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Blog > Top SEO Conferences You Can't Miss in 2026
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SEO is important to every business. And with the dawn of the AI era, it's becoming more nuanced and complex than ever before.
Whether you’re creating content for clients or trying to grow your own agency, SEO conferences allow you to learn from the best in the business.
Many of the core principles of SEO remain the same, but AI has caused a significant paradigm shift. Suddenly, businesses are optimizing for LLMs and adjusting to zero-click searches.
Meanwhile, changes to Google’s algorithm and the rise of tools like Google Lens are also impacting content strategy for many businesses.
SEO conferences are a brilliant way of hearing from leading experts about the latest developments. Seeking out the right conference for you will also allow you to network with fellow industry professionals.
From Chiang Mai to Brighton, and with some virtual options too, there are plenty of upcoming SEO conferences that should be on your radar. I’ve put together a list of some of the key events in 2026.
WTSFest is hosted by Women in Tech SEO. Starting out in 2019 as an online community for female SEO specialists, the group’s in-person conference (first held in 2020) has become a major event.
The flagship conference in London takes place on February 5, 2026. SEO consultant Aleyda Solis is among the speakers, discussing the critical issue of AI search.
Tickets cost £399 (around $529) plus VAT, but prices may increase closer to the event. If you can't make it in person, you can also pay £99 ($133) for the recordings.
WTSFest has also branched out internationally. There's the second edition of the Portland conference on May 6, and then an event in Philadelphia on October 1st.
Billed as the largest SEO and growth event in Australia, the Sydney SEO Conference is gearing up for its 7th edition. It will take place from March 19-20, 2026 in Sydney.
Tickets cost $399 plus GST (Goods and Services Tax). A VIP and mastermind bundle costs $999 plus tax, although very limited numbers are available.
The full agenda will be confirmed in due course, but 2026 speakers have now been announced. Tim Soulo will be returning to the conference, while Atena Pegler (founder of AIpreneurs) will provide a specialist AI perspective.
Tech SEO Summit is a specialized technical SEO event that describes itself as a "nerd conference". It will run in Hamburg on April 23.
You really can expect a deep dive into the weeds of technical SEO. Paul Calvano of Etsy will be speaking on "fonts and web performance", for example.
Martin Splitt, a Developer Relations Engineer at Google, will also be speaking. His topic will be confirmed soon.
Ticket prices go up as waves sell out. They are currently available for €899 (~$1057) plus tax.
SEO Week will begin on April 27 in New York. It's a 4-day event hosted by iPullRank.
Last year's list of speakers included many renowned SEO experts: Michael King and Garrett Sussman as internal experts from iPullRank, plus Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, Cindy Krum from MobileMoxie, and Aleyda Solis from Orainti.
(And there was also an afterparty featuring Busta Rhymes.)
Speakers for 2026 are still TBC. But the agenda has been released, with each day following a theme: The Science, The Psychology, The Ecosystem, and The Future.
Basha Coleman of Hubspot attended last year's SEO Week. She said: "The practicality exceeded my expectations. Tangible takeaways everywhere."
Brighton, UK is home to BrightonSEO. It’s marketed as the world’s largest SEO conference, drawing over 5000 attendees.
Thousands of people will flock to the seaside location from April 30 – May 1.
The conference has been such a hit that the “BrightonSEO” brand has branched out to the United States. The San Diego edition will be held from September 15-16.
The flagship event in Brighton is now typically held twice a year, in April and October. Targeted SEO has previously attended, describing it as an “incredible experience”.
Here’s an example talk from the October 2025 conference:
Agentic commerce was among the topics at the last October edition of BrightonSEO.
This year, there will be plenty of talks on AI in SEO. Specific topics include monitoring brand mentions, content strategy in an age of "AI slop", and topical authority/information gain for a world of AI searches.
A “Friend” ticket tier gets you access to both days of the conference. That currently costs £360 (roughly $483) plus tax, although prices rise on January 29th.
A “BFF” ticket unlocks a better merch bag, priority seating, and a special reception. That’s currently on sale for £570 (around $764) plus tax.
There is also a ballot for free tickets. That's already closed, although you can join a waiting list.
Billing itself as a highly practical SEO conference, this year's SEO Spring Training takes place in Chandler, Arizona from April 29 – May 3. That means it clashes with BrightonSEO, but the upshot is that there are great options on both sides of the Atlantic.
The event is hosted by husband-and-wife team Terry and Elisabeth Samuels. Marketing veteran Marty Marion is among the confirmed presenters.
A business access ticket provides access to the 3 main days of the conference, from May 1-3. That costs $1197.
A business tech package ($1897) provides access to the tech mastermind sessions on April 30. And VIP access unlocks another day of exclusive events, at a total cost of $2897.
SMX is a series of conferences put on throughout the year by Search Engine Land. SMX Advanced comes to Boston from June 3-5, 2026.
Other details, including the agenda and speakers, will be released in due course. Previous attendees include representatives from eBay, Facebook, Dell, and Coca-Cola.
Last year, Nick Eubanks (VP of Owned Media at Semrush) featured on a stacked list of speakers. Registration doesn't open until January, but Super Early Bird rates started at $1,295 in 2025.
