SEO Week is kicking off in New York City on April 28th and runs through May 1st – four days of the top minds in search coming together to move beyond guesswork and have real conversations and sparks of inspiration to fuel the next steps in search. It’s time to connect, learn, and set yourself up for success.
Each of the four days of SEO Week focuses on a specific aspect of Search:
- The Science – AI & Technical SEO
- The Psychology – Search Behavior & Content Strategy
- The Ecosystem – Enterprise SEO & Vertical Search
- The Future – Google, AI & What’s Next
Today we’re talking about THE PSYCHOLOGY – Search Behavior and Content Strategy
Day 2 is all about how search is not just changing for users – it’s changing for marketers, too. This day explores how Al, evolving consumer expectations, and new search experiences are reshaping both how people find information and how brands need to think, create, and adapt their content strategies. We have lots of great stuff on tap from new approaches to content marketing, how new data is informing our insights on search behavior, emotion-based approaches to conversions and more.
The psychology of search and SEO is undergoing a major transformation due to AI-driven changes in how people find and interact with information. There’s a shift from keywords to conversational and contextual search, in many cases social media and AI assistants are replacing traditional search, AI-generated answers reduce clicks, and search behavior is becoming more multi-modal. Emotional and psychological factors matter more than ever and AI has a growing role in content creation and personalization. What does this mean for SEOs and for brands?
Let’s take a look at our Day 2 speakers and their topics.
Special Presentation
Ricardo Baeza-Yates
Chief Scientist at Theodora AI
Ricardo A. Baeza-Yates is a computer scientist specializing in algorithms, data structures, information retrieval, web search and responsible AI. He is currently the Director of Research at the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University in the Silicon Valley campus. Baeza-Yates is the author of seven books and is an expert in revolutionary AI; his talk at SEO Week will touch on disruptive AI-based tools and detecting, correcting and measuring biases in communications and algorithms.
The "Other" AI That is Hurting Your Organic Traffic
Wil Reynolds
Founder & CEO at Seer Interactive
SEO isn’t the only game in town—social platforms are reshaping discovery in ways search can’t keep up with. Wil Reynolds will show how focusing on Authentic Intelligence (real human engagement) has driven long-term growth, and why social traffic might be a more sustainable bet than AI-powered search.
- How Wil’s team scaled social traffic from 200 to 5,000 visits in three months
- Why AI-generated search results can’t compete with real audience engagement
- A playbook for balancing SEO with social-driven discovery for long-term success
The Evolving Content Marketing Playbook
Ross Hudgens
Founder & CEO at Siege Media
Content marketing never stays the same. Ross Hudgens will show what’s working now, what’s failing, and how to build a content strategy that holds up long-term.
- How to create content that ranks and drives meaningful results
- Why audience intent should shape every content decision you make
- The formats and strategies that will keep working—no matter what Google does
AI is Rewiring Your Search Behavior
Garrett Sussman
Marketing Director at iPullRank
Search isn’t about keywords anymore—it’s about conversations. Garrett Sussman will break down how AI search engines like Google, Gemini, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search are reshaping how people interact with information, moving from keyword-based queries to dynamic, context-driven exchanges.
- How AI models might interpret intent, context, and nuance differently from traditional search
- How to prioritize natural language, contextual depth, and conversational relevance-focused content strategies
- What brands must do to stay visible in an AI-first search environment
F$%@ Traffic: Prioritizing Conversions Over Vanity Metrics
Bianca Anderson
Organic Growth Manager at hims & hers
Bianca Anderson will challenge your old-school SEO KPIs and introduce a new framework for measuring success based on revenue, engagement, and business impact.
- Why traffic alone is a misleading metric for SEO success
- How to identify and protect high-converting content
- The “Heavy Hitter Process” for shifting focus from clicks to conversions
Stop Doing Marketing
Devin Bramhall
Growth Advisor & Podcast Host of Don’t Say Content
Most marketing plans are just lists of activities—not actual strategies. Devin Bramhall will show why “doing marketing” isn’t the same as growing a business—and how to build a strategy that actually drives results.
- Why more marketing activity doesn’t guarantee more impact
- How to align marketing efforts with business growth goals
- The mindset shift needed to stop chasing tactics and start making real progress
The Lessons I Haven't Shared on LinkedIn from Offsite SEO - Earning Over 50K Links Through Content Marketing
Carrie Rose
Founder & CEO at Rise at Seven
If you like what she shares on Linkedin, imagine what she hasn’t shared. Carrie Rose has run onsite and offsite content marketing campaigns for enterprise brands globally, including Bumble, SIXT, Amazon, Hubspot, and more, and in this talk, she opens up about 10 lessons she hasn’t told anyone about earning links through digital PR and content-led SEO.
- The content formats that consistently attract links at scale
- How to structure campaigns to maximize link acquisition
- What most SEOs get wrong about earning links through digital PR
Your Most Valuable Asset: Why You’re Not Using It (And How to Fix That)
Brie Anderson
Owner at BEAST Analytics
Brie Anderson will expose the most common reasons businesses fail to leverage their data and show how to turn insights into action—without needing an analytics degree.
- The biggest data mistakes companies make and how to fix them
- How to set up simple data workflows for smarter decision-making
- Practical ways to turn analytics into meaningful business impact
Stop Chasing Conversions: Win More Customers with an Emotion-first CRO Strategy That Actually Works
Talia Wolf
Founder & CEO at Getuplift
It’s time to say goodbye to best practices and guesswork. Talia Wolf will break down why most tests are doomed to fail and how an emotion-based approach to CRO delivers consistent results.
- The biggest CRO mistakes that are killing your conversions
- How to create experiences that connect with real customer motivations
- A repeatable framework for turning browsers into buyers
From Villains to Heroes
Dawn Anderson
Principal Consultant & Managing Director at Bertey
Does the information retrieval industry’s outdated, siloed, and biased misperception of modern SEO have the potential to hurt their industry and search overall? Dawn Anderson will show that the reality is modern SEOs are heroes, not villains.
- IR industry’s outdated view of modern SEO – Are we all just spammers?
- What does SEO contribute to modern search – the bridge SEO represents takes us from villains to heroes.
- IR research rebuking SEO, which arguably doesn’t understand SEO basics.
- Whilst IR researchers focus on Gen AI, the web burns and SEOs help to put out the fires.
Day 1 wraps up with the Welcome Soiree, hosted by Lastmile Retail at LAVAN. Unwind with fellow attendees, speakers, and industry leaders over drinks and apps in a laid-back atmosphere. This evening is all about kicking off the week on the right note, so look forward to some relaxing, networking, and preparing for an action-packed SEO experience the remaining three days!
