AEO and GEO moved from conference-hallway buzzwords to dedicated event tracks in under two years. Some of the events below are built specifically around AI search and generative-engine visibility; others are established SEO conferences that have added a serious AEO track. Both are worth knowing about — this list covers nine real, currently scheduled events for 2026, from a 150-seat working session in Manhattan to a free quarterly online summit.
Key Takeaways
- The most AEO/GEO-specific events in 2026 are The GEO Conference (New York and San Francisco), Masters of Search (Berlin), and Zero Click (five cities, free).
- Established SEO conferences with strong AEO/AI-search tracks — SEO Week, SMX Advanced, BrightonSEO, Ahrefs Evolve — are still the highest-attendance option if you want AEO content alongside broader SEO strategy.
- Ticket prices range from free (Zero Click, AI SEO & GEO Online Summit) to $900+ (The GEO Conference), so budget and format (intimate working session vs. large trade show) should drive your pick as much as topic focus.
- Dates and venues below were verified directly against each event's own site or a cross-referenced events roundup as of publication — always confirm on the organizer's page before booking, as conference schedules shift.
The 9 best AEO & GEO conferences in 2026
Conference | Dates | Location | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
The GEO Conference | Dec 4 (NYC) / Dec 9 (SF), 2026 | New York & San Francisco | 150-seat working session, single day |
Zero Click | Apr 8 (SF), Jun 11 (NYC), Oct 22 (London), Oct 27 (Sydney), Oct 29 (Singapore) | Five cities | Free, invite-request, single day per city |
Masters of Search | Oct 22, 2026 | Berlin | 175-seat working session, single day |
SEO Week 2026 | Apr 27–30, 2026 | New York City | Four-day, multi-track |
Demand & Expand 2026 | May 19–20, 2026 | San Francisco | Two-day, GTM + AEO/GEO strategy |
SMX Advanced 2026 | Jun 3–5, 2026 | Boston | Three-day, technical SEO + AI search |
BrightonSEO (US Edition) | Sep 15–16, 2026 | San Diego | Two-day, multi-track |
Ahrefs Evolve 2026 | Oct 12–13, 2026 (also Singapore, May 2026) | San Diego / Singapore | Two-day, data-driven SEO & AI search |
AI SEO & GEO Online Summit | Quarterly (next: Apr 1, 2026) | Virtual | Free, half-day online |
The GEO Conference
The most explicitly GEO-branded event on this list: "The Official Generative Engine Optimization Conference," run as an intentionally small working session rather than a trade show — organizers describe it as "no booths, no grand stages." The New York edition runs December 4, 2026 at Quorum, capped at 150 in-person seats; a San Francisco edition follows December 9, 2026 at Fort Mason Center, same format and cap. Sessions run 9:30 AM–3:00 PM and are not recorded or livestreamed. Tickets start at $900 (single), with per-seat discounts at 2+ and 3+ tickets.
Zero Click
Zero Click is a free, invite-request AEO conference series (run by Profound) spanning five cities in 2026: San Francisco (April 8), New York (June 11), London (October 22), Sydney (October 27), and Singapore (October 29). It's the lowest-barrier way to get in a room with AEO practitioners if you're outside the budget range of the paid events on this list, though seats are limited and allocated by request.
Masters of Search
A one-day, 175-seat event in Berlin (October 22, 2026) explicitly positioned around AI search's impact on revenue and pipeline rather than search theory — the organizers describe the target audience as "operators, not pundits" and exclude agencies purely prospecting for clients. Format is six keynotes, four workshops, a live podcast, and a panel. Early-bird tickets are €399 (through July 31), regular €499, VIP €999.
SEO Week 2026
A four-day, high-attendance event in New York City (April 27–30, 2026) covering enterprise SEO strategy with themed daily tracks; AEO and AI-search sessions run alongside traditional technical and content SEO tracks rather than as the sole focus. Single-day tickets start at $599 — a reasonable option if you want AEO content without committing to an AEO-only event.
Demand & Expand 2026
A two-day event in San Francisco (May 19–20, 2026) framed around growth systems that integrate SEO and AEO/GEO into broader go-to-market strategy, aimed at marketing leaders who need AI-search visibility to connect to pipeline and revenue reporting, not just traffic metrics.
SMX Advanced 2026
Boston, June 3–5, 2026. SMX Advanced is a long-running technical SEO event that has added AI-search depth for 2026; it's the better fit if your team needs enterprise-scale technical implementation detail (structured data, crawling, site architecture) alongside AEO strategy, rather than AEO in isolation.
BrightonSEO (US Edition)
San Diego, September 15–16, 2026. BrightonSEO's US edition runs multiple parallel tracks (Local, Technical, Digital PR among them), with AI-search and AEO content threaded through several tracks rather than isolated to one. Good option if your team wants to split up and cover more ground across specialties in two days.
Ahrefs Evolve 2026
San Diego, October 12–13, 2026, with a Singapore edition in May 2026 for APAC-based teams. Ahrefs Evolve leans data-driven — sessions are built around evidence-backed strategy for staying discoverable across both traditional and AI-driven search environments, consistent with Ahrefs' tooling focus.
AI SEO & GEO Online Summit
A free, quarterly virtual half-day summit (next edition April 1, 2026) focused on practical AI-search and GEO implementation. The obvious pick if travel budget is zero or your team is distributed — the tradeoff is the networking and hallway-conversation value that in-person events offer.
How to pick
- Want the most AEO-specific content, budget isn't the constraint: The GEO Conference (NYC or SF).
- Want AEO content for free, don't mind a request-based invite: Zero Click, whichever city is closest.
- Want AI-search strategy tied directly to revenue and GTM, in an intimate format: Masters of Search (Berlin) or Demand & Expand (SF).
- Want AEO as part of a broader SEO conference with bigger attendance and more networking surface area: SEO Week, SMX Advanced, BrightonSEO, or Ahrefs Evolve, picked by location and which track (technical vs. GTM vs. data-driven) fits your team.
- Zero travel budget: AI SEO & GEO Online Summit.
For a deeper look at what AEO and GEO actually mean if you're newer to the terminology going into any of these events, see what is AEO and AEO vs GEO.
FAQ
Are these conferences only for SEO/marketing agencies? No — several are explicitly built for in-house operators. Masters of Search excludes agencies that are purely prospecting for clients, and The GEO Conference and Demand & Expand are positioned around brand and growth teams applying AI-search strategy to their own pipeline, not agency pitch decks.
Do any of these conferences require an existing AEO tool subscription to attend? No, none of the events on this list require using any specific platform. They're independent of any single vendor, though vendors (including AI-visibility platforms) often sponsor or speak at the larger events like SEO Week and SMX Advanced.
Which of these is best for a first-time attendee with no AEO conference experience? The AI SEO & GEO Online Summit is the lowest-risk starting point — free, half a day, and quarterly, so you can attend without a major budget or time commitment before deciding whether an in-person event is worth the investment.
How far in advance should I book for the paid, capacity-limited events? The GEO Conference and Masters of Search both cap attendance (150 and 175 seats respectively) and have historically sold out — book as soon as dates are confirmed if you want a specific city or want to take advantage of early-bird pricing.
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