SEO in 2026

Tom Rudnai says that instead of chasing citations, focus your AEO strategy on showing up in Dark AI conversations where problems are framed. Talking points include: What are Dark AI conversations? How do AI responses change at different stages of the buyer journey? Why are citations is a bad north star metric? How should SEOs measure AI performance? What analytics to use? What content performs best in AI? How do you research what content to write? - Key trends: intent-matching, convergence - What is "Dark AI"? - How to measure AI performance and why citations is a bad north...

Gemma Fontané recommends that personalisation is key when it comes to international SEO success.

Gemma says: “Focus on personalisation, adapting your content in each language and across different formats, to really build your brand in each region.

These actions will allow you to stand out from your competition, demonstrate authority and expertise, compete in multilingual markets, and stay visible in the era of generative AI.”

How do you go about personalising content?

“First of all, personalising content is very important nowadays because search engines today are rewarding depth, expertise, and true relevan...

Global SEO isn’t about treating every market the same. As Lau Míguez puts it, ‘European markets demand full commitment and strong EEAT signals — well-positioned experts are now essential for success,’ and that expectation has only grown over the past few years.

Lau says: “What’s really shifted is how demanding each market has become. Working closely with Spain, and across international campaigns, I’ve seen clients move away from the idea of ‘Europe’ as one block. A few still ask for LATAM as a region, but no one says, ‘Can you do Europe?’ anymore.

The penny has finall...

Simone De Palma warns that client-side routing and rendering can be problematic for rankings.

Simone says: “Align with marketing goals, and make sure to challenge anything that is client-side routed or client-side rendered, especially within React web-based apps.”

What do the terms client-side routed and client-side rendered mean, and what impact does that have on SEO?

“To start with, I will just make sure that everyone is familiar with routing and exactly what that is. Routing essentially means how the website itself is able to create a URL path that allows users to change...

One of the ways that AI engines struggle with determining a brand’s topical relevance and authority is when they encounter inconsistent data, highlights Kaspar Szymanski.

Kaspar says: “My tip is about data consistency, which is a topic that is very close to my heart.”

How do you ensure data consistency in 2026?

“Some people may not consider this to be the most innovative or popular concept, and it’s certainly not a buzzword making the rounds nowadays.

However, data consistency differentiates the companies and brands that are really successful in competitive environmen...

Krešimir Ćorluka shares that SEO is not dying, but bad SEO most certainly is. Talking points include: What is bad SEO? What doesn’t work anymore? What fundamentals work now? Where are SEOs confused with what works now? How do you learn and stay on top of what works now? How do you futureproof your future success? A lot of the stuff the average SEO has been doing has had the wrong fundamentals. Technical SEO, backlinking and good content is more important than ever. But, most SEOs weren't doing these things right so now they're confused with what LLMs...

Arnout Hellemans advises that you don’t have to provide AI crawlers with full access to all of your content.

Arnout says: “People really need to look at their technical setup.

With that, I mean the rendered version versus the raw HTML – especially with a lot of AI crawlers not rendering yet, and also because I've seen a lot of discrepancies in that area.”

Is the rendered version typically quite different for different search engines?

“As with a lot of things in SEO, it depends.

Sometimes, when websites are built usin...

One of the ways that you can enhance your website foundation is to combine high technical SEO standards with great user experience, shares Iva Jovanovic.

Iva says: “Technical SEO and user experience will remain the foundation for websites, even when optimizing for AI chatbots.”

Why do AI chatbots like user experience?

“To start with, crawlability has been a topic in SEO for years and years. It's now gaining even more importance because of the way that chatbots crawl websites. They crawl a bit differently.

We're used to Googlebot and other search engine...

To commence our technical SEO discussion, Jono Alderson advises against settling for an average website.

Jono says: “Stop accepting technical mediocrity.”

What does mediocrity look like in the world of technical SEO?

“We all know it, and we see it all the time. We have accepted that it's normal for websites to be rubbish.

Whether they're the ones we work on, our clients’, or the ones we browse, things are slow, we hit 404 errors, there's a bunch of JavaScript loading so that when you click the thing, it doesn't respond quickly, stuff do...

In the previous tip, Eva Cheng shares the value of combining social and content with digital PR. Charlotte Crowther adds to that by also incorporating traditional PR.

Charlotte says: “Don't ignore digital and brand PR. They are becoming really entwined with SEO, GEO, and LLMs.

