News & Editorial SEO Summit NESS 2025

NESS 2025

The 2025 edition of the News and Editorial SEO Summit (NESS) was the fourth edition of our online event dedicated to all the things news publishers need to know to help them grow their organic search traffic.

The 2025 edition was held on 21 & 22 October 2024, and featured these amazing speakers:

• Keynote Speaker: Mike King – iPullRank
  • Session Title: Keynote: The Future of SEO
  • Summary: Mike King shares his expert insights on the direction and changes expected in the SEO landscape.
• Speaker: Lily Ray – Amsive
  • Session Title: Google Discover in 2025: A Data-Driven Deep Dive into What Works
  • Summary: An analysis of 5 million URLs from 80+ websites to share insights, trends, and data on how to drive the most traffic from Google Discover while balancing an effective SEO/AEO strategy.
• Speaker: Dixon Jones – InLinks
  • Session Title: Using Entity analysis to improve your SEO and your GEO at the same time.
  • Summary: Offers a framework for creating a workflow to improve content quality and accuracy based on Entity analysis, helping to measure the quality of LLM responses and spot hallucinations.
• Speaker: Nicole Rocchio – Global News Consumer Insights
  • Session Title: Google News Consumer Insights for News Publishers.
  • Summary: A walkthrough of the free Google News Consumer Insights (NCI) tool, demonstrating how publishers can use its recommendation engine to connect Google products (GA4, Search Console, etc.) and get actionable advice for audience and revenue growth.
• Speaker: James Carson – Absolutely Agentic
  • Session Title: AI Agents for News SEO
  • Summary: Agents are the AI buzzword for 2024 but what do they really mean in a news context? With extensive experience in SEO and social media research for news organizations, including a ringside seat for the 2024 US election, James Carson will talk through the theory and practice in agentic newsroom adoption.
• Speaker: Marie Haynes – Consulting Inc.
  • Session Title: AI Mode, AI Agents, AI In Wearables – The Online World Is About To Dramatically Change!
  • Summary: Details how Google’s AI Mode, Agent2Agent framework, and wearable tech are reshaping search and online visibility, and what this means for the future of businesses.
• Speaker: John Shehata – NewzDash
  • Session Title: How to Survive in AI-First Era: News Visibility Tracking & Optimization
  • Summary: John breaks down how Google’s AI Overviews and chatbots are transforming visibility and publisher revenue. Includes the 11-step Publisher Survival Playbook—practical actions to optimize for AI citations and build sustainable models in an AI-first world.
• Speaker: Maddie Shepherd – CBS News and Stations
  • Session Title: The Art—And Science—Of Earning The Click
  • Summary: Explores the impact of 0-click searches and “NavBoost” on news SEO. Learn practical newsroom tactics to engage journalists and grow your Click-Through Rate (CTR).
• Session: News SEO Career Panel
  • Speakers: Carly Steven (Daily Mail), Marshall Simmonds (DeFine Media Group), Rachel Heseltine (Paramount), Barry Adams (Polemic Digital), and John Shehata (NewzDash).
  • Summary: An expert discussion focused on career paths, challenges, and opportunities within the News SEO industry.
• Speaker: Steven Wilson-Beales – Global
  • Session Title: From Views to Victory: Cracking the YouTube Algorithm
  • Summary: Provides optimization strategies to improve your YouTube output for better engagement, capitalizing on the growing audience flocking to the platform.
• Speaker: Harry Clarkson-Bennett – The Telegraph
  • Session Title: Revenue: How The Hell Do We Make Money Now?
  • Summary: As a premium publisher, Harry explores insights into how paywalls work in search and how Google/users interpret them. He discusses revenue options and how SEOs can contribute to business success.
• Speaker: Erin Hallstrom – Endeavor Business Media
  • Session Title: B2B Newsrooms SEO
  • Summary: Addresses the major shifts in SEO for B2B newsrooms, focusing on the challenges posed by Google’s AI Overviews and the emphasis on E-E-A-T signals when covering products not used firsthand. Shares findings from Endeavor Business Media’s research study.
• Speakers: Barry Adams (Polemic Digital) & Christine Liang (The New York Times)
  • Session Title: Technical SEO In The Age Of AI
  • Summary: Explores how crawlable and indexable websites remain foundational for organic visibility in both classic search and AI-generated search. They present technical SEO insights for maximizing growth across all platforms.
• Session: Ask the News SEOs Panel
  • Speakers: Edward Hyatt (WSJ), Nicola Agius (Reach PLC), Jessie Willms (Guardian), Barry Adams (Polemic Digital), and John Shehata (NewzDash).
  • Summary: An opportunity for the audience to ask direct questions to a panel of top news SEO experts.
• Session: Future of SEO Panel
  • Speakers: Mike King (iPullRank), Kevin Indig (Growth Memo), Barry Schwartz (RustyBrick, Inc), Barry Adams (Polemic Digital), and John Shehata (NewzDash).
  • Summary: A high-level discussion among industry thought leaders on where SEO is heading and how to prepare for future changes.