The AI conversation in most business keynotes swings between two poles: breathless hype and vague warnings. I try to occupy the uncomfortable middle ground, which is where the useful information actually lives. I am an SEO practitioner who has spent the last several years building systems designed to be readable by both Google and the AI engines that are increasingly shaping how people find information — so I can speak about AI from the inside of how it interacts with content and business visibility, not just the outside of what the press releases say.

Why AI Search Specifically

Most AI keynotes focus on generative AI tools: ChatGPT for writing, image generators, productivity automation. Those are worth covering. But the topic that most directly affects revenue for businesses right now is AI search — the shift from Google returning ten links to Google, Perplexity, and ChatGPT generating an answer directly, often without a click to anyone’s website.

That is a structural change in how businesses get found. And most business leaders I talk to do not have a clear picture yet of what it means, what triggers a business to get cited in an AI answer versus ignored, and what they should actually change about their web presence in response. That gap is where I spend most of my keynote time.

What I Cover

How AI answer engines work: Not a computer science lecture, but a functional explanation of how systems like Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT search decide what information to surface and who to attribute it to. Understanding the inputs — structured data, entity relationships, content signals, link authority — gives businesses a clearer picture of where to focus.

Schema markup and entity authority: This is my specialty, and it is directly relevant to AI search. Schema markup is the technical layer that tells AI systems what your business is, what it does, and how it relates to the topics your customers search for. Businesses with well-built schema are more likely to be cited in AI-generated answers. I explain the mechanism and what it looks like in practice.

Generative AI in marketing workflows: Where AI tools genuinely save time, where they create quality and accuracy risks, and how to build a workflow that captures the benefits without the liabilities. This is a practical conversation, not a blanket endorsement or a warning.

What leadership needs to decide: Should we be publishing more content or different content? Should we be investing in technical SEO? What does success look like in a world where traffic patterns are changing? I give a framework for thinking through these questions, not a generic answer that pretends every business is the same.

Honest assessment of timeline: AI search is changing fast, and anyone who tells you they know exactly where it will be in three years is guessing. I share what I am watching, what seems durable, and what remains genuinely uncertain.

Audience Fit

This keynote works well for:

  • Executive leadership teams who need a strategic briefing on AI and search without getting lost in technical detail
  • Marketing conferences where AI is a track topic and the audience wants practitioner perspective, not vendor perspective
  • Business associations and chambers of commerce where members span multiple industries but share the common challenge of online visibility
  • Industry trade events where digital marketing is one of several priorities and AI has become unavoidable in the conversation

My Practitioner Perspective on AI

I run Salterra Digital Services, where I build schema systems and SEO strategies for real client sites. I teach at SEO University, where I cover AI search and structured data in every cohort because the students who complete those courses are going to be working in an AI-influenced search environment. I co-host SEOST, where AI in search has become a core conference topic because practitioners are watching their traffic data change in real time.

That practical context shapes how I talk about AI. I am not describing a theoretical future. I am describing what I see in analytics dashboards, in search console data, and in the structured data testing tools I use every day.

Format

The keynote runs 40 to 60 minutes. I can structure it as a pure presentation, a presentation with audience Q&A built in, or a fireside-style conversation if your event format calls for it. I am comfortable going unrehearsed on questions — I would rather have a real conversation than manage to a script.

For deeper engagement on AI and search topics, the SEO masterclass format gives attendees a structured half-day or full-day to go deep. The schema markup workshop is specifically about implementing the structured data signals that AI search engines rely on.

For a full picture of how I approach speaking, visit the SEO speaker page.