Ignoring branded digital PR is going to have a large impact on your visibility, particularly as we're seeing a move towards a zero-click world.”

What are the differences between traditional, digital, and brand PR? Where are they blurring, and where do they remain separate?

“Back when market...

Jeremy Moser discusses how to create a SERP monopoly with off-page SEO. Talking points include: How to crowd SERPs with your brand and capture more mindshare at the bottom of the funnel - Why leveraging paid off-page strategies can still work - Zero click searches are less common at MOFU and BOFU searches, your goal is going narrow and deep and capturing market-share at decision making stages - Topic Taker strategy is not just for traditional blue link SEO, it currently is the most impactful AEO lever you can pull and the window won't last forever...

Eva Cheng shares that aligning social and content strategies will boost your digital PR success.

Eva says: “Make your digital PR work harder with social and content alignment.”

What does digital PR look like in 2026?

“Digital PR in 2026 is all about trying to get your work featured within AI searches.

We’re now seeing that a lot of people are relying on AI for the simplest queries, like the best restaurants to go to, travel tips, and advice for something that is a lot simpler and easier than Google.

Even wit...

One of the key reasons why you should be embracing digital PR in 2026 is that AI pays a keen ear to what the press is saying.

James says: “You need to be earning press mentions if you want your brand to be recommended by AI-powered search.”

Why do you suggest press mentions over other content online?

“When I talk about AI-powered search, I'm talking about Google's AI overviews and AI Mode, but also the AI chatbots like ChatGPT and those sorts of platforms.

They disproportionately pull their sources from trusted and author...

Annabelle Sacher shares that digital PR is one of the most powerful keys you can use to unlock the door to AI search visibility in 2026.

Annabelle says: “As we move into 2026, it's clear that AI search strategy needs to become a core focus for us as SEOs.

We know that the search landscape is evolving really, really fast. While, currently, AI only makes up a small percentage of the search landscape, it's growing – and it's growing quickly. One of the biggest unlocks/most powerful levers in this new era is digital PR (and I'm not just...

One way that you can compete with other sites that are relying too heavily on AI is to raise your editorial standards, explains Alex Moss.

Alex says: “Be concise and raise the game of your editorial standards.”

Why is being concise more important nowadays?

“Machines, LLMs, and agents are all ingesting content using tokenization. The more tokenization that's used, the more processing power is required. It’s almost like the content version of site performance and site speed.

If there's a slow-loading site, it's going to take a while for people to load...

Jeremy Horne shares that analytics should be core to your SEO strategy in 2026 Talking points include: What is a media mix model? Why should analytics be at the core of a marketing strategy? How do you use analytics to power a marketing strategy? How often should you revisit your analytics in relation to powering your marketing strategy? What metrics are key? What software do you use? How do you work with other marketing departments? How has this changed over the years? How is this likely to continue to change?

If you’re an e-commerce business, Joe Hale suggests that you may be missing out on a significant ranking opportunity.

Joe says: “E-commerce stores need to be using collection pages to maximise the potential of their SEO.”

What are collection pages for e-commerce sites?

“Collection pages for e-commerce sites are essentially category pages. They are lists of products that live on the site, and there's so much potential that so many brands aren't taking advantage of.

There is no technical difference between a collection page and a category page, but I use the...

Once you know what you want to be an expert in, Andreas Voniatis advises that you should produce meaningful research to stand out in AI search.

Andreas says: “Produce scaled insights in your content, to get your website AI-recommended.”

Is that the same as scaling content production?

“No. Scaled insights is about producing research that has achieved a significant sample size, which means that the insights contained therein, within your content, have significance.

That's really important for AI because it means that it's likely to generalise well, and whatever you're describing is lik...

One of the big content questions to ask yourself to begin with is: ‘What do you want to be known as an expert in?’ This is something that Pieter Serraris explores.

Pieter says: “Don't let AI take away your focus from your bigger SEO strategy.

Stay focussed on topics and topical authority.”

Should AI be part of your overall SEO strategy?

“With a lot of companies, everything seems to revolve around AI: getting ranked in ChatGPT, getting a spot in AI overviews, etc. That seems to be the main focus point for a lot...

As we’ve highlighted already (and will undoubtedly continue to be advised in the future), EEAT is just as important as it ever was. This is what Tom Winter believes.

Tom says: “Focus on EEAT – but actual EEAT, not the fake one.”

