At a time when SEO is undergoing a transition to an unknown destination, it is crucial to broaden our horizons and our outlook, which is why I have decided to attend more events this year, not only as a speaker, but also as a participant.

We can learn practically anywhere and in any situation; the important thing is to be willing to listen to other people’s points of view and understand what they focus on or care about.

The first event I’m attending in 2026 is WTSFest London 2026, organized by The Community for Women in Tech SEO (and beyond), started by Areej AbuAli in 2019 and now with a global reach, also promoted by Erin Simmons, Himee Senanayake, Hannah Smith, Holly Durn, and a large team of collaborators.

Although, as they say, hopefully one day communities like this won’t be necessary…

What did I learn during that day in London? Let’s get to the talks :)

When Agents Meet Websites: How to Get Up to Speed for 2026

Talk by Crystal Carter, Head of AI Search & SEO Comms, Wix.

Crystal spoke about something that, to be honest, I think is one of the most disruptive topics of the moment: the “agent web.” A new paradigm where AI agents act as users, making purchasing decisions and browsing on behalf of humans.

For me, this is still a topic that I haven’t been able to fully explore.

She analyzed the four channels of agentic interaction (agentic browsers, LLM chats, agentic tools, and dedicated agents) and how each one redefines the marketing funnel. The most practical part focused on how to optimize our digital assets for these new “non-human customers”:

• Clear CTAs with correct HTML (agent browsers use screen reader technology)
• Markdown documentation
• llms.txt
• Robust APIs
• The need to register with emerging commerce protocols.

SEO learning: AI agents are not just another channel, but a new class of customers with decision-making capabilities. The llms.txt standard can reduce token consumption from 15,000 to just 158 to convey the same information. We must provide clear evidence on our domains to support the decisions these agents make on behalf of users.

Resources:

https://www.wix.com/studio/ai-search-lab/agentic-web-website-optimizations
https://www.wix.com/studio/ai-search-lab/agentic-web-will-change-everything

How to Use Data to Get Buy-In for SEO: Real-World Strategies

Talk by Tina Reis, SEO Consultant.

Tina addressed something that frustrates us all: having the best SEO recommendations and not implementing them. Her proposal involves mastering “data storytelling,” combining data-driven arguments with emotional narratives.

I think this is one of the talks I liked the most, because of its simplicity and strategic touch without trying to stand out.

Always translate into the language of the stakeholder (revenue and ROI, never clicks or impressions), structure each proposal as a story with a beginning, conflict, and resolution, and use clean visualizations where color guides attention to the key message.

One detail that I found very apt was to change “I” to “we” so that the stakeholder feels part of the solution.

SEO learning: You only have between 3 and 8 seconds to capture a stakeholder’s attention. Formulate your request in a single sentence, translate it into business metrics, and be specific about what you need them to do (approve, create a ticket, give feedback). This is the difference between an SEO who proposes and an SEO who gets things implemented.

Access the resources from the talk: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QpWSD-b9ntALY8jS1XBzOtF_Oj1p6CTx

Crafting Content with Purpose: Making Your Words Work Harder

Talk by Zoe Burke, Head of Content, Brand & Social, Bridebook

Zoe presented a philosophy that I agree with 100%: stop producing content for the sake of producing content. Her recurring question when faced with any request is “what’s the point?”, and from there she developed a framework of five principles:

• question the purpose
• understand the user’s deeper intention
• research realistically (yes, by reading competitors)
• plan for multiple channels from the outset
• optimize holistically

Her most powerful idea is that “evergreen content” is dead. In such a volatile ranking environment, each piece needs an “evolution plan” with video incorporation at 3 months and a complete review at 6 months.

SEO learning: Each piece must be planned for multiple channels from the outset and have a documented update cadence. “Single-use” content is a waste of resources when we consider the opportunity cost of not generating impact.

AI Search: Where Are We So Far & How to Win in the Current Landscape

Talk by Aleyda Solís, SEO Consultant & Founder, Orainti & SEOFOMO

Aleyda never disappoints.

She debunked the myth that AI kills SEO with data. Google continues to have 84 billion visits compared to ChatGPT’s 5.5 billion, a difference of 15x.

However, the paradigm shift is real because 49% of searches on OpenAI are already conversational, and AI uses passage-level content matching to extract fragments from any accessible page, invalidating one-to-one mapping between page and keyword.

Its strategy is based on three pillars:

• rethinking success by measuring visibility and citations in AI responses at the thematic level
• building comprehensive thematic authority covering the entire customer journey
• consolidating trust through external signals (PR, social media, community management).

SEO learning: AI can extract content from any accessible page on your site (FAQs, support, product, blog) to build its responses. Every piece of content is an opportunity to be cited. Stop obsessing over individual rankings and start measuring your share of presence and sentiment in AI responses at the thematic level.

Access the talk: https://speakerdeck.com/aleyda/ai-search-where-are-we-so-far-and-how-to-win-in-the-current-landscape

Debunking and Demystifying Generative Information Retrieval

Talk by Dawn Anderson, Founder, Bertey

I was really looking forward to seeing Dawn live, and I loved it.

She gave a much-needed talk because the SEO industry tends to “fill in the gaps” when knowledge is lacking and turn technical terms into simplistic tactics.

She deconstructed three trendy concepts and laid the groundwork for less “bro-ish” behavior.

• Chunking belongs to preprocessing in ML, and Google evaluates pages holistically, so over-optimizing it is counterproductive.
• Llms.txt is an early-stage protocol for agents, not a ranking signal, with “very, very low” adoption.
• And “information gain” comes from Shannon’s information theory (1948) and is used in decision trees; it is not simply “adding new information.”

She also issued a healthy warning against “patent worship” since most patents never make it to production and, due to the “patent aura,” are often taken as something firm and established.

