brighton SEO 2026

Upskilling and staying up-to-date with the latest shifts in SEO and PPC is a crucial part of how our Digital Marketing Team works at Serenity. Earlier this month, the team attended brightonSEO, which is considered a leading, world-class event for search marketing professionals. Here the team share their key takeaways from the 2 day event which are shaping our ever evolving search strategies to ensure measurable Return On Investment (ROI) for our clients.

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The New Rules of PPC - 5 Principles to Survive the AI Traffic Collapse.

Talk from Cristiano Winckler

The search landscape is currently facing what many are calling an "AI traffic collapse", where traditional metrics are being completely redefined. We are seeing a major shift in behaviour, with 58% of all searches now ending without a single click because Google provides the answer directly. This is a massive trend, considering AI overviews now reach 1.4 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries.

In this new environment, visibility isn't guaranteed and Google has made it very clear that not every ad is eligible to show in AI overviews. To get these premium placements, eligibility must be earned through high-quality standards. Google’s AI rewards specific technical factors like structured data and high page quality, an excellent user experience and strong E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

Thankfully at Serenity, we’ve already been putting these strategies into practice to make sure our clients are recognised as "the answer" in search and now in AI also. By focusing on full-funnel execution, high-quality creative assets, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software integration, we’re moving beyond simple clicks to focus on what actually drives long-term revenue.

Why PPC and SEO running separately is costing businesses money.

Talk from Everest Nwagnu

The stats from this talk really stood out to us and made a clear case for Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to run in sync for optimum ROI. Let’s take a look...

• 53% of web traffic is organic, yet most budgets are PPC-heavy.
• On average, PPC returns £2 for every £1 spent, while SEO returns £12.20.
• Integrate the two and that jumps to £20+.

At Serenity, our PPC and SEO teams sit together (quite literally). They share data and work with each other to share strategies. This is how we work with our clients every day.

Janice Agus from IDHL also dropped a stat at BrightonSEO that's hard to ignore.

• 49% of Bing users are decision-makers
• Versus 21% on Google

If your organisation works in B2B marketplaces spending budget with Google Ads, but you're not using Microsoft Ads, you might be wasting money targeting the wrong people.

GEO Experiments 2026 - What we tested, what failed and what actually works.

Talk by Thomas Peham at Ottely AI

In the OttelyAI YouTube Citation Study 2026, it was found that YouTube was the second biggest social media channel cited in AI.
Google is prioritising non-commodity content; this is content that is highly specific, original and rooted in personal, professional expertise and real-world applications. Content like this often provides a deep-dive analysis of specific case studies or proprietary testing that cannot be easily copied.

When your channels are aligned, every action compounds the last.

• Technical SEO makes your content findable.
• Great content gives PR something worth linking to.
• Links build the authority that pushes rankings higher.
• Social amplification drives brand searches that signal relevance to Google.

Applying these principles creates a cycle where each channel actively accelerates the others rather than working in isolation. AI overviews now claim the largest share of above-the-fold real estate on informational Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) at 21.1%, ahead of paid advertising results at 19.9% and pushing organic listings (once the default destination) down to just 17.9% of visible space.

These extracts were just some of the valuable insights we took away from the conference. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers who curate such a valuable schedule of speakers who we thoroughly enjoyed taking the time to listen to and learn from.

We’re looking forward to next year already!

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