What is fake EEAT?

“Right now, I see a lot of SEOs trying to figure out how to create EEAT without actually understanding what EEAT is. They are trying to find hacks (because we're SEO experts, we always wanted to find hacks) to simplify the whole thing and add fake EEAT into the a...

Tom Vaughton shares that we need to stop relying on the same tools to churn out the same results. Because in the age of AI search, it’s the human SEO perspective and strategist who creates SEO that connects, differentiates, and drives real decisions. Talking points include: What is the value of being quoted in AI? How do you become the brand that AI wants to quote? You advise that SEOs should Stop relying on the same tools to churn out the same results. What do you mean by that? You say that in the age of AI search, it...

We’ve also heard many metrics that demonstrate how short a user’s attention is likely to be once they hit your web page. Sara Fernández Carmona asks whether you’re driving true, demonstrable value straight away.

Sara says: “If your value proposition is not instantly clear, above the fold, your SEO efforts won't pay off.

A lot of websites look good from an SEO point of view – you’re getting traffic, the rankings are there, etc. – but if people land on the site and they cannot immediately understand what makes you different, they will just leave...

Not all metrics are tangible, though. Anna Bravington asks us a simple question: Are you proud of the content that you are putting out into the world?

Anna says: “As AI becomes part of our workflow, ethical SEO means that you should be creating content that you're proud to put back into the world.”

Does ethical SEO mean human-created content?

“Not necessarily. I'm a huge believer in AI for helping us do things. It's more about human influence and putting a lens on content, so that we have oversight and can give it checks...

What worked in content marketing 5 years ago isn’t as likely to work now. Araminta Robertson advises us to focus on bottom-of-funnel in 2026.

Araminta says: “Now, it's more important than ever to do bottom-of-funnel content to help appear for the right topics and the right keywords in Google, but also for LLMs.”

How do you describe the different stages of the funnel, and the content that is needed at each stage?

“It's really important to make that distinction because people have different definitions of what each stage in the funnel is.

To me, t...

A key way to beat the competition is to learn from other industries. Rosemary Osuoha teaches us what we can learn from healthcare brands.

Rosemary says: “Healthcare brands can use AI and SEO to reach more patients using research papers.”

How can you use research papers to reach more users, and why is this particularly beneficial for healthcare brands?

“First of all, I'm a healthcare professional. I'm a pharmacist, and I also happen to be in SEO. I've been on both sides, from the healthcare perspective and from the SEO perspective.

From m...

Brandon Leibowitz talks about the importance of focusing on building topical authority in 2026 by creating in-depth content hubs that answer your audience’s questions better than anyone else. Talking points include: What are in-depth content hubs? How do you find your audience’s questions? What metrics do you use to ensure that you are answering the right questions? How do you know what type of content to use? What platform to use? How do you know that these are the right questions? How can you ensure that you are answering these questions better than anyone else?

One of the key challenges at the moment is to identify which tasks should be done by AI and which tasks should be done by a human. This is something that Ahmed Bhula explores.

Ahmed says: “Use AI as part of your SEO workflow, and involve the human element at every point.”

How do you decide what AI should do and what humans should do?

“Where there's administrative work – researching keywords, repetitive tasks, and auditing websites – there's always only one answer, and AI can do a really good job if you train those models for...

Valentina Stragliotto explores the idea that it’s also key to demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness through high-quality content.

Valentina says: “Focus on EEAT and high-quality content.

Also, use traditional SEO, as we always have.”

Is EEAT just as relevant for newer, AI search engines as it is for more traditional search engines?

“We have been talking a lot about GEO as opposed to SEO. After reading a few studies about it, I think that what we have been using for SEO is also applicable for GEO and optimization for these LLM systems...

Isa Lavahun explains that you can enhance the perceived authority of your content through real, human expertise.

Isa says: “Authority should be built on earned expertise.

What I mean by that is real experience and credible voices that can’t be easily replicated or automated. In the age of AI, the most humanised content is what’s going to give you competitive edge”

How does a person earn that expertise?

“As marketers, we all use experts. We use people who are either the face of the brand, founders, product leads, or sector spe...

You’ve selected your content distribution opportunities based upon AI and where your audience resides, but your content should be written based upon real, authentic human experience, according to Greg Gifford.

Greg says: “Don’t get distracted by all of the AI content on the web.