SEO learning: Don’t turn machine learning concepts into SEO tactics without understanding their origin. Structure your content semantically, write naturally for humans, and prioritize quality over micro-optimization. The current learning curve is the most demanding in the history of SEO because it combines marketing with ML and science, disciplines that do not naturally converge.

Access the talk: https://speakerdeck.com/dawnieando/debunking-and-demystifying-generative-information-retrieval

6 AI Content Workflows to Diversify your Traffic Sources

Talk by Chima Mmeje, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Moz

Chima presented a masterclass on how to use LLMs as real collaborators, with webinars as the strategic focus.

Her principle is clear: “garbage in, garbage out.” Without detailed instructions, deep context, and iterative feedback, the results will be mediocre.

The flow she showed is very comprehensive, starting from the creation of landing pages with GPT (where V1 is “absolute garbage” and is refined iteratively) to email sequences where the first appeals to fear and the fourth to FOMO.

Result: 1,738 registrations, with more than 70% driven by the FOMO email.

And the best part is that each webinar is reused in blogs, YouTube, podcasts, social media, downloadable assets, and remarketing.

A single downloadable generated 1,400 leads.

SEO learning: Don’t use AI to speed things up; use it to multiply the value of each piece. Write in small batches (one subtitle at a time), invest in detailed feedback, and always personalize. The difference between content that converts and content that goes unnoticed still lies in expert intervention.

Everyone Needs an AI Agent in 2026…Except Me!

Talk by Marie-Paule Kenmogne, Founder

Marie-Paule shared a very honest journey that anyone can relate to, from her anxiety about being replaced by AI (she even considered opening a food truck) to becoming an SEO automation systems architect.

Her experiment was eye-opening, I felt so identified with her journey and her process….

She sent 900 keywords to an OpenAI agent for clustering and only 20% were classified. By redesigning the process, dividing it into batches of 80 keywords, with one LLM for clustering and another for cleaning, she managed to process 10,000 keywords in 5 seconds with 100% classified.

The difference was not the tool, it was the process designed by the human. She proposed dedicating 50% of the time to strategy and system design, 30% to tool building, and 20% to expert review.

SEO learning: Your competitive advantage is no longer in manual execution, but in designing the logic that governs systems. An LLM does not know if its result is correct or if the task makes strategic sense. This connects directly with the vision of strategic SEO, precisely understanding the problems before jumping into solutions.

Reddit Joins the Search Wars: Building Authentic Content in an AI Era

Talk by Victory Umurhurhu-Michael, Founder & Marketing Consultant, Contenticore

Victory presented data that was hard to ignore: only 37.5% of clicks on Google go to the open web, Reddit has grown 1,300% in visibility on Google between July 2023 and April 2024, and it is the second most cited source in AI summaries (thanks to agreements with Google for $60 million and with OpenAI).

Its methodology has three phases:

passive research in 10-20 relevant subreddits
contextual contribution providing genuine value before promoting anything
“conversation catalyst” initiating discussions with formulas such as AIDA, FOMO, and hooks with specific data.
The underlying message is that if your brand does not participate, it relinquishes control of its narrative in AI responses.

SEO learning: If your brand is not in the Reddit conversations relevant to your industry, you are giving up how you appear in AI-generated responses. Trust is earned by participating with genuine value, not corporate promotion. Ninety percent of consumers value authenticity, and Reddit is where real experiences are.

Although at Laika we conducted a study of search habits and know that Reddit usage is very low in Spain, you may be in one of the sectors where it does generate usage and interaction. However, considering using it is not a bad decision per se. Weigh the effort vs. the benefit before deciding to commit resources.

Edges to Centre: Turning What Makes You Different Into Your Superpower

Talk by Mo Kanjilal Williams, Founder & Director, Edge Of Difference

Mo moved away from technical SEO to talk about diversity and inclusion in our industry. Through her story as the daughter of Indian immigrants in the UK, she illustrated how conformity stifles innovation.

Her turning point came when a boss told her, “Stop trying to be like everyone else, you have things that others can’t do.” The same thing with data shows us that only 6% of CEOs are people of color, only 1 in 3 leadership positions in the UK are held by women, and publications by black and South Asian women receive lower algorithmic visibility for equivalent keywords.

(Professional) learning: Homogeneity stifles innovation, including in SEO teams. Actively seeking out diverse profiles when recruiting and collaborating is not only ethical, it is a competitive advantage. At a time when adaptability is key, the best ideas come from people who see the world differently.

Access the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H05tDpNUKN1PVnBuvAr_mg9V-c9MT-JF/view

Fireside Chat: Redefining Strength, Authenticity, & Wanting More

Interview with Poorna Bell, Author, Journalist, & Public Speaker.

Poorna Bell, author of Stronger, closed the event with a conversation about physical and mental strength, identity, and limiting narratives.

After her husband’s death in 2015, she discovered her dependence on male physical strength, which led her to weightlifting and combat sports.

She introduced the concept of the “worm self,” a diminished version of oneself that emerges in hostile environments and, unlike imposter syndrome, originates from real negative experiences.

She also spoke about the power of community, how performance-focused exercise disconnected her from diet culture, and self-compassion as a tool for growth.

At 45, she is stronger than ever.

Learning (professional): The “worm self” cannot be combated with individual empowerment alone; it requires institutional change, support systems, and communities that celebrate difference. In a sector as demanding as ours, surrounding yourself with a community that amplifies you is as important as mastering the latest tools.

Access the video talks

If you wish, you can purchase access to view the videos

Do so here: https://ti.to/women-in-tech-seo/wtsfest-london-2026

My opinion of the event and whether it is worth attending…

The audio is in Spanish, but you can activate English subtitles.