Brighton SEO 2025: Key Insights from the Leopard Co Team
Brighton SEO 2025 was packed with big ideas, bold predictions, and brilliant speakers - and we were there for all of it. From AI-powered search strategies to omnichannel brand storytelling, the conference gave us plenty to think about and bring back home to Birmingham.
So, we caught up with the team to share their hottest takes - the moments that made them pause, rethink, and get excited about what’s next. Whether you're deep in digital strategy or just curious about where search is heading, these reflections offer a snapshot of what’s shaping the future of marketing.
Jessica Pardoe, Senior Account Manager
There were loads of great talks over the two days, but having worked closely on developing our AIR (AI Reputation) Audit at Leopard Co, I particularly enjoyed Roman Leliuk’s talk on ‘Why ChatGPT May Be Ignoring You’ which delved into the importance of optimising for AI as well as search, with more actual buyers coming from LLMs than Google search engine results pages in 2025 according to Surfer data.
My ‘hot takes’ from Roman’s talk were his tips on how to optimise and write for AI platforms, which included:
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Use self-contained, source-backed sentences
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Get straight to the point (keyword stuffing doesn’t work for AIO and GEO, just like it doesn’t work for SEO!)
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Consider lists and tables over paragraphs of information
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Utilise FAQs to help AI crawlers find the right content quickly
Francesca Cooke, Communications Consultant
For me, Ashley Liddell’s session ‘Brand, Search and Social – a Search Everywhere Trifecta’ hit home with a clear message: these three pillars of marketing must work together to drive impact.
With 76% of consumers using social media to discover products and brands, social is no longer just for engagement - it’s a discovery engine. And when aligned with SEO and brand strategy, it becomes a powerful tool for visibility and conversion.
Search is a multi-touch journey, not a final step. 89% of buyers research across at least three platforms before making a purchase. If your brand isn’t showing up consistently - across Google, Instagram, TikTok and beyond - you’re missing out. Yet many brands still operate in silos: SEO teams chase keywords, social teams chase trends, and brand teams chase consistency - often without collaboration. The most successful brands integrate these efforts to create seamless, omnichannel experiences.
Key takeaway: If your brand isn’t showing up everywhere, you’re showing up nowhere.
Matt Ellis, Digital Consultant
One of my favourite sessions from the conference was ‘Beyond Rankings: The Invisible Gaps That Kill Conversions’ by Inyene Udom. It was a strong reminder that visibility doesn’t always equal value. It’s easy to fall into the “visibility trap” where sites rank well and traffic flows, but conversions don’t follow.
Inyene highlighted three silent killers of conversion:
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Unclear above-the-fold messaging
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Weak or generic CTAs
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Footers that fail to close the deal
The message from the talk was clear, traffic builds awareness, but trust and clarity drive action. From stronger CTAs that sell a solution, to footers that function as mini sales funnels, every design choice is an opportunity to drive a conversion!
Jack Press, Senior Digital Consultant
With Agentic AI fast becoming a reality, where AI platforms can not only answer queries but perform tasks like purchasing items on behalf of its users, ‘what will the role of a PPC specialist be in an AI-first world?” is a question we’re constantly asking ourselves.
According to Kinesso’s Sarah Barker, we need to approach PPC campaigns like we’re traditional media planners. What might seem like a back-to-basics approach could prove to be the goal-scoring counterattack: not only do we need to identify where our target audiences are searching, but also what behaviours AI platforms are showing when serving users. The customer journey for PPC campaigns to influence will be less about users and more about AI platforms, where organic and paid search is memory driven.
When we’re programming campaigns, we need to consider where audiences search and the long-tail questions they’re asking. Staying ahead of competitors will be about doing the very basics better than anyone else whilst adapting to AI’s influence.
Bronia Hennessey, Account Director
The biggest takeaway from Brighton SEO is that an integrated approach is still the best way to make an impact and then maintain momentum for your brand. It's easy to get wrapped up by the latest development and pivot your marketing strategy to incorporate it, but it's essential not to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Take LLMs for example, they've taken the marketing industry by storm and are changing the rules of SEO as we know it... And whilst the conversion rate of site traffic that comes from LLMs is estimated to have a 12 x higher conversion rate than traffic from organic search, LLMs are still incredibly new and are contributing to less than 1% of overall site traffic, meaning everything you're doing outside of LLMs is still incredibly important.
Amelia Willetts, Communications Executive
Charlie Stewart’s session was a standout of the conference. Using beloved shows like The X-Files and Sex and the City as reference points, Charlie unpacked how TV writers’ rooms use ‘storybreaking’ to build ‘satisfying, surprising, and inevitable’ story arcs — and how marketers can do the same for their clients.
The key? Seeing clients not as campaigns, but as characters with their own wants, needs, and evolving narratives. Is your client a pragmatic Charlotte chasing perfection, a bold Samantha breaking boundaries, a Carrie, asking all the right questions, or a steady Miranda balancing logic and loyalty?
By blending long-term strategic arcs with short-term creative experimentation, marketers can craft stories that truly resonate — moving beyond content production to something far more human (and far more powerful) in an AI-driven world.
Brighton SEO 2025 reminded us that while the tools and tactics are evolving fast, the fundamentals of great marketing remain the same: clarity, consistency, and connection.
At Leopard Co, we’re helping brands navigate this shifting landscape with strategies that blend innovation and impact.
If you’re ready to elevate your marketing and stay ahead of the curve, get in touch - we’d love to help you build momentum.