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No WTSNewsletter next week while our team is all hands on deck for WTSFest London, but we'll be back in your inbox on February 11th!

Inside this week's edition you’ll find brilliant member-led content, a must-read deep dive into AI crawlability, a warm welcome to our newest team member Hannah Smith and new job opportunities across SEO, AEO, & search leadership.

Thank you to this week's WTSNewsletter sponsors:
​seoClarity & withFrontier​

And thank YOU for reading this week's edition, we appreciate you 💗

Let's get started!

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Brilliant work by our brilliant members
​​
1) Celeste Gonzalez - How to Make Every Click Count with Search Experience Optimization​

2) Chandler Sullivan - Why Branding Matters for SEO (and How AI Is Changing Brand Discovery)​

3) Despina Gavoyannis - SEO Brand Marketing: Create a Brand Guide That Drives Search Visibility​

4) Laiba Siddiqui - How to measure brand visibility in AI search (before you disappear)​

5) Motoko Hunt - International SEO in 2026: What still works, what no longer does, and why​

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For future editions, if you’d like to recommend any articles (and yes, you can totally recommend your own work!), fill out this form:

Recommend an Article

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If you’ve mastered SEO, AEO is your next advantage ​
​[Headline Sponsor: seoClarity]

Prepare your SEO skills for the AI era.

You’ve survived one SEO “big shift” after another but now the real info you need on AI search is buried in noise.

Almost no one is teaching SEOs (or any marketers) what’s actually changing under the hood.

That’s why we created the first enterprise AEO Certification. It’s a free, practical course built by search professionals who’ve done this for years.

In this practical, on-demand course you’ll learn:

✅ How AI engines actually process and surface content
(no buzzwords, real mechanics)

✅ How to adapt your SEO strategy without starting over

✅ How to measure visibility, accuracy, and influence in AI search

No fluff, just the data, frameworks, and the know-how to accelerate results for your 2026 search strategy, plus an AEO Certificate of completion to showcase your skills!

See what our free course covers

Share your message with 8,000+ WTSers -
​Transparent pricing & details starting at £500​

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Our latest WTSKnowledge

A practical, technical deep dive into AI crawlability and why it’s now a make-or-break factor for visibility in AI search.

Learn how to:

• Understand how AI crawlers actually work (and how they differ from Googlebot)
  ​
• Avoid common blockers like JavaScript-heavy content, gated pages, and missing Schema
  ​
• Make a strong first impression with AI crawlers, because you don’t always get a second chance
  ​
• Track whether LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity are crawling your site (and how often)

If your site can’t be crawled by AI, it can’t be cited - no matter how strong your traditional SEO is.
​
This one’s essential reading for anyone serious about AI search visibility!

Unpack AI Crawlability with Shannon

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WTSFest London is next week!
​🚨 Just 6 tickets left

WTSFest is a full day spent with your safe, judgement-free SEO & marketing community.

A space designed for people who want to learn, make connections, find new opportunities, rebuild confidence, & leave inspired by some of the most innovative marketers & SEOs in our industry.

You’ll be joining 400+ SEO & digital marketing professionals for:

• ​Expert-led talks built to make a real impact on your day-to-day work
  ​
• The ease & sense of belonging your WTS community is known for
  ​
• Thoughtful networking with kind, supportive people who understand your challenges
  ​
• Open, honest conversations about where search is heading next

We’d love to welcome you to the Barbican 💗

See what WTSFest London is all about -->

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Your WTSFest conference countdowns

We'd love to see YOU at one of our upcoming full-day marketing events!
​
​8 days - London on February 5th, 2026 (6 tix until we're sold out!!!)
​
​100 days - Portland on May 7th, 2026 (standard tix & group discounts)

244 days - Philadelphia on October 1st, 2026 (28 early bird tix)

Our WTSFest Hub

Use our Dear Boss template to request budget to attend!

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The WTS team is growing (& we're so grateful!)

We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Hannah Smith to the WTS team as our Head of Content 🎉

Hannah has been part of WTS since the very beginning - from attending our very first meetup and speaking at early events, to emceeing WTSFest, supporting speakers, editing WTSKnowledge, and helping shape so many key initiatives over the years.

Hannah is also the founder of Worderist, where she supports agencies and in-house teams as a Fractional Head of Creative or PR, alongside consultancy, training, and coaching.

We can’t wait for you all to see what’s ahead 💗

Meet Hannah

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Job Openings in Client services and AEO & Inbound
​[WTSNewsletter Job Sponsor: withFrontier]

Senior SEO Manager (Health & Technology)

Salary: £45,000-£50,000
​Location: London (2–3 days/week)
​Details:
​→ Combine strong SEO fundamentals with emerging AI-search and GEO thinking
→ Collaborate closely with clients, teams, and decision-makers

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Senior SEO / GEO Consultant

Salary: £50,000-£65,000
​Location: London (3 days/week)
​Details:
​→ Senior authority role owning end-to-end SEO and GEO strategy
→ Work within a specialist agency environment

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Head of SEO / Search

Salary: £70,000-£80,000
​Location: London (3+ days/week)
​Details:
​→ Leadership role shaping the future of search
→ Own strategy across SEO, Digital PR, and AI-driven discovery

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Senior Technical SEO (Regulated Industries)

Salary: £80,000-£90,000
​Location: Fully remote (UK)
​Details:
​→ Hands-on senior technical SEO role (6+ years’ experience required)
→ Own complex technical SEO challenges at scale

Connect with James for details & to apply

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If you've made it this far, thank YOU!
​
​A reminder that everyone is more than welcome to subscribe!​
​
Our goal is to amplify all the brilliant folks of marginalised genders in our industry - so the more people who subscribe, the more amplification!

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☕ Buying us a coffee​
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As always, thanks for allowing us into your inbox!​
​- Areej, Erin, & Himee