SEO in 2026
Majestic.com
SEO is continuing to change at an alarming pace. And yet, in some sense, the principles of good SEO remain the same.
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 3, 2025 • 17min
Use Conversational SEO and Query Data Clustering via machine learning - with Konrad Szymaniak
Konrad Szymaniak shares the importance of using conversational SEO and query data clustering via machine learning.Talking points include:What is Conversational SEO & Query Data Clustering?Why is machine learning key? What do we want to achieve from this?What software do you use?What type of businesses should be doing this?How is this changing due to AI?
Aug 27, 2025 • 15min
Combining SEO and CRO and growing collaboration between these functions - with Ninsiima Rukandema
Ninsiima Rukandema shares the importance of combining SEO and CRO and growing collaboration between these functions.Talking points include:What do you mean by combining SEO and CRO?What can SEO do for CRO and what can CRO do for SEO?What does this mean in practice?How do you measure the impact of doing this?How do you sell the value of this to stakeholders?
Aug 20, 2025 • 16min
Create content that AI can't create - with Tom Rawle
Tom Rawle shares the importance of creating content that AI can't create. Build relevant, informative, unique, authentic content for on-page and off-page SEO that can't be replicated.Talking points include:What kind of content can humans create that AI can’t?How do you create unique content?How do you create authentic content?What do you mean by creating off-page SEO that can’t be replicated?Will this strategy continue to work in the next couple of years?
Aug 13, 2025 • 17min
Learn to write better content instead of relying on AI - with Will Slater
Will Slater shares that it's essential to learn to write better content instead of relying on AI.Talking points include:Why shouldn’t AI be relied upon to write content?What content needs to be written by humans?What does good human-written content look like structurally and why is that different to AI?How do you compete with the volume that AI can produce?Will AI content not continue to get better?What role is good for AI?What does a good human / AI content workflow look like?What AI tools do you use at the moment?What will be the role of human produced content in the future?
Aug 6, 2025 • 17min
All Generative AI tools rely on traditional search results to answer questions - with James Hocking
James Hocking shares that all Generative AI tools rely on traditional search results to answer questions, and most (Google excluded) rely on Bing for web search.Discussion points include:Why do AI tools rely on Bing?What do we been to rank on Bing? What specifically do we need to do differently to rank in AI results?What information does Copilot, Chatgpt, and Perplexity take from Bing?How is this different from Google?Is this situation likely to remain the same for a while?What else are AI engines looking for?
Jul 30, 2025 • 18min
In 2025, your best SEO edge is joining communities - with Erin Simmons
In this episode Erin Simmons shares that in 2025, your best SEO edge is joining communities — they give you the real language of your audience for better content and earn you trust that fuels brand visibility across search and AI.Discussion points include:Why are communities so important?How do you know the right communities you should be interacting on?What’s a good way to interact and what’s a bad way to interact?Should you be trying to drive traffic back from communities?How do you measure the SEO success of interacting in communities?How does interacting on communities positively affect other online success?How are online communities evolving and what do we need to do to stay on top of things?Is AI impacting online communities?
Jul 23, 2025 • 25min
Think like a Marketer and expand your SEO strategy across LLMs - with Simone de Palma
In this episode Simone de Palma shares 3 key tips...1) Think like a Marketer and expand your SEO strategy across LLMs to chase visibility over clicks.2) Act like an Analyst and explore opportunities with the Google Merchant Centre.3) Use your technical skills to double down on structured data implementation
Jul 16, 2025 • 19min
It's hard to imagine a future in which building a brand is a negative ROI activity - Greg Heilers
Greg Heilers shares that it's hard to imagine a future in which building a brand is a negative ROI activity.Talking points include:Why is building a brand so important for SEO in 2025?Why is this likely to be just as important in the future?In relation to SEO, what do you have to do to build a successful online brand?What are the specific SEO activities that contribute to brand success?How do you measure the impact of brand on SEO?How do you measure the ROI of these activities?How do you incorporate brand SEO into a marketing strategy?
Jul 9, 2025 • 19min
The Yin and Yang of SEO: being human in an AI-driven world - with Kerstin Reichert
Kerstin Reichert discusses the importance of the Yin and Yang of SEO - being human in an AI-driven world.Talking points include:How do you stay human in an AI-driven world?What do you mean by an AI-driven world?You recommend using AI to quickly scale - what does that look like?How do you use AI to enhance processes?How do you use AI to produce better insights?How do you use AI to remain competitive?How do you continue to show your human side, authenticity and expertise - and what good does this do?
Jul 2, 2025 • 25min
AI is an influencer, PR is vital, and CRO is going to be more integrated into SEO - Bruce Clay
Bruce Clay shares that SEO will be more important in the future: AI is an influencer, PR is vital, and conversion rate optimization going to be more integrated into the SEO effort.Discussion points include:Is SEO more important than it used to be?What do you mean when you say that AI is an influencer?When you say that PR is vital, how does PR fit into the SEO world and what aspects of PR are key for SEO?What does conversion rate optimization have to do with SEO?How do you measure the impact of conversion rate optimization on SEO?How do you plan an SEO strategy with so many considerations in mind?What will SEO look like in a year's time?
