understand how machines build a mental model of your brand and content, he's the one teaching it in plain English.

Koray writes about semantic SEO with an intensity that borders on academic, but the results back it up. If you want the deep theory on why topical authority matters to AI engines, start here.

Izzi is a featured snippet tactician who gets granular about structured markup, content formatting, and the exact kind of answers Google's AI wants to surface.

Jes won the European Search Personality award for a reason. She thinks about AI search across every engine, not just Google, and brings a global perspective most U.S.-focused experts miss.

Kasra runs experiments on search algorithms the way a lab scientist runs trials. He's not guessing. He tests, documents, and shares what actually moved the needle.

Peter works the enterprise side of technical SEO, making sure massive sites are structured so AI engines can actually parse and cite them at scale.

Anna translates technical AEO concepts into repeatable on-page playbooks that content teams can actually use without needing a developer on speed dial.

Dan is the most creative experimenter in the SEO world. He builds tools, runs wild tests, and shares findings that consistently push the boundary of what's possible in AI-driven search.

Glenn is the person you call when a Google update tanks your traffic. He's been tracking algorithm changes for over 20 years, and his analysis of how AI Overviews affect rankings is some of the most detailed work in the space.

Olaf approaches AEO from the semantic web angle, connecting entity optimization with content strategy in a way that feels more like information science than marketing.

Cyrus built his reputation on rigorous SEO testing at Moz and now Zyppy. When he says something works for AI visibility, there's usually a dataset behind it.

Brodie tracks Google's SERP features like a hawk. He catches new AI Overview patterns and interface changes before they're announced, often weeks ahead of the official word.

Sara specializes in international SEO with a sharp eye on how AI search handles multilingual content. If you're optimizing beyond English, she's essential reading.

Ryan thinks about content strategy at a level most marketers never reach. His frameworks for building editorial authority translate directly into the kind of content AI engines want to cite.

Lars built content machines at KISSmetrics and I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He's brutally honest about what actually drives growth versus what just looks good in a report.

Ross is the loudest voice (in a good way) arguing that creating content is only half the job. Distribution is where most people fail, and his playbooks for getting content in front of the right audiences are directly applicable to AEO.

Kaleigh writes for some of the biggest names in SaaS and ecommerce, and her approach to building brand authority through content is a masterclass in the kind of trust signals AI engines look for.

Amanda writes about audience research and zero-click content in a way that makes you rethink your entire distribution strategy. Her work on original research as a content strategy is directly relevant to earning AI citations.

Tim runs content at one of the biggest SEO tool companies in the world, and his data-driven approach to content strategy is a goldmine for anyone trying to build the kind of authority that AI engines reward.

Andy brings a publisher's mindset to content marketing. His frameworks for building editorial programs that establish genuine authority are exactly what AEO demands.

Carley is at the intersection of AI tools and content strategy. She's testing and documenting which AI workflows actually improve content quality versus which ones just speed up mediocrity.

Crystal makes SEO and AEO concepts genuinely accessible without dumbing them down. Her explainers at Wix reach millions of site owners who need to understand AI search without a PhD.

Mordy is one of the sharpest analysts in SEO. His podcast and writing cut through the noise with clear-eyed takes on where AI search is actually heading versus where people want it to go.

Garrett bridges the gap between technical SEO and content marketing, making complex optimization strategies practical for marketing teams.

Marie is the authority on E-E-A-T and quality guidelines. If you want to understand what Google considers trustworthy enough to surface in AI answers, she wrote the playbook.

Kelsey builds content strategies around original research and data, which is exactly the kind of material AI engines prefer to cite over opinion pieces.

Bernard built Clearscope around the idea that content needs to comprehensively cover a topic to rank. That principle matters even more when AI engines are deciding who to cite.

Kevin connects SEO to business growth in a way few others can. His Growth Memo newsletter is one of the best resources for understanding how to measure and optimize for AI search at a strategic level.

Eli literally wrote the book on Product-Led SEO. His approach to building search visibility into the product itself is increasingly relevant as AI engines favor sites with genuine utility.

Vincent specializes in B2B SEO measurement, connecting organic visibility to pipeline and revenue in ways that make the C-suite pay attention.

Nate is building some of the most interesting measurement tools for AI search. If you need to track where and how AI engines are citing your content, he's ahead of the curve.

Pat works with enterprise brands making the transition to AI-ready content strategies. His practical approach to scaling AEO across large organizations is hard to find elsewhere.

Kate excels at translating SEO and AEO performance into business metrics that executives understand and fund. If you need to justify AI search investment, follow her frameworks.

Rebecca brings a data analyst's rigor to SEO forecasting, helping teams predict and prepare for shifts in how AI engines handle their content.

Steven focuses on content-driven SEO for startups, and his agency work reveals patterns in how AI engines discover and promote newer brands.

Britney brings actual data science chops to SEO, which is rare. Her work at Moz and beyond has consistently pushed the industry toward more rigorous, evidence-based optimization.

Julian runs constant experiments on AI-driven SEO and shares everything on YouTube. His willingness to test unconventional approaches and share raw results makes him one of the most interesting voices in the space.

James builds and scales SEO-driven businesses. His practical experience with AI tools at scale gives him a perspective that pure consultants often miss.

Connor focuses on B2B thought leadership content, helping companies build the kind of authoritative presence that AI engines increasingly rely on for answers.

Wes makes AI search strategy accessible for small business owners through video. If you're not technical and don't have a team, his content is where to start.

Evan pioneered the concept of thought leadership SEO, and his approach to building brand visibility through expert content aligns perfectly with what AI engines want to surface.

Gareth runs an agency that's implementing AEO strategies across dozens of client sites, giving him a breadth of testing data that solo practitioners can't match.

George specializes in B2B SaaS organic growth, and his systematic approach to content strategy produces the kind of comprehensive, authoritative content that AI engines love to cite.

Gianluca brings a European and international perspective to SEO strategy. His experience across multiple markets gives him unique insight into how AI search varies by region.

Mark built AlsoAsked, which mines "People Also Ask" data from Google. Understanding question intent is fundamental to AEO, and his tool and teaching make it actionable.