Panels work when the speakers on stage have genuine differences of perspective and enough direct experience to hold a real conversation about a topic. I participate in panels on SEO, schema markup, and AI search because those are areas where I have done enough hands-on work to contribute something beyond rehearsed talking points. As an SEO panel speaker, my value is specific: I bring examples from actual client engagements, not conference-circuit generalities.

What I Bring to a Panel

My background is in technical SEO and custom schema markup, with clients worked through Salterra Digital Services over fourteen years. I also co-host the SEOST / SEO Spring Training conference with Clint Butler, which means I have been on both sides of the panel format — as a speaker and as the organizer deciding who belongs on stage. That second vantage point matters. I know what makes a panel useful for an audience versus what makes it a branded content exercise.

In a panel setting, I tend to do a few things consistently:

  • Bring specific examples from client work rather than speaking in generalities — real schema implementations, real crawl issues, real ranking timelines
  • Push back on claims I disagree with in a direct but not combative way
  • Translate technical points for audiences that are not deep practitioners
  • Be honest when I do not know something rather than bluffing through it

Why Panel Format Is Different From a Solo Talk

A keynote or breakout session lets you control the arc. A panel is reactive — the quality of your contribution depends on listening as much as talking, being able to pivot when the conversation goes somewhere unexpected, and knowing when to yield the floor rather than force a point. Those are separate skills from knowing your subject well.

The panels I find most useful for audiences are the ones with a moderator who has done their homework. A good moderator comes in with three or four pointed questions and lets the conversation develop, rather than reading a script of softballs. I am happy to have a pre-panel conversation with a moderator so they know enough about my background to ask me questions I can give a real answer to — and so I can flag in advance the angles where I have the most to contribute.

Topics I Panel Well On

Not every panel topic is one I should be on. The ones where I can contribute most:

  • Schema markup and structured data — implementation strategy, impact on search visibility, the gap between best practice and real-world results
  • AI search and generative engine optimization — what is changing, what teams should prioritize, what is overhyped in 2025 and 2026
  • Technical SEO — site architecture, crawl efficiency, audit methodology, what most audits miss
  • Content strategy for search intent — matching content depth to what a searcher actually needs at each stage
  • SEO education and how the field develops practitioners — informed partly by running SEO University
  • Conference and community building in the SEO industry

Topics I would decline: social media strategy, paid advertising, brand design, PR. Outside my lane, and a panelist who overreaches hurts the audience.

What the AI Search Conversation Looks Like Right Now

AI-driven search is where a lot of panel conversations are landing in 2025 and 2026, and it is an area where there is genuine disagreement worth discussing. The positions I hold and am willing to defend on a panel:

  • Generative engine optimization is real but mostly overlaps with what good SEO already does — structured data, clear entity definition, authoritative sourcing
  • Businesses chasing AI Overview placement before fixing their technical foundation are misallocating effort
  • Schema markup has become more important, not less, as AI systems use structured signals to decide what to surface
  • Perplexity and ChatGPT search are real traffic sources for some categories but not yet material for most local and service businesses

Those are debatable positions, which is what makes them useful for a panel. I am not there to deliver a lecture — I am there to have a real conversation with other practitioners who have seen different things and reached different conclusions.

Schema and Technical SEO Panel Angles

Schema markup is a narrower topic than general SEO, and it attracts a more technical audience. The questions that generate the most useful panel discussion in my experience:

  • How do you decide which schema types to implement beyond the basics — and how do you measure whether they are working?
  • What does a schema audit actually surface, and how do you prioritize fixes?
  • How has the relationship between structured data and AI-generated search results shifted in the last 12 months?
  • What are teams getting wrong about FAQ schema and HowTo schema since Google adjusted how it uses them?

I have formed opinions on all of these through client work, not just conference observation. That makes for a more honest panel contribution.

Virtual Panel Participation

I also participate in virtual panel formats. Video-based panels have become common enough that the format is familiar to audiences and the production requirements are not burdensome. For virtual panels, I prefer a pre-session audio/video check and at least a brief moderator conversation ahead of the live session — the same discipline I would apply to an in-person format.

What Organizers Should Know Before Inviting Me

I am not a fit for every panel. If the goal is a panel that stays safe and avoids friction, I am probably not the right choice — I tend to push back on things I think are wrong, and I am not interested in performing consensus that does not reflect what I actually see in client work. If the goal is a panel where the audience leaves with sharper questions and a clearer picture of where the field actually is, that is a better match.

I also do not treat a panel slot as a sales opportunity. I am not going to steer every answer toward booking a discovery call or mentioning my company. The audience deserves a genuine conversation, and organizers who have seen that approach tend to invite panelists back because their audiences found them credible rather than promotional.

Availability for Panels

I take panels selectively. The main filter is whether the topic is one I can genuinely contribute to and whether the other panelists are going to make it a real conversation rather than a marketing exercise. If you are building a panel on SEO or AI search and think I am a fit, send me the basics: topic, other confirmed speakers if any, format, and approximate date.

For solo speaking engagements — keynotes, workshops, or breakout sessions — the main SEO speaker page covers the full picture. If you want a sense of how I build a complete talk rather than a panel contribution, the how I prepare an SEO talk page is worth reading.