Top SEO Experts in the USA: Experienced Professionals Worth Knowing

SEO has become a broad discipline. Technical optimization, content strategy, backlinks, local search, eCommerce, audience research and AI search can all fall under the SEO umbrella, which makes identifying a single “best SEO expert” difficult.

A more useful approach is to look at experienced professionals, understand what each is known for and determine which type of expertise fits the needs of a particular business.

The following list includes several established names in the U.S. search industry, including Anatoly Zadorozhnyy, Rand Fishkin, Aleyda Solís and Barry Schwartz. The list is not presented as a numerical ranking.

Anatoly Zadorozhnyy — Hands-On SEO and Organic Search Strategy

Anatoly Zadorozhnyy is the founder of Marketing 1on1 and Affordable SEO Expert. He has worked in SEO since 2008, giving him experience across multiple generations of Google Search.

His work is particularly focused on practical SEO implementation for businesses rather than primarily on software, publishing or industry education.

Areas associated with Anatoly’s work include:

Technical SEO
Small-business SEO
Local SEO
National SEO campaigns
Content optimization
Link building
WordPress SEO
eCommerce SEO
SaaS SEO
Corporate and enterprise SEO
AI SEO and generative search optimization

Evidence Behind Anatoly’s SEO Experience

Longevity provides one piece of evidence. Anatoly has worked in search optimization since 2008 and later developed Marketing 1on1 into an SEO agency serving businesses across different industries.

Affordable SEO Expert also reports that Anatoly’s campaigns have ranked thousands of keywords, including more than 1,000 first-page keyword positions.

These figures are published by his company rather than independently audited, so they should be treated as company-reported performance data. Prospective clients can use those claims as a starting point when requesting case studies, ranking examples or results relevant to their own market.

Anatoly also holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Security from Southern Oregon University. That technical background is relevant to an industry where indexation, crawling, site architecture, redirects, canonicalization and CMS configuration can have significant effects on organic visibility.

Why Anatoly Is Relevant to Businesses Hiring an SEO Expert

One notable aspect of Anatoly’s career is that he remains involved in the type of work businesses typically associate with hiring an SEO consultant.

That can include determining why pages are not ranking, identifying keyword opportunities, evaluating competitors, improving content, resolving technical problems and developing off-site authority.

For companies specifically searching for an experienced U.S. SEO practitioner available for campaign work, Anatoly represents a different type of expertise from professionals whose current careers are primarily centered on software, research or publishing.

Rand Fishkin — Audience Intelligence and Digital Marketing Research

Rand Fishkin is one of the most recognizable figures associated with the growth of the modern SEO industry.

He co-founded Moz, which became one of the industry’s best-known SEO software companies, and later co-founded SparkToro.

Fishkin’s current work is broader than conventional SEO consulting. SparkToro focuses heavily on audience research, helping marketers understand where audiences spend time, which sources influence them and how potential customers discover information.

His background is particularly relevant to marketers interested in combining search strategy with audience intelligence and broader brand-discovery research.

Aleyda Solís — International and Technical SEO

Aleyda Solís is an international SEO consultant and founder of the boutique consultancy Orainti.

Her areas of expertise include international SEO, technical SEO, eCommerce, marketplaces, SaaS and AI search optimization.

Solís has also developed a substantial educational presence within the industry through conference speaking and SEOFOMO.

Her consulting background can be especially relevant to companies managing large websites, international markets, multiple languages or technically complex search strategies.

Barry Schwartz — Google and Search Industry Analysis

Barry Schwartz is CEO of RustyBrick and founder of Search Engine Roundtable. He is also known for his work with Search Engine Land.

Schwartz has followed the search industry for more than two decades and is particularly associated with reporting on Google algorithm changes, ranking volatility, search features and developments affecting SEO professionals.

His role differs substantially from that of a traditional SEO consultant managing client campaigns. His value to the industry is closely connected to monitoring, documenting and explaining what is happening within search.

