Thursday 21st May

• Thursday Night Talks, Panel & Opening Party

  If you’re wise enough to book a full conference ticket and gain access to one of our expert training days, you will also get access to our Thursday evening talks, panels and the opening party. Held at one of Manchester’s most iconic party venues, this will include talks and insight from an “All Star MCR” cast of experts.

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  Expert Training From

  Leading & Running An Agency in 2026 (Lisa Paasche), Technical SEO Masterclass (Gerry White), AI Search Optimisation in 2026 (Charlie Whitworth), Smarter Content Strategies Masterclass (Yagmur Simsek), Branding Building & Digital PR in 2026 (Shannon McGuirk), GA4 & Website Tracking Masterclass (Kyle Rushton McGregor),

Afternoon

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  Nikki Halliwell

  

  Jess Atkinson

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  Thursday Evening Talks & Panel

  Nikki Halliwell, Harrison Lemon, Ryan White, Jess Atkinson,

Friday 22nd May

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  Alex Moss

  

  Sophie Brannon

  

  Dawn Anderson

  

  Jono Alderson

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  The State of AI Search // Summer 2026

  Itamar Blauer, Arnout Hellemans, Gus Pelogia, Emina Demiri-Watson,

Lunch

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  Areej AbuAli

  

  Itamar Blauer

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  The State of Brand Marketing & Digital PR in 2026

  TBC, Shannon McGuirk, Jono Alderson, Ashley Liddell,

Afternoon

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  Gus Pelogia

  

  Ashley Liddell

  

  Steve Paine

  

  Gianluca Fiorelli

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  Hive2026 Wrap Up Panel: Is SEO Alive and Kicking in 2026?

  Charlie Whitworth, Lisa Paasche , Ned Poulter, Sophie Brannon,

Morning Session

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  Alex Moss

  Principal SEO

  Yoast // FireCask

  Alex Moss is an online marketer and expert-level SEO consultant, specialising in technical and structural SEO as well as WordPress and product development. With over 20 years experience in all aspects of digital marketing, he has helped brands of all sizes build and grow their online presence as well as help increase conversion, acquisition and loyalty.

  When Agents Do The Buying: Technical SEO Priorities For Agentic Commerce

  For years, we’ve optimised for humans. Now we have to optimise for robots that now have the ability to make purchases. As AI agents quietly become gatekeepers for the entirety of the customer purchase cycle. Agents don’t ingest this the same as humans, so SEOs face a reality check on who, and what, to prioritise. Alex will dig into the emergence of agentic commerce and how ACP and UCP is changing the way SEOs need to think more about Ecommerce SEO and how they can adopt this as part of a wider marketing strategy. Whether you’re an early adopter, waiting for your CMS to play catch-up, Alex will definitely provide a good to-do list that you can action the moment you return to your desk.

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  Sophie Brannon

  Co-Founder & Director

  StudioHawk US

  Sophie Brannon is the Co-Founder & Director of StudioHawk US, based in Atlanta. With over a decade of SEO experience spanning agency, in-house, and consultancy roles, she has worked across a wide range of industries including eCommerce, finance, gaming, health, and SaaS. ] Sophie brings a strategic, data-driven approach to organic growth, helping brands scale sustainably through technical SEO, user experience testing, content and digital PR. She’s passionate about making SEO accessible and mentoring the next generation of search marketers.

  What We’ve Learned from Millions in SEO Revenue: Content Types That Win in the New Consideration Era

  In this talk, we’ll explore the New Consideration Era, where modern buyers take longer paths to conversion, interact with brands across multiple channels, and rely on trust signals long before they’re ready to purchase through different forms of content. In this environment, SEO must evolve from a traffic channel into a system that supports influence, authority, and decision-making. Drawing from real performance data across eCommerce, B2B, and B2C brands, we’ll unpack how content performance and digital PR now play a critical role in SEO outcomes. You’ll learn how high-performing teams are connecting search, content, and PR to shape consideration - not just capture demand. Attendees will learn: Why traditional SEO metrics fail to capture modern buying behavior How content performance differs across business models - and why that matters How digital PR strengthens SEO by accelerating trust and authority signals A practical approach to connecting SEO, content, and PR into one cohesive growth strategy

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  Dawn Anderson

  International SEO Consultant

  Bertey

  Dawn Anderson runs SEO consultancy, Bertey based in Manchester, UK. Dawn has spoken at some of the leading UK and global search marketing conferences, including Pubcon (Las Vegas and Florida), SASCON (Manchester, UK), European Search Conference (Liverpool, UK), Brighton SEO (Brighton, UK), SMX London (London, UK), SMX East (San Jose, US), SMX Advanced, MozCon (Seattle, US) and State of Search (Dallas, US). Dawn has also spoken at conference across Europe and as far afield as Australia. Dawn has been in digital marketing and SEO for 17+ years and works with leading brands providing digital marketing and SEO strategy and consultancy across a number of sectors.

