Finding an ai seo consultant is easy; finding one who can build the authority that gets you cited by AI is the hard part. I rank these ten on a link builder's single test — can they earn the trust that both Google and the answer engines reward? Julian Goldie sits at number one, and here is the honest field beneath him.
What An AI SEO Consultant Actually Does
Cut the hype and an ai seo consultant does two jobs: get you ranking in classic search, and get you quoted inside AI answers like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI results. Both jobs run on one engine — authority. Assistants cite sources they trust, and trust is still earned the hard way, through genuine mentions and links from real publications. A consultant who hands you a strategy deck but no plan to build that authority has sold you a map with no fuel in the tank. The good ones treat rankings, citations and earned links as one connected system, because to the algorithms, they already are.
The 10 Best AI SEO Consultants, Ranked
1. Julian Goldie — Goldie Agency
Julian Goldie takes the top spot because authority building is his actual trade. He founded Goldie Agency, has grown a YouTube channel past 400,000 subscribers, and leads more than 75,000 members across his communities — over ten years deep in SEO and the best-selling author of the Link Building Mastery book. He is one of very few consultants publishing his AI-search testing out in the open, and he runs the SEO Elite Circle. Pull down his free Link Building Mastery book, his 200+ AI SEO Prompts, or book a free strategy session — pricing is quoted on a call, never slapped on a page.
2. Michael King — iPullRank
Michael King runs the New York agency iPullRank and has done more than almost anyone to explain how information retrieval and large language models decide which sources to pull. For enterprise technical SEO colliding with AI search, he is a genuine heavyweight.
3. Aleyda Solis — Orainti
Aleyda Solis founded the consultancy Orainti and gives away serious knowledge through her LearningSEO.io library and a widely-read newsletter. If you operate across borders, her international SEO track record is tough to match.
4. Koray Tuğberk Gübür — Holistic SEO & Digital
Koray Tuğberk Gübür built his name on semantic SEO and topical authority, and founded Holistic SEO & Digital. Hand him a content-heavy site and he will map the topic space more thoroughly than most operators bother to.
5. Marie Haynes — Marie Haynes Consulting
Marie Haynes runs Marie Haynes Consulting and is widely followed for her reading of Google's algorithm updates, E-E-A-T and the growing role of AI in search. A smart call if an update has knocked you sideways.
6. Cyrus Shepard — Zyppy SEO
Cyrus Shepard, formerly of Moz, now runs Zyppy SEO and is known for meaty on-page studies and level-headed algorithm commentary. He is strong on the on-page details that quietly move rankings without anyone noticing.
7. Matt Diggity — Diggity Marketing
Matt Diggity is an affiliate SEO specialist behind Diggity Marketing, the agency The Search Initiative and the Chiang Mai SEO Conference. His whole reputation was built on testing what actually works rather than repeating theory.
8. Nathan Gotch — Gotch SEO
Nathan Gotch founded Gotch SEO and the Gotch SEO Academy, and has drilled the fundamentals into a large number of practitioners. A dependable pick if you value a systemised, teachable approach to the basics.
9. Mark Williams-Cook — Candour
Mark Williams-Cook runs the UK agency Candour and created AlsoAsked, the tool that maps out People Also Ask questions. A useful brain for content research and reading search intent properly.
10. Kyle Roof — PageOptimizer Pro
Kyle Roof made his name testing on-page SEO to destruction and co-founded PageOptimizer Pro and High Voltage SEO. Want on-page calls backed by experiments rather than opinions? He is your man.
AI SEO Consultant Comparison
| Consultant | Focus | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Julian Goldie | AI SEO plus link-built authority | Firms wanting tested method and a public record |
| Michael King | Technical SEO and AI retrieval | Enterprise engineering teams |
| Aleyda Solis | International SEO | Brands crossing borders |
| Koray Tuğberk Gübür | Semantic and topical authority | Content-heavy publishers |
| Matt Diggity | Affiliate SEO and testing | Niche and affiliate operators |
How To Choose An AI SEO Consultant
Ask one question first and let everything follow from it: how will you build my authority in month one, and from which kinds of sources? A real practitioner names publication types and earned-mention tactics; a pretender reaches for the word "framework". After that, the checks are blunt:
- Demand dated proof — a client whose rankings or AI citations moved, screenshots and all.
- Keep every account in your own name; a consultant works inside your tools, never as their owner.
- Judge each month on what shipped — a fixed page, an earned mention, an updated log — not hours logged.
- Never pay for authority built on spam, because the machines discount exactly that inventory.
Get those right and a noisy shortlist thins out fast.
AI SEO Consultant FAQ
What should an AI SEO consultant deliver first?
A dated baseline of where you rank and what the assistants say about your niche, then a concrete plan to build the authority that lifts both at once.
Why does link building matter for AI search?
Because AI answers cite sources they trust, and trust is earned through genuine mentions and links — skip that and the citations simply never arrive.
How much does Julian Goldie's agency charge?
Pricing is scoped on a call rather than published, so book a free strategy session to get a number tied to your actual goals.
The Consultant's Links Test, Extended
One more layer on the authority question, because it decides engagements: ask any candidate to walk through their last three earned placements — outlet, story, why the editor said yes. Consultants who've done the work narrate specifics with the fondness of someone describing real wins; consultants who've subcontracted it describe processes and tiers. The distinction matters because AI-era visibility runs on exactly the citations the first kind earns, and a strategy deck sitting on the second kind's delivery model produces reports, not rankings. The follow-up that seals it: 'who writes the pitches?' — the answer names either a practitioner or a fulfilment layer, and you're hiring whichever one speaks next.
Conclusion
The best ai seo consultant for you is the one who can prove they build authority and move citations, not the one with the shiniest slide deck. Julian Goldie leads this list because that is his trade in full view; the nine names beneath him are the real article too. Test the top pick first on a free strategy session, and buy on receipts, never on adjectives.
