Portrait of Brian Dean

Brian Dean


Founder of Backlinko and Exploding Topics (both acquired by Semrush/Adobe).

I write about marketing, AI search, and building online businesses.

  • Built and sold two companies: Backlinko (acquired 2022) and Exploding Topics (acquired 2024)
  • Grew a YouTube channel to 500,000+ subscribers
  • Built two email newsletters to 150,000+ subscribers
  • Featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Bloomberg, and The New York Times

These days I write about SEO and AI search on LinkedIn and X, and make videos for Semrush's YouTube channel. I'm also quietly working on a site in the online education space.

I live in Lisbon, Portugal, where I play probably too much tennis.