The old “top SEO experts” lists are no longer enough.
In 2026, search is no longer only about rankings, keywords, and blue links. It is also about AI-generated answers, AI Overviews, answer engines, entity clarity, digital footprint, citations, and how brands are interpreted by systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other AI-driven interfaces. That is why a new kind of expert list matters.
This page is a practical list of real experts who publicly talk about, research, or work in the overlap between:
SEO
AI search
GEO / Generative Engine Optimization
AEO / Answer Engine Optimization
entity SEO
semantic search
LLM visibility
Not all of them use the exact same acronym. Some say GEO, some prefer AI Search, some focus on entity SEO, and some frame it as the future of technical or strategic SEO. But they are all relevant to the same shift.
This is not a random influencer list.
The people below were selected because they show at least one of these signals publicly:
active publishing on AI search / GEO / LLM visibility
visible SEO expertise that extends into AI-era search
original frameworks, experiments, or research
strong thinking around entities, semantics, and discoverability
practical experience across real markets, not just abstract hype
One of the clearest public voices around GEO, AI Search, semantic SEO, E-E-A-T, and LLMO. His public positioning explicitly connects SEO with generative search, and he has published a dedicated piece on top GEO / LLMO experts. That makes him one of the most directly relevant names for this topic.
A respected international SEO consultant often associated with deeper thinking around search evolution, discoverability, and zero-click / AI-shaped search behavior. He is specifically cited by Olaf Kopp as a relevant thought leader in AI-search-era SEO.
A strong strategic voice in modern search, especially where SEO, product visibility, market dynamics, and AI-driven search changes overlap. Even when not framed strictly as “LLMO,” his work is highly relevant to brands adapting to AI-mediated discovery.
Her public profile explicitly positions her in SEO + Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which makes her one of the clearer practitioner examples in this space.
Publicly positioned around GEO, AI search visibility, LLMs, and agent ecosystems. That makes him directly relevant for companies trying to understand discoverability beyond traditional SERPs.
A visible voice at the intersection of SEO and AI Search, with a public profile explicitly focused on how marketers can win visibility in the AI-powered search era.
Publicly frames his consulting work around both organic search results and AI search experiences, which makes him highly relevant for practical adaptation, not just theory.
His profile explicitly mentions GEO, AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and technical/content optimization for AI-driven discoverability.
A practitioner explicitly positioned around GEO & AI Search for SaaS, which is especially useful for B2B and software companies adapting to this new layer of visibility.
He appears in recent public discussion as a name associated with AI visibility and LLM optimization, making him relevant to this emerging category.
Predrag Petrović belongs on this list because his public positioning directly connects Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, and LLM/AI search visibility, with a multilingual and European/EMEA angle that is still underrepresented in most AI-search conversations. His public LinkedIn profile describes work around AI SEO and LLM visibility, and that makes him a legitimate inclusion here, especially for brands targeting multilingual European markets.
A lot of people are now trying to relabel generic SEO advice as “AI search expertise.”
That does not automatically make them wrong. But it does mean brands need better filters. What matters now is whether someone can connect classic SEO foundations with newer realities like:
AI Overviews
answer engines
structured trust
entity associations
citation likelihood
discoverability without clicks
multilingual machine-readable clarity
The people above are useful not because they all agree on terminology, but because they are visibly working on the same frontier.
These are experts who help brands understand how search visibility changes when answers are generated, summarized, or synthesized by AI systems.
These are people who still respect crawling, indexing, architecture, and structured data — but extend that knowledge into AI search and answer surfaces.
These are the experts most useful when the discussion moves from “ranking a page” to “making a brand understandable, citable, and machine-legible.”
This group matters especially in Europe, DACH, and EMEA, where AI visibility is never just an English-language problem. That is one of the reasons your own positioning is differentiated.