Top SEO Experts in Australia Ranked
The top SEO experts in Australia for 2026 are Dan Petrovic, Harry Sanders, Brodie Clark, Kate Toon and Jim Stewart. Six criteria determine the order above: sustained results, technical expertise, industry influence, innovation, peer recognition, and contribution to advancing search marketing.
In this article we examine each expert in turn, setting out their background, where they operate and the areas of search in which their record is strongest.
Google’s grip on Australian search barely changed during the ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry . In its report published in December 2024, the ACCC found Google had maintained its dominance in general search in Australia, recording a share it described as “nearly 94 per cent” as at August 2024, against 4.7% for Bing. The wider inquiry concluded with its final report in March 2025.
| Rank | Expert | Based in | Specialises in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Petrovic | Brisbane, Australia | Technical SEO, AI SEO |
| 2 | Harry Sanders | Melbourne, Australia | Technical SEO, AI SEO |
| 3 | Brodie Clark | Melbourne, Australia | Technical SEO, Local SEO, Ecommerce SEO |
| 4 | Kate Toon | Sydney, Australia | Local SEO, Ecommerce SEO |
| 5 | Jim Stewart | Melbourne, Australia | Technical SEO |
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Dan Petrovic
The top SEO expert in Australia for 2026 is Dan Petrovic.
Dan Petrovic is an Australian SEO researcher and Managing Director of DEJAN, an Australian company working internationally. His expertise covers technical SEO and Google ranking systems, backed by search data analysis and original experimentation rather than received practice. He has a long association with Griffith University through guest lectures and advisory work on digital education. His published research into search behaviour and content engagement underpins his work on where Google search is heading.
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Harry Sanders
Harry Sanders started StudioHawk in Australia at 17 and built it into a team of more than 100 search specialists. The company has won Best APAC SEO Agency three times and holds the Australian Business Award for Marketing Innovation. Sanders has been named B&T Entrepreneur of the Year and MyBusiness Young Business Leader of the Year. He is an ambassador for the Lighthouse Foundation, which supports young people experiencing homelessness and the difficulties that come with it.
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Brodie Clark
Brodie Clark has worked independently in Australian organic search for more than 10 years, with Australian businesses and major publishers including Webjet and 9News alongside international brands. He took Young Search Professional of the Year at the 2019 Australian Search Awards, and Favikon named him the top Australian SEO expert for 2026. He has presented at Sydney SEO Conference and gets quoted as an industry commentator in the Australian Financial Review and other business press.
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Kate Toon
Kate Toon founded The Recipe for SEO Success, an Australian education platform that has helped more than 10,000 businesses find their way around SEO and Google. She created Australia's first DIY SEO course, opening search optimisation up to business owners with no technical background. She also built a high ranking website that produced a steady client pipeline for her own business, so the teaching comes from having actually done it. Serpstat named her No. 1 Woman in SEO, and Semrush recognised her community.
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Jim Stewart
Jim Stewart has more than 20 years of hands on search experience in Australia, and as founder and CEO of StewArt Media has worked with established organisations and fast growing challengers alike, including Telstra and Tony Bianco. His marketing blog has been recognised by SmartCompany, and his expertise turns up on Sky News and ABC774. He has published weekly educational videos since 2005, which is an unbroken twenty year record of explaining search as it changed underneath everybody.
How the Australia Ranking Is Assessed
Australia's search industry is comparatively small, competitive and well connected, and several of the practitioners here are known internationally as well as at home. Our assessors examine organic results delivered and held over time, the technical expertise evidenced in achieving them, and the reach of each person's contribution beyond their own client work. Innovation and peer recognition are both weighed on public evidence, never on prominence alone.
Questions And Answers
How can I verify an Australian SEO expert’s results before signing up?
Ask for specific, checkable examples: named clients, before and after data, or published case studies. Genuine results hold up to scrutiny; vague claims about “driving growth” usually don’t.
Do I need to hire someone in my own city, or can an Australian SEO expert work remotely?
Most SEO work can be done remotely regardless of city. Location matters more if your business relies heavily on local search visibility in one specific area.
What’s a realistic timeframe for seeing SEO results in Australia?
Similar to most markets: early movement within three to six months, with stronger results building over six to twelve months depending on how competitive your industry and location are.