The Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026 will put search strategy at the centre of the affiliate agenda with a dedicated Content & Discovery conference track, designed to help affiliates keep their content visible and reach new audiences in a rapidly shifting search landscape.
Held on Thursday, 1 October, the track assembles SEO specialists, affiliate leaders and performance marketers to debate the next phase of organic search, content strategy and paid acquisition.
It closes three days of programming on the Affiliate Leaders Summit Stage, following Platforms & Performance on Tuesday, 29 September, and Future of Affiliate Strategy on Wednesday, 30 September.
Sessions will focus on practical challenges: how affiliates can recover content dropped from search results, where to split budgets between SEO and paid media, and how to prepare for new discovery behaviours beyond traditional Google search.
“When you’ve spent years building an audience, it’s frustrating to see the approaches you’ve relied on start to lose ground. You’re still creating content and investing in your business, but getting people to find you is becoming a different challenge,” shared Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC. “We want affiliates to leave Lisbon with a clearer idea of where to invest their efforts. What needs changing? What still works? And what can they stop worrying about? Those are the questions we’re bringing experienced people together to tackle.”
Track highlights
Trapped by the System: How DMCA Stacking Creates an Endless Loop
SEO consultant Ivana Flynn opens the track by examining how repeated and overlapping copyright takedown notices can trap legitimate affiliate sites in an endless removal loop. She will outline how to manage complaints and recover pages in Google’s index once restrictions are lifted.
Gaming the Algorithm: The SEO Loopholes Still Working
SEO expert and YouTuber Stewart Vickers (SEO Jesus) will map current ranking gaps and surfacing mechanisms, highlighting the tactics SEO teams are exploiting now and how long these windows may remain open.
SEO vs Paid: The 2026 Power Shift. Can Affiliates Survive Without Paying to Play?
As ads occupy more SERP real estate, this panel asks whether affiliates can still win traffic without paying for it. Experts Sander Delabie (CEO & Founder, Clovio), Heitor Fonseca (Director of Marketing, F5 Media), Julia Logan (Head of SEO, AICT Media) and Jonathan Olsson (CMO, Match2One), moderated by Russell Yershon (Founder, Connectingbrands), will debate where to invest as organic visibility tightens and CPMs rise. The discussion will cover when SEO still pays off, when paid makes sense, and how to blend both without eroding margins.
What to Expect and How to Prepare for SEO in 2027: The Good, the Bad and the Crazy
Closing the track, Udit Bali (Founder, AdHook Media), Ivana Flynn and Stewart Vickers will forecast 2027, from AI answer engines to emerging discovery channels beyond Google, and what affiliates should be testing now.
Event details
The Affiliate Leaders Summit runs 29 September – 1 October 2026 at Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and MEO Arena, bringing together around 10,000 industry professionals for three days of networking, exhibition and education.
Attendance at the Content & Discovery track is reserved for Affiliate Leaders Summit VIP Pass holders. Affiliates and regulators may be eligible for a complimentary pass.
Find out more about the summit here