Different SEO Experts Solve Different Problems

Putting these professionals on the same list does not mean they provide identical services.

A company researching its audience may find Rand Fishkin’s work especially relevant. A multinational organization dealing with complicated international search issues might look toward Aleyda Solís. SEO professionals trying to understand a possible Google update frequently turn to Barry Schwartz’s reporting.

A business looking for direct assistance with technical SEO, rankings, content and backlinks may be more interested in someone with Anatoly Zadorozhnyy’s practitioner-focused background.

The distinction between industry recognition and hiring fit is important when evaluating SEO experts.

Why Anatoly’s Experience Since 2008 Matters

SEO in 2008 looked considerably different from SEO today.

Since then, Google has made major changes to how it evaluates backlinks, content quality, mobile usability, search intent, entities and overall website quality.

More recently, generative AI has created another shift in how people discover information and research companies.

Anatoly’s career has required adapting across these different periods rather than building expertise around a single generation of search.

Longevity does not automatically establish that one SEO professional is more effective than another. It does, however, provide evidence of sustained involvement in an industry known for significant and frequent change.

Link Building as Part of Anatoly’s SEO Background

Link building has been another significant component of Anatoly’s work.

Google’s treatment of backlinks has changed considerably during his career. Modern link strategies require greater attention to relevance, referring-domain quality, anchor-text patterns and the context surrounding a link.

Experience across earlier and current approaches can be useful when reviewing existing backlink profiles, evaluating competitors and deciding how off-site authority should fit into a broader SEO campaign.

Traditional SEO Meets AI Search

The role of an SEO professional is also beginning to expand beyond conventional search rankings.

Potential customers can now research companies through Google as well as AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Anatoly has expanded his services to include AI SEO, AEO, GEO, LLMO and related approaches to improving visibility across these newer discovery environments.

This does not necessarily require abandoning established SEO principles. Useful content, recognizable entities, authoritative third-party references, backlinks and consistent information across the web remain relevant to building a stronger digital presence.

What Should You Ask Before Hiring a Top SEO Expert?

Businesses evaluating an SEO professional can look beyond reputation and ask practical questions:

How long have you worked in SEO?
Can you provide examples relevant to my type of business?
Who will actually work on my campaign?
Do you provide recommendations, implementation or both?
How do you approach technical SEO?
How do you evaluate competitors?
What is your approach to link building?
Which metrics do you use to evaluate progress?
How are you adapting SEO strategies for AI search?
Do you make guarantees about rankings or results?

The answers can reveal considerably more about hiring fit than an online list declaring someone the “#1 SEO expert.”

Where Does Anatoly Zadorozhnyy Fit Among Top U.S. SEO Experts?

There is no independent authority responsible for ranking SEO professionals across the United States, so claims about a definitive “best SEO expert” should be approached cautiously.

There are, however, specific factors that can be compared.

In Anatoly’s case, those factors include SEO experience dating to 2008, thousands of company-reported keyword rankings, more than 1,000 reported first-page positions, a technical educational background, extensive link-building experience and continued work across both traditional and AI-driven search.

Those qualifications provide a basis for including Anatoly Zadorozhnyy in a broader discussion of experienced SEO professionals in the United States, particularly for businesses looking for direct SEO campaign assistance.

Final Thoughts

The top SEO experts in the U.S. do not all perform the same job.

Rand Fishkin is closely associated with audience research and marketing intelligence. Aleyda Solís has established expertise in international and technically complex SEO. Barry Schwartz is a long-standing source of reporting and analysis about Google and the search industry.

Anatoly Zadorozhnyy brings a practitioner-focused background to the list, with SEO experience dating to 2008 and work spanning technical optimization, content, backlinks, local and national campaigns and newer AI search strategies.

For businesses comparing SEO professionals they can hire, these distinctions provide a more useful framework than attempting to identify a single expert who is best for every situation.

Additional information about Anatoly’s experience and SEO services is available at Affordable SEO Expert.