  No Retrieval, No Generation: Understanding the Architecture of AI Search

  Large Language Models are often treated as knowledge engines, but structurally, they are just prediction machines. To produce grounded, factual answers, these models depend entirely on a hidden architecture: the retrieval layer. In this session, we will deconstruct the retrieval pipeline to show why AI is, at its core, a search problem. We will explore how technical decisions—from document structure and chunking strategies to index freshness directly dictate the quality of AI output. We will examine why modern "AI failures" are often just classic information retrieval failures in disguise. This talk bridges the gap between traditional SEO and Generative AI, offering attendees: The Blueprint: A look under the hood at how retrieval pipelines actually build an answer. The Bottleneck: Why retrieval, not generation, is the primary point of failure for AI visibility. The Strategy: Concrete ways to shift from optimising for rank to optimising for retrievability, via strong foundations, ensuring your content survives the transition to AI Search.

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  Jono Alderson

  Independent SEO Consultant

  Applied Energistics // Meta

  Jono has worked with leading global brands to enhance websites, drive customer growth, and future-proof their digital presence. Recognised internationally as an expert in digital strategy, SEO, analytics, WordPress, web performance, structured data, marketing technology, and CRO, he supports businesses from defining strategy to delivering hands-on website optimisation.

  The Browser Strikes Back

  Your site is slow, awkward to use, and harder to rank than ever… yet the developers insist their enormous JavaScript files, long load times, and broken UX are simply unavoidable side-effects of modern ‘apps’. Jono will explore why they’re confused, tear down their arguments, and show how modern web browsers now handle the hard stuff without needing to ship 20mb of rubbish – and see how SEOs can push for faster, simpler sites without endless arguments.

Afternoon Session

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  Areej AbuAli

  Founder

  Women In Tech SEO

  Areej AbuAli is the founder of Women in Tech SEO, a global community connecting 12,000+ marketing professionals worldwide. Since launching in 2019, she has scaled Women in Tech SEO into an internationally recognised brand with 60,000+ followers and global conferences. An international speaker and author of Community Building for Marketers, Areej specialises in community-led growth and building brands people genuinely belong to.

  Beyond SEO: How to Build a Community That Champions Your Brand

  SEO builds visibility. Community drives momentum. Traffic alone isn’t enough. The brands that win in organic search (& beyond) are building communities that turn audiences into advocates. In this session, Areej AbuAli shares her practical Launch → Grow → Scale framework for building brand-led communities with intention. You’ll learn how to validate and launch strategically, grow without chasing vanity metrics, and scale in a way that strengthens trust, loyalty, and long-term brand equity. If you’re ready to move beyond channels and build something people genuinely belong to, this session will give you the roadmap.

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  Itamar Blauer

  Head of Marketing & Growth (UK)

  WhitePress

  Itamar Blauer is a marketing and growth leader, author, and international speaker specialising in SEO and digital marketing. He began building and ranking digital assets at just nine years old, long before he knew what SEO was, and has since helped businesses ranging from fast-growing SMEs to billion-dollar global brands increase their online visibility through data-driven, user-focused strategies. A recognised industry thought leader, Itamar is the author of Keywords for SEO and host of the SEO Unplugged podcast. He speaks at conferences worldwide, sharing practical insights on SEO, content strategy, and the future of digital growth.

  From Chaos to Clarity: How to Make Sense of SERP Volatility in 2026

  Search results are in constant flux. Layouts shift, features appear and disappear, and rankings move without a single clear cause, making performance harder to interpret and decisions harder to justify. In the AI era, SERP volatility is the norm, driven by AI-powered modules, intent reclassification, geo-level testing, freshness signals, and authority consolidation in real time. In this session, Itamar Blauer presents a practical framework for reading volatile SERPs—helping teams diagnose what’s changing, identify the drivers behind it, and decide when action is needed and when it isn’t. Using real SERP examples, screenshots, and repeatable methods, attendees leave with a clear, immediately applicable process for making more confident, better-informed SEO decisions.

