Hey Reader,

​WTSGlobal is NEXT WEEK and we're so excited to be celebrating 7 years of WTS with our wonderful community 🫶🏽

Inside this week’s newsletter you’ll also find:

• Kelly Stanze on navigating your SEO career path
• Lily Ray's updated WTSInterview!
• Ellen Sartin on why local trust signals matter in AI search

Thank you to this week's WTSNewsletter sponsors:
​Canva, The Community Layer & Trendos.

Let's get started =)

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Brilliant work by our brilliant members
​​
1) Alice Rowan - 5 reasons why AI will not save your business or your marketing​

2) Amanda Milligan & Erin Simmons - Building meaningful marketing & careers through community​

3) Bengü Sarıca Dinçer - Building A GA4 Exploration Report To Measure Recognition Proxies​

4) Chima Mmeje - 7 Tips for Writing Great Content with ChatGPT or Gemini​

5) Lily Ray - It Works Until It Doesn't: AI Content Strategies That Backfire​

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​If you’d like to recommend resources for future editions (& yes, please recommend your own work!), fill out this form:

Recommend an Article

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🎨 3 free months of Canva Pro​
​[Headline Sponsor: Canva]

We are BIG fans of Canva - it's the official design tool of the WTS team!

So we're extra excited that the Canva team is giving us 3 months of Canva Pro free for WTSers like YOU 💗

If your on Canva free or just looking to up your game on content creative, metadata social share cards, presentations, & more - check it out!

They make it ridiculously easy to make stand out creative assets.

Use the promo code: WTSCOMMUNITY

Redeem 3 months free here

Please note: this offer is for users who aren’t currently on an active Canva Pro subscription.

Share your message with 9,000+ SEOs & Marketers -
​Transparent pricing & details​

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Our latest WTSKnowledge

There’s no one-size-fits-all path in SEO. The right career move depends on what matters most to you at each stage of life and work...

​Kelly Stanze breaks down how to:

• Understand the trade-offs between agency, in-house, & freelance
  ​
• Choose the right environment for your goals, lifestyle, & priorities
  ​
• Navigate career growth across traditional SEO & AI-driven roles
  ​
• Balance flexibility, stability, & ownership at different career stages

A successful SEO career isn’t linear, it’s about finding the path that works for YOU!

Navigate your SEO career

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Community Building Live Training Cohort
​[WTSSpotlight Feature: The Community Layer]

​Areej AbuAli and Erin Simmons are hosting a LIVE Community Building Training Cohort - and only TWO spots remain 💙💜

What started quietly a few weeks ago quickly gained momentum as more people shared why community building matters now more than ever.

The response has been incredible, and the cohort kicks off on June 4th!

Across 4 live, 90-minute sessions, attendees will learn about:
→ Strategic community positioning
→ Engagement & retention
→ Scaling & monetisation
→ Live builds & expert feedback

Designed for marketers, SEOs, founders, community managers & anyone building people-first communities

📅 Starts June 4

Join the Community Cohort

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An updated WTSInterview

Meet Lily Ray!

Lily is an NYC-based SEO & AI Search professional. With over 15 years of experience in the SEO industry, she is the founder of Algorythmic, an SEO and AI search consultancy, and VP of SEO & AI Search at Amsive.

Her work focuses on SEO & AI search optimization (AEO/GEO), E-E-A-T, Google Discover strategy, and the data behind Google's algorithm updates. She is an international keynote speaker and provides original research regularly featured and quoted in industry publications.

Read Lily's story here

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Your Competitors Are Buying Ads In ChatGPT
​[WTSPartner Feature: Trendos]

Most teams still don’t know what ChatGPT says about their brand.

Now there’s a bigger problem: competitors are paying to show up inside the AI answers your customers see every day - and there’s no ad library to catch it.

​Trendos just changed that.

Ad Radar monitors your tracked prompts, captures every sponsored placement, and surfaces exactly who is advertising, what they're saying, and how often they show up.

People asking ChatGPT for “best CRM” or “top project management tool” aren’t browsing - they’re deciding.

Trendos makes sure you know who’s in the room, tracking:

→ Impression share - see who dominates & where you have room
→ Ad titles & descriptions - exact copy & monitor real time message shifts
→ Final URL - understand their funnel strategy
​
​100 custom prompts included - see who’s buying ads next to your brand.

Try It For Free Today

Share your message with 12k+ WTSers, 60k social followers, & 9k email subscribers
​Transparent pricing & details​

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Why Local Trust Signals Matter in AI Search

AI visibility for local businesses depends on more than rankings. It depends on trust signals that help AI systems understand who you are, where you operate, & why your business matters locally.
​
​Ellen Sartin​ breaks down how to:

• Use local sponsorships to strengthen trust, relevance, & authority
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• Build AI-friendly local signals through real-world engagement
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• Turn nonprofit partnerships into long-term visibility opportunities
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• Track sponsorship impact across AI search, local rankings, & referral

Local visibility in AI search comes from building credible community connections that machines can recognise & trust.

Strengthen Local Trust Signals

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Your WTSFest conference countdowns

We'd love to see YOU at one of our upcoming full-day marketing events!

⏳ 134 days - Philadelphia on October 1st, 2026
​🎤 Speaker agenda now live

⏳ 303 days - London on March 19th, 2027
​🎟️ 12 super early bird tix (£299) before early bird tix (£399)

🎥 2026 On-demand Insights - From AI Search to Real Influence & Trust
​🎟️ $99 for all 10 talks

Our WTSFest Hub

Use our Dear Boss template to request budget to attend!

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🌍 WTSGlobal Week is NEXT WEEK

VIRTUAL MEETUPS 🌐 Yoast x WTSGlobal 🌐 WTSGlobal - Community Gathering 🇺🇸 Northern VA 🇫🇷 France 🇺🇸 Dallas

IN PERSON MEETUPS 🇦🇺 WiSDM Sydney 🌍 Search Africon Post Event 🇺🇸 Denver 🇬🇧 Sheffield 🇩🇪 Berlin 🇺🇸 Kansas City 🇩🇪 Hamburg 🇬🇧 Ledbury

Whether it’s a coffee, picnic, co-working session, net-walking meetup or virtual hangout, we can’t wait to see the community come together globally✨
​
​We’ll also be celebrating together with:​
⭐ A live WTSGlobal Gathering on May 28th
⭐ A 24-hour Slack celebration across timezones
⭐ Community celebrations shared across social media

Hosts, meetup details and RSVP information will be shared in our WTS Slack in the #wts-meetups channel!

Join the WTS Slack

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Help us keep WTS free & sustainable

We pay our authors, speakers & team to bring you helpful content like this.

We aim to always keep our content and community free and accessible.

If you've found value in WTS, please consider supporting us through our Buy Me a Coffee initiative.

Buy us a coffee 🫶🏽

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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!

As always, thanks for allowing us into your inbox!​

​- Areej, Erin, & Himee