For those in the US, the MozCon conference will take place in New York on July 14. A UK version will be held on November 13.
Speakers are yet to be confirmed, and you can actually pitch to speak at the New York conference. But previous speakers include Travis Tallent (Brainlabs), Lily Ray (Amsive), and Areej AbuAli (Women in Tech SEO).
Moz’s in-house expert Dr Pete Meyers also usually speaks. You can view one of his previous slide decks online.
“Brand or Bust” was among the themes of MozCon 2024.
A small number of Super Early Bird tickets are currently available for $649. That's a $200 saving on eventual full price.
Sales for the London event are not yet open. You can join a waitlist to get notified when tickets are live.
The Chiang Mai SEO Conference will be held in Thailand from November 9-13. Information is currently sparse, with plenty of time still to go, but the dates appear to have been confirmed in a Facebook event.
Founded by Matt Diggity, the most recent edition of the Chiang Mai SEO Conference involved fellow industry experts such as Tim Soulo, Greg Gifford and Craig Campbell. With 800 attendees, it's not one of the biggest events on our list, but it attracts some of the biggest names. So it's an excellent networking opportunity.
Tickets for the 2025 conference sold out within 24 hours in an exclusive pre-sale. But you can sign up for updates to try and secure a place for 2026.
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You've seen the confirmed SEO conferences that I'm really excited about in 2026. But details of new conferences are always coming out.
I keep this article updated, so you can check back here to find out the latest information. For now, here are some upcoming conferences in 2026 that haven't all yet confirmed full details, but are still worth looking out for:
Tech SEO Connect is a specialist technical SEO conference. It ran from December 4-5 in North Carolina last year, with 2026 dates and venues still TBD.
This differs from a lot of other SEO conferences on the list. It describes itself as “the conference made for Technical SEOs by Technical SEOs”, with a total focus on back-end search engine optimization techniques.
Speakers last year included Krishna Madhavan, the Principal Product Manager of Microsoft AI and the Bing Web Data Platform. Max Prin, Global Technical SEO Director at Conde Nast, will also be in attendance.
The International Search Summit is generally held in Barcelona toward the end of the year. Last year's conference was held on November 13, but 2026 dates are TBC.
It’s a specialized conference focused squarely on international SEO. Carolyn Shelby of Yoast was among the speakers at a previous edition, presenting on “hreflang” HTML tags.
The International Search Summit is a specialist conference.
The agenda for 2025 was split into four tracks: International SEO, International Content, AI Innovators, and International Paid Media. Speakers from SEOTesting and Rank Expert were among those featuring on the SEO track.
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You can learn a lot about SEO online. For instance, we’ve got a mega-list of 130 SEO statistics, while Semrush has a comprehensive suite of SEO tools.
And for many SEO specialists, virtual conferences present a more practical and budget-friendly option. Lots of online-only events still offer great speakers and a chance to learn about the latest developments in the field. Here’s a selection of what’s coming up in 2025 and 2026.
Brighton SEO is an in-person conference, but it caters for those unable to physically attend. Once the conference is over, all of the talk recordings are available to buy.
For instance, you can pre-order the video bundle for the April 2026 conference, which will go live 2 weeks after the event. The bundle is available for approximately $200.
The News and Editorial SEO Summit is dedicated specifically to SEO for news publishers. And it attracts some of the biggest names in SEO; Rand Fishkin is a former speaker.
Last year, AI big-hitter Marie Haynes was in attendance. That conference was held fully online from October 21-22, and you're still able to buy the video recordings for $299.
Dates for 2026 are yet to be confirmed, but NESS has put out a call for speakers.
SMX Next is run by Search Engine Land, which also hosts the in-person Advanced conferences. But this event is entirely online.
In 2025, it ran from November 18-19. Two keynote addresses covered trends in SEO and PPC.
Marie Haynes was in attendance here as well. She was joined by Crystal Carter, the Head of AI Search and SEO Communications at Wix, and Kyle Byers, Director of Organic Search at Semrush.
Dates and speakers for 2026 are still TBC. But the digital conference has historically been completely free of charge, making it a real must-attend in the SEO conferences calendar.
SEO Square hasn't confirmed any dates yet. But it's one to look out for in 2026, given that it is entirely online and completely free.
The conference attracts more than 3,000 virtual attendees. And even though this year's event is done, you can register online to watch all of the content.
Speakers included the VP of Marketing at SparkToro and the Principal Consultant & Global Program Manager at LinkedIn.
There are plenty of good ways to get a deeper and more practical understanding of SEO. Semrush offers a suite of highly effective tools.
But I strongly recommend attending SEO conferences to stay at the cutting edge of how these tools are used. These events offer valuable networking opportunities for SEO and marketers, and those could be crucial as you build your business or career.
As you have seen, there’s a whole host of SEO conferences on the horizon — and check out our comprehensive list of marketing conferences in 2026 as well. It’s time to start booking tickets.
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Written By
Keri Engel
Keri Lynn Engel is the Manager at Exploding Topics, where she focuses on building high-traffic SEO strategies and organic growth e… Read more
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