brightonSEO: Our Key Takeaways
- May 11
- 5 min read
At ADA Digital we love any excuse to get down to the seaside. And a search conference that helps us meet other marketers, learn and do our jobs that little bit better is the perfect excuse.
May was our third time at the brightonSEO conference, the first representing ADA Digital. So we studied the talk schedule, divided and conquered and scoped out all the sponsor stands.
We also loved discovering new we-must-go-back restaurants in the city and enjoying some time on the seafront. But we’re here to talk about what we learnt and share our expertise with you. So let’s get into our key takeaways.
In this post we'll share:
What even is brightonSEO?
Founded by Kelvin Newman, brightonSEO began as a way for UK based search professionals to meet up and geek out. brightonSEO started in a room above a pub in, you guessed it, Brighton.
Fast forward 16 years, it’s the largest search conference in the world. The two-day event sees industry experts getting together in Brighton and San Diego multiple times a year.
It’s a must-visit for anyone working in search whether you’re an SEO expert, copywriter or account manager. There’s a talk or networking opportunity for every digital marketer.
What was the most talked about subject?
Of course, the hot topic of the moment: AI wasn’t far from anyone’s mind. AI search, agents and the changing search landscape dominated the guest speaker’s presentations and the thought processes behind them. In fact, over half of the talks at May’s brightonSEO mentioned AI or AI related topics.
There were a lot of buzzwords being dropped and themes emerged from this spring’s conference. The words of the day for us were:
“AI slop”
Zero clicks
Cluttered search
Conversations
Which brings us onto our key takeaways. The talks, ideas and people that have stuck with us long after the train ride up to the Midlands. There were also aspects of what we heard that we’re already doing at ADA Digital. But we’re constantly learning, evolving and taking onboard things we can do to help supercharge our clients’ businesses.
Human lead content
A large portion of online content is now AI-generated or low quality, also known as “AI slop”. The internet doesn’t need any more content, no really. But users need content that’s led by demand, data-driven, powered by your expertise and more importantly crafted by humans for humans.
People care about people, whether you’re investing in a service or buying a physical product. It’s the person behind it that drives the customer forward. Plus, readers are getting wise to tell-tale signs that content was created by AI, like em dashes.
Ultimately, you want to keep in mind that your website and its content reflects how easy it is to work with you or buy from you. Content is the way you tell the story of your brand, and humans want to hear from the humans behind it.
What is happening off your website?
Now more than ever looking at your brand and business across every digital touch point is important. It’s what LLMs are doing, pulling all the data and mentions to create a picture of you and present that back to your customers.
Think Reddit, social media, YouTube, digital publications, reviews and more. Where are you being talked about and how can you be a part of the conversion? How can you show your authority, experience and expertise across the web?
The answer we heard throughout brightonSEO was digital PR. Earning backlinks to your site in reputable, niche and relevant sources builds a clear image of who you are. Not only does that boost your SEO but it’s a signal to LLMs and your potential customers too.
Question to ask yourself: If your website went down, can the web confirm your expertise?
Rosie and Dani at brightonSEO
Search terms are getting longer
People are searching differently, prompts in AI agents are typically 60 words. That’s a huge query with a lot of detail and nuance which content needs to reflect and answer.
Keywords are still a great base for ads and content, but when used in AI agents they’re part of a longer search query. Often a conversation that goes back and forth between the person and the LLM they’re using. There’s more depth to the experience, as more refined questions are asked.
To become part of that conversation, within content you’ll also want to predict your customer’s next move and thought sequence. Ask yourself: what else will they be interested in, do you have the authority to speak about these other topics and what content clusters can be born out of the initial search term.
Reviews matter more than you think
Reviews aren’t just pored over by your potential customers anymore, they’re also crawled by search engines and AI bots. The LLMs are looking for freshness, how recent was your last review and how often do you get reviews. AI doesn’t care how many reviews you have, it infers the best and the worst from your reviews. So, if you have one bad review from 10 years ago it’ll pull that into the AI overview to show a balanced review of your business.
You also want to make sure you’re replying to reviews, to show you’re pro-active to Google, offer aftersale support and show you’re a decent human to other potential customers. It’s a really nice thing to do!
Traditional SEO still stands strong
As always search marketing is evolving daily and often there are no set answers. But SEO isn’t going anywhere, just yet. The methods and strategies we use day in and day out still count, from technical SEO fixes, site health updates, helpful content and link building. The SEO fundamentals that we all know (and love) can help you perform better in the AI search landscape.
Making sure your website is crawlable by search engines and LLMs, that your content is helpful and follows Google’s E-E-A-T principles is still as important as ever. And for us here at ADA Digital we’re in discovery mode, with one ear to the ground on the latest trends in the digital marketing space. Finding ways to get the basics right while keeping up with industry changes.
“One of my biggest takeaways is that we’re right in the middle of a huge discovery phase, the online search landscape is evolving quickly, and while it feels like there’s pressure to have all the answers, so much is still unknown - for everyone! But that’s also what makes this moment in digital exciting, new search behaviours are creating entirely new opportunities for us to learn and grow.” Dani Murrell, Creative Director
Until next time brightonSEO
If you see us at the next brightonSEO, come say hi! We’ll be there topping up our industry knowledge and finding new ways to re-energise our client’s marketing strategies.
Our final takeaway has to be, if you’re in Brighton visit Embers, it’s such a great wood-fired restaurant.
Written by:
Rosie Hurr, SEO and Content Manager
Approved by:
Dani Murrell, Creative Director
Published:
11th May 2026