A lot of people are choosing to use AI to write all of their content, but AI is just predicting words based on the content that is already out there. As more of it floods the web, AI is training itself on AI. It's like copying the same VCR tape o...

Nick Musica shares that the technical, on-page, and off-page. The expressions of those SEO building blocks have evolved over the years, but they remain the fundamental building blocks. Talking points include: What do you mean by “The expressions of those SEO building blocks have evolved over the years” What are the fundamental SEO building blocks of on-page? What are the fundamental SEO building blocks of off-page? Why do they remain the fundamental building blocks?

When you are creating content, you need to be thinking multimodally, advises Irina Papuc.

Irina says: “Think multimodally.

A consistent trend that we've seen growing over time is the inclusion of different types of media in search results. AI can already parse images and videos really well, and it can also explain what's depicted in detail.

By thinking multimodally, you will increasingly capitalise on this, as AI chunks related concepts across formats into a tailored presentation for the user.”

Does multimodal just include video, audio, images, and text?

“It also i...

Katherine Nwanorue shares that the content medium you select should be based upon the content medium that your target AI platform prefers.

Katherine says: “Multimodal content isn't new, but AI is going to make it non-negotiable.”

How would you describe multimodal content?

“Basically, it is content that exists across several mediums. We have audio, video, text, and images.

For as long as I can remember, SEOs and marketers have always prioritised repurposing content across several mediums: you create a blog post, and then you transform that into video, and into infographics as wel...

One of the ways that you can teach AI about what you offer is to enhance your image offering. This is what Desmond Boateng advises.

Desmond says: “Use visual commerce, which means using contextual images for e-commerce.

Also, for any business that works with products, instead of using plain product photos, use contextual photos with different settings based on AI.”

Is there a type of image that you would recommend?

“I recommend using context-rich visuals.

Think about lifestyle photos and AI-generated product imagery that make the online shopping experience more e...

Myriam Jessier highlights the importance of ensuring that machines truly see the precise nature of your products.

Myriam says: “Everyone is slowly coming to realise that SEO is changing in many different ways.

My tip is to make sure that your brand and your products are machine-readable, because we're dealing with multimodal search now. That means I can take out my phone, take a picture of your product and say, ‘Is this vegan?’ - and I will get the answer right away.

SEO is entering the outside world, beyond the web.”

Kirsty McLellan shares that it's key to stop designing SEO pages as AI encyclopaedias — and start designing them as human experiences. Talking points include: How do you design pages for AI and humans? If you design for humans are you less optimised for AI? Can you design separate pages for AI and humans? What does the optimum combined optimised page look like? Is it worthwhile to still optimize for humans? Are humans still visiting websites? What are the metrics to measure success?

Tory Gray highlights that community blends the worlds of AI and SEO together. Tory says: “Drop the AI and SEO binary and redirect that effort into tactics, including community-building tactics, that increase visibility across both platforms.” Are you saying that anything you do for SEO is naturally optimizing for AI as well? “Not inherently everything, but there is significant overlap. It’s similar to local SEO versus traditional on-site SEO, or perhaps SEO for Bing versus Google. We might be measuring the same tactics, but they can be measured in different ways, and we might value those tactics differently. There ma...

Jon Mest shares that AI needs human interaction in order to be confident in the authority of recommendations. Jon says: “User intent matters more than ever in AI search.” How do you determine what the user intent is in AI search? “So much of traditional SEO is about building your backlink profile, making sure that other reputable sites reference you, and making sure that other people say that you are who you are and you're authoritative. That still matters, but more so now than ever. When the AI thinks about who to recommend as a brand, they care about real...

An extremely popular community platform in 2026 is Reddit, and building your own branded subreddit is something that Chris Meabe recommends. Chris says: “Make your own branded subreddit. The fact that Reddit is dominating the SERPs right now is something that everyone is noticing, even people who aren't SEO specialists. It's a really fast and underappreciated way to start ranking for a lot of high-difficulty keywords, and it doesn't have to be too difficult either.”

Erin Simmons shares that, although AI is important, users still rely on communities to assist with the final buying decision. Erin says: “In 2026, we’re already starting to see that AI is where people start their research, and community is where people make up their minds. Therefore, in 2026, the smartest SEO strategies are going to optimize for both.” Is it becoming the norm for people to use AI for search? “People are getting AI more directly in their faces through things like AIO, but I don't think that the average person is going to ChatGPT or Perplexity specifically. If your dem...