SEO Week lands in NYC from April 28 to May 1—and it’s going to be four jam-packed days of brainpower, bold ideas, and zero fluff. We’re talking real talk, fresh perspectives, and the kind of aha! moments that spark what’s next in search. If you’re ready to ditch the guesswork and get inspired, this is your scene.
Each day of SEO Week shines a spotlight on a different core area of search—so come ready to dig in, level up, and leave with ideas you’ll actually use.
- The Science – AI & Technical SEO
- The Psychology – Search Behavior & Content Strategy
- The Ecosystem – Enterprise SEO & Vertical Search
- The Future – Google, AI & What’s Next
The final day of SEO Week is all about THE FUTURE – Google, AI, and what’s next.
The future of SEO is looking a lot more human-centered and intuitive. Search engines are getting smarter—thanks to AI—and they’re learning to understand not just the words we type, but what we mean. That means old-school tricks like stuffing keywords won’t cut it anymore. Instead, content needs to be genuinely helpful, engaging, and easy to understand. With more people using voice search or asking questions in a more natural, conversational way, businesses will need to adapt by creating content that feels less robotic and more like it’s written for real people.
So who’s closing out the week? Below are our Day 4 speakers and what aspects of the Future of SEO theyr’e covering.
You Are Bigger than SEO
Rand Fishkin
Co-Founder & CEO at SparkToro
For years, search was the main way people found things online—but that’s not the case anymore. Rand Fishkin will break down how discovery has changed and what marketers need to do beyond SEO to stay relevant.
- What the data actually says about how people find and buy today
- Why SEO alone won’t cut it anymore (and what to do instead)
- How to build a marketing strategy that survives in a Zero-Click world
Executive Presence: How To Get Buy In and Budget For SEO
Tom Crtichlow
EVP of Audience Growth at Raptive
Getting SEO buy-in isn’t about tactics—it’s about selling the right story to the right people. Tom Critchlow will teach you how to talk to executives in a way that gets results.
- The language executives understand (and what they ignore)
- How to tie SEO to business goals to secure more budget
- The key to positioning yourself as a strategic leader, not just an SEO
Beyond Rank Tracking: Analyzing Brand Perceptions Through Language Model Association Networks
Dan Petrovic
Director at DEJAN
Rank tracking is outdated. Search engines don’t just rank pages anymore—they build complex maps of how brands and concepts connect. Dan Petrovic will show you how to tap into the same technology Google uses to understand brand positioning in a way that traditional SEO tools can’t.
- Why rankings alone don’t tell the full story of your brand’s visibility
- How to use language models to uncover hidden brand associations
- A step-by-step look at the DEJAN methodology for mapping brand perception
Word to Your MUM
Cindy Krum
Founder & CEO at MobileMoxie
MUM (Multitask Unified Model) changed how Google processes and understands queries, but most SEOs are still optimizing like it’s 2017. Cindy Krum will unpack how MUM is shaping search results, AI Overviews, and content classification, and what brands need to do to keep up.
- How MUM processes multimedia, multi-step queries, and cross-language content
- Why traditional keyword strategies don’t align with how MUM structures information
- What changes brands should make to optimize for AI-driven, contextual search
AI's Impact on Media and PR SEO
Lexi Mills
CEO at Shift6
- How these technologies are fundamentally reshaping how and why we need to cultivate backlinks,
- Why PR SEO is critical to trust and conversions
- What a future-proofed integrated PR SEO strategy should look like
LLM Experience Gain: How We Climbed the Animal SERPs with a Text-based Gen AI Game
Zack Notes
Founder at Sandbox SEO
Animal Matchup started as an experiment in programmatic SEO and AI copy, but when “Create Your Own” was introduced, it unexpectedly unlocked a new frontier—an AI-driven storytelling game that now attracts over 10,000 weekly active users.
In this session, you’ll learn how to leverage large language models (LLMs) to create unique, AI-powered experiences that win SERPs—a concept we call LLM Experience Gain.
- How traditional programmatic SEO can be supercharged with API-driven features
- How an in-house CMS can scale AI-generated images
- How a two-person, bootstrapped team proved that generative AI content can drive sustained engagement—not just short-term traffic spikes
From Clicks to Connections: How Content Strategy is Redefining Engagement
Fajr Muhammad
VP of Content Strategy & Growth at iPullRank
Clicks don’t equal connection. Fajr Muhammad will show why engagement isn’t about surface-level metrics anymore and how brands can build real, lasting relationships through content that’s interactive, personal, and designed for long-term impact.
- Why traditional engagement metrics fail to capture audience intent
- How user expectations are shifting toward immersive and interactive content
- A framework for crafting content experiences that drive both conversions and loyalty
Navigating a $14 Million Domain Migration
Andrew Prince
Senior SEO Manager at Rocket
Migrating a domain is risky enough—doing it for a $14 million acquisition raises the stakes even higher. Andrew Prince will walk through how Rocket Homes successfully transitioned to a new domain while protecting rankings, traffic, and brand identity.
- The technical SEO playbook for high-stakes domain migrations
- How to secure executive buy-in for SEO priorities during rebrands
- Lessons learned from handling millions of indexed pages in a migration
When You Can't Beat 'em, Buy 'em : Growing Your Audience Through Strategic Acquisition
Nick Eubanks
VP of Owned Media at Semrush
Ranking in position one is great, but what if you could dominate the entire first page? Nick Eubanks will show how strategic acquisitions can help brands expand their search footprint far beyond traditional SEO. You could build incrementally or buy exponentially. Feels more efficient if you’ve got the capital.
- How to identify and acquire high-affinity websites for organic dominance
- Why owning multiple top-ranking assets beats trying to outrank competitors
- The playbook for expanding audience reach through acquisitions
The Vicious Cycle of SEO: How We Got Here & Where We’re Going
Lily Ray
VP of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive
SEO is an ever-evolving industry, yet SEO history keeps repeating itself. From once-effective tactics turned obsolete to Google’s constant algorithm updates that reshape the landscape, the SEO cycle is as ruthless as it is predictable.
In this session, Lily Ray will break down the key patterns that have shaped SEO over the years — what worked, what failed, and why, and how past knowledge can inform future approaches. By analyzing past trends, Google policy shifts, and major algorithm updates, we’ll uncover actionable insights to help you future-proof your SEO strategy.
- Which SEO tactics are still worth investing in—and which are fading fast
- How to identify high-risk strategies before they hurt your rankings
- What upcoming changes in search and AI-driven content mean for your approach
- How to break free from the cycle of short-term wins and build long-term SEO success
Wrap up an amazing SEO Week at our official After Party, Algorithm After Dark, hosted by YEXT at HK Hall. Come unwind, connect with fellow attendees, and celebrate a week packed with insights, networking, and innovation. Whether you’re in the mood to keep the conversations flowing or just want to relax and enjoy the vibe, this is the perfect way to end the week. Expect good music, great drinks, and a vibrant atmosphere to close things out in style!
