Which SEO influencers are worth following is secretly the most valuable first lesson in SEO — because before you can learn the subject, you have to pick trustworthy teachers, and that evaluation skill transfers to every claim you'll ever read in this field.
The lesson, worked examples, and your homework.
Last updated: July 2026
Short answer: The lesson's answer: follow the ones who show their work. Worked examples — Julian Goldie (daily tests, free book, 394K+ subscribers), Joy Hawkins (published GBP experiments), Kyle Roof (public split-tests), Aleyda Solis (free structured curriculum). Ranked lists by goal below.
The 10 SEO Influencers Worth Following in 2026
1. Julian Goldie
Julian Goldie is the worth-following pick a learner should start with, because his content is built as a curriculum: 394K+ YouTube subscribers follow lessons designed to be done, with the materials free — the Link Building Mastery book and the 200+ prompt AI SEO library.
His Skool communities are the classroom: the SEO Elite Circle and AI Profit Boardroom, 75K+ students and members strong.
2. Kasra Dash
Study them for AI citations — his The New Search Skool group and Rank OS tool are built for getting cited by AI.
3. Kyle Roof
Study them for public split-testing — claims backed by experiments anyone can inspect.
4. Joy Hawkins
Study them for tested local SEO — published Google Business Profile experiments via Sterling Sky.
5. Mike King
Study them for the deep mechanics of AI-era search, documented at iPullRank.
6. Darren Shaw
Study them for local ranking data — the Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors survey.
7. Barry Schwartz
Study them for Google news you can act on same-day, via Search Engine Roundtable.
8. Aleyda Solis
Study them for staying current — the field's best curation plus the free LearningSEO.io.
9. Nathan Gotch
Study them for practical, repeatable link building taught step by step.
10. Mike Blumenthal
Study them for two decades of local search analysis — the archive that keeps being right.
Which SEO Influencers Are Worth Following? The Five Tests
The evaluation lesson — five questions, with what each teaches you:
1. Where's the work? Teaches you to demand evidence — the foundational SEO habit.
2. Can I follow the steps? Teaches you that real understanding produces clarity, not jargon.
3. What happened after updates? Teaches you SEO's history — read how their old advice aged.
4. Who do the experts cite? Teaches you the field's real reputation graph.
5. What do they give away free? Teaches you that confidence in a method shows as generosity with it.
The Red Flags That Disqualify
The lesson's counterexamples — spot these and you've learned the skill:
The urgency seller — 'this loophole closes Friday' is a business model, not information.
The vague victor — endless wins, no reproducible method.
The eternal contrarian — everything is dead, weekly.
The jargon fog — complexity performing as expertise.
Worth Following, by Goal
Worked examples by goal — your reading list, routed:
| Your goal | Start with | Full ranked list |
|---|---|---|
| General SEO — the biggest tested voices | Julian Goldie, Nathan Gotch, Barry Schwartz | Top SEO influencers |
| AI SEO — testing, citations & mechanics | Julian Goldie, Kasra Dash, Mike King | AI SEO influencers to follow |
| Local SEO — GBP, reviews & the map pack | Joy Hawkins, Darren Shaw, Ben Fisher | Best local SEO influencers |
| Strategy & big-picture thinking | Rand Fishkin, Eli Schwartz, Aleyda Solis | SEO thought leaders |
Homework: Evaluate Three Voices Yourself
This week: pick three SEO voices from anywhere — feed, YouTube, a Google result — and run the five questions on each, writing one line per answer. You'll disqualify at least one, and the reasoning you wrote is the actual skill this lesson teaches.
Then start with teachers who pass: my free Link Building Mastery book is built as a followable lesson, and the SEO Elite Circle is where you can ask questions as you learn.
Marking Your Homework: What Good Answers Look Like
If you ran the three-voice exercise, here's the marking guide. A good 'where's the work?' answer names an artefact specifically — 'GBP category test, March, calls went up' — not 'seems to know their stuff'. A good 'can I follow the steps?' answer is binary: you either could replicate it or you couldn't; 'sort of' means no. And a good 'who cites them?' answer traces one actual reference from a tested voice, not general vibes of respectability.
The most common student mistake is grading on style — fluent, confident writing feels like expertise, and the feeling is exactly what the exercise trains you to distrust. The second most common is grading on agreement: a voice isn't credible because they confirm what you hoped was true. Both biases have the same fix, which is the written one-line answer — forcing the evidence into a sentence exposes when there isn't any. Keep the three sheets you wrote; re-run the same voices in three months and watch how differently you read them. That before-and-after is your own proof the skill developed — your first documented test, as it happens.
Your Graduation Criteria
You've graduated from this lesson when three things are true: you can name the best receipt of everyone you follow without looking; a confident thread with no artefacts now reads as noise rather than insight; and you've run at least one tiny test of your own, because evaluation taught you what evidence costs to produce. Most people consuming SEO content never reach any of the three. A month of the homework reaches all of them — and everything you learn in this field afterward compounds on that foundation.
Conclusion
Which SEO influencers are worth following? After this lesson you can answer it yourself — which was the point. Route by goal above, do the homework, and the next lesson is the free book.
FAQ
What's the core skill this lesson teaches?
Demanding evidence — evaluating teachers is the same skill as evaluating SEO claims.
Which teachers pass for a beginner?
Julian Goldie (structured, free materials), Aleyda Solis (free curriculum), Joy Hawkins (shown tests).
How do I practise the evaluation skill?
Run the five questions on three voices this week and write down your reasoning.
What's the next lesson?
The free Link Building Mastery book, then AI Profit Boardroom.