Late Afternoon Session

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  Gus Pelogia

  Senior SEO Product Manager (R&D)

  Indeed

  Gus Pelogia is a journalist-turned-SEO and Senior SEO Product Manager at Indeed, the world’s leading job site. He has spoken at major industry events including BrightonSEO, Semrush Spotlight, LondonSEOXL, and Tech SEO Summit, and contributes to publications such as Moz and Search Engine Land. Working closely with editors, UX, engineers, data scientists, and product teams, Gus focuses on making SEO accessible and scalable, with an emphasis on discovery, SEO A/B testing, and using AI to improve search performance and build new products. Brazilian-born and Ireland-based, Gus has worked in SEO across agencies and in-house teams in Argentina, the Netherlands, and Ireland. He is a frequent podcast guest and writes at guspelogia.com.

  How To Navigate Enterprise SEO in 2026

  This talk serves as a practical guide to becoming a successful enterprise SEO in 2026. It covers how to pitch for investment, secure resources, manage tickets and sprints, and navigate common enterprise challenges, including layered requirements across UX, legal, and product teams. It also explores how to use AI beyond content creation, and how to continue delivering meaningful impact at pace within complex organisations. Drawing on recent experience building new products from the ground up, the session shares first hand insight into working across multiple teams and aligning stakeholders to take ideas from concept to launch in under three months. To broaden the perspective beyond individual experience, the talk is informed by interviews with a group of enterprise SEOs, offering a more holistic view of what works in large-scale environments today. Designed for in-house enterprise SEOs looking to expand their influence, as well as consultants aiming to collaborate more effectively with large organisations, this session provides clear dos and don’ts for succeeding in enterprise SEO.

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  Ashley Liddell

  Co-Founder & Director

  Deviation

  Ashley Liddell is Co-founder of Deviation, a search strategist with a creative approach championing 'Search Everywhere® - integrating search, content marketing, and PR to engineer discoverability of brands across the search universe.

  TBC

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  Steve Paine

  Marketing Manager

  Sistrix

  Steve is the English-language marketing manager at SISTRIX, presents regularly on-stage and oversees the data journalism team. Steve has a very long history in online content dating back to before the web was born.

  SectorWatch: The Most Visible Domains, Brands & URLs From The Women's Fashion Industry

  Steve Paine, marketing manager at SISTRIX will be bringing you a view of the women's fashion industry. What's working in organics and chatbots, trends and a look at the leading websites and URLs. Get blueprints for success!

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  Gianluca Fiorelli

  Strategic & AI Search SEO Consultant

  ILoveSEO.net

  Gianluca Fiorelli is a Strategic and International SEO and AI Strategist Consultant with almost 20 years of experience in web marketing. He works with businesses to improve their organic search visibility and performance by aligning with users' search and customer journeys. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including notable companies like Glassdoor, Idealista, Rastreator.com, SIXT, Chess.com and Visit California. A passionate public speaker, Gianluca has shared his expertise at numerous prominent conferences around the world. His speaking engagements include appearances at major industry events such as MozCon, SMX, Pubcon, BrightonSEO, International Search Summit, and Digital Olympus - and now HiveMCR! Very active on LinkedIn and X, Gianluca loves to share insights on SEO, AI Search, Semantics, content, and search marketing strategy. He's also the host of the video podcast series "The Search Session" at Advanced Web Ranking.

  The Architecture of Authority: An 8-Task (plus 1) Workflow for Engineering a High Performance Content Hub

  An 8-Task (+1) Workflow for Engineering a High-Performance Content Hub Stop operating under a content-for-content’s-sake model. This session moves beyond publishing and into content engineering. You’ll be introduced to The Architecture of Authority, a structured 8-task (+1) workflow designed to build topical authority, trust and long term visibility. You’ll learn how to treat content as architecture: a guided system built around a defined audience and real search intent. The framework shows how to create content hubs that support users across their journey and perform in both traditional search and AI-driven discovery.

Download an information pack

Kirsty’s talk was incredible, full of energy and if she is on any speaking lineup then make sure you see her. She gave a much needed pep talk to 150 folks on how to feel more confident and focus more in work. It was full of actionable insights

Rhys Wynne