SEO in 2026
Majestic.com
SEO is continuing to change at an alarming pace. And yet, in some sense, the principles of good SEO remain the same.
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Hello, and welcome to SEO in 2026 – a significant repository of current thinking from many of the world’s leading SEOs.
We're pleased to be able to welcome you to the fifth book and fifth series in this podcast, now well and truly an annual tradition, brought to you by Majestic.
“How people search has seen a bigger shift in the last 12 months than the last 12 years, and this makes SEOin2026 a must-read for anyone working in the industry. Majestic has brought together 117 of the SEO industry's brightest minds to share their insights into what matters, and what doesn't, to continue to drive growth with organic search during a period of massive uncertainty, and the book should be seen as a valuable reference point to keep your strategy on the right track.”
JAMES BROCKBANK
Managing Director and Founder, Digitaloft
“I highly recommend that every SEO professional set aside a couple of days for SEOin2026. You'll thank me for helping you plan your year effectively. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside some of the world's leading SEO champions.”
NITIN MANCHANDA
Founder & Chief SEO Consultant, Botpresso
“This collection of wisdom from many of the best minds in SEO today is a great line in the sand of where we as an industry are, what problems we face, and how we tackle them. Anyone in SEO or marketing should be dipping into this on a regular basis.”
SIMON COX
Technical SEO Consultant, Cox and Co. Creative
“This series continues to be the industry’s leading source of the most timely advice a marketer could ever want. The most forward-thinking SEO experts in the world come together once a year to create this invaluable collection of new knowledge that should never be passed up on!”
PAM AUNGST CRONIN
President and Founder, Pam Ann Marketing and Stealth Search and Analytics
“2025 has been a sprint for the SEO industry, with AI reshaping how we understand visibility, relevance, and authority. SEOin2026 is not just another trends book; it’s a roadmap for what’s actually coming. I loved being part of it and seeing how experts around the world approach the same challenges from different angles.”
RAMONA JOITA
SEO Consultant and Founder
“David is good at drawing out the substance of a conversation. He will explore the topic and challenge assumptions, steer the conversation into an unexpected direction, and build on your ideas – making you think a bit deeper and sharper. Our recent conversation flew by as always, and as always – I’ve come out energised about the topic with more to think about.”
SUKHJINDER SINGH
Freelance SEO Consultant
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 15, 2025 • 16min
Be strategic with your keyword research - Hannah Fox
Hannah Fox shares the importance of being strategic with your keyword research.Talking points include:What is strategic keyword research?How do you know what is not suitable for the blue links?Where else are you optimizing for?How do you know which keywords are right for different platforms?Is keyword volume still important?Has the way that you incorporate keywords into content changed?
Oct 8, 2025 • 17min
AI search is on the rise - don't ignore it - Charlie Marchant
In this episode Charlie Marchant says that AI search is on the rise.Talking points include:What specifically is on the rise in terms of search engine popularity?Is AI search popular among specific verticals or consumer groups?How do we know if our target market is using AI search?How do we optimise for AI search?How do we measure the success of AI search?What does this mean for the user funnel?What does AI search mean for the future of SEO?
Oct 1, 2025 • 17min
Logfile analysis is an SEO and GEO goldmine that is too often left untouched - Pieter Serraris
Pieter Serraris discusses with David Bain how logfile analysis is an SEO and GEO goldmine that is too often left untouched.Talking points include: - Logfile usecases- Crawl budget- AI bots- Visibility in ChatGPT- Clarifying the dark funnel- Topics popular for ChatGPT- What does this mean for strategy- Beyond SEO
Sep 24, 2025 • 18min
Make analytics ready for your SEO to be able to track data effectively - with Priya Verma
Priya Verma shares the importance of making analytics ready for your SEO to be able to track data effectively.Talking points include:How do you make analytics ready for your SEO?Why does this let you track data more effectively?What software do you use?What data should be used in GA4?Metrics and dimensionsHow do you use this data elsewhere?What impact does this have?
Sep 17, 2025 • 20min
There's never been a better time to bridge any gaps between SEO and brand marketing - Christian Rigg
Christian Rigg shares why there's never been a better time to bridge any gaps between SEO and brand marketing.Talking points include:What are some typical gaps between SEO and brand marketing in a strategy?How do you prioritise what needs to be done?Who should be responsible for this?How does an SEO work more closely with brand?How can these essential instruments, as you call them, work together in perfect harmony?How do you measure the impact of this?
Sep 10, 2025 • 19min
Start building your brand authority and direct audience relationships now - with John Iwuozor
John Iwuozor shares the importance of starting to build your brand authority and direct audience relationships now.Talking points include:Why is brand authority so important?Why are direct audience relationships so important?Why does brand recognition get you cited in AI answers?Why does this keep you top-of-mind when traffic from search declines?Why does this drive sustainable revenue growth?How do you measure the impact of this?
Sep 3, 2025 • 17min
Use Conversational SEO and Query Data Clustering via machine learning - with Konrad Szymaniak
Konrad Szymaniak shares the importance of using conversational SEO and query data clustering via machine learning.Talking points include:What is Conversational SEO & Query Data Clustering?Why is machine learning key? What do we want to achieve from this?What software do you use?What type of businesses should be doing this?How is this changing due to AI?
Aug 27, 2025 • 15min
Combining SEO and CRO and growing collaboration between these functions - with Ninsiima Rukandema
Ninsiima Rukandema shares the importance of combining SEO and CRO and growing collaboration between these functions.Talking points include:What do you mean by combining SEO and CRO?What can SEO do for CRO and what can CRO do for SEO?What does this mean in practice?How do you measure the impact of doing this?How do you sell the value of this to stakeholders?
Aug 20, 2025 • 16min
Create content that AI can't create - with Tom Rawle
Tom Rawle shares the importance of creating content that AI can't create. Build relevant, informative, unique, authentic content for on-page and off-page SEO that can't be replicated.Talking points include:What kind of content can humans create that AI can’t?How do you create unique content?How do you create authentic content?What do you mean by creating off-page SEO that can’t be replicated?Will this strategy continue to work in the next couple of years?
Aug 13, 2025 • 17min
Learn to write better content instead of relying on AI - with Will Slater
Will Slater shares that it's essential to learn to write better content instead of relying on AI.Talking points include:Why shouldn’t AI be relied upon to write content?What content needs to be written by humans?What does good human-written content look like structurally and why is that different to AI?How do you compete with the volume that AI can produce?Will AI content not continue to get better?What role is good for AI?What does a good human / AI content workflow look like?What AI tools do you use at the moment?What will be the role of human produced content in the future?
