BrightonSEO

Search is the largest behavioural dataset in marketing: What billions of queries reveal about the future of discovery

Brighton, Spring 2026

As AI adoption and zero-click searches accelerate, the last-click model marketers have long relied on is finally exposed for what it always was: a convenient fiction. In this session, Philip Armstrong walks through the data behind the 'searchpocalypse', including findings showing that 80% of consumer journeys contain influential AI waypoints and 71% of AI users say it actively shapes their final purchase decision. Drawing on Semrush Journey clickstream data, Philip shows how AI doesn't just add a touchpoint, it shortcuts the entire decision-making process, collapsing consideration sets in ways traditional referral tracking completely misses. Attendees will leave knowing what their attribution stack isn't seeing, how AI and search interplay, and why the full consumer journey has never mattered more.

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About this session

Syndicate 1&2 - Anything is Possible stage, Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton and Hove, Brighton, BN1 2GR, United Kingdom

Fri 01 May, 2026 | 02:00 PM