Premier Performance Marketing Conference Announces Comprehensive Two-Stage Agenda Highlighting SEO, AI, and Sustainable Growth
The Affiliate Leaders Summit is set to make its debut as a standalone event co-located with the SBC Summit, placing SEO, artificial intelligence, content, and performance marketing at the heart of its 2026 conference agenda. Taking place at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena in Lisbon from September 29 to October 1, the event will feature two dedicated stages and six specialized tracks addressing the evolving dynamics of the affiliate sector.
Two Dedicated Stages and Six Comprehensive Tracks
The event’s program is structured around two key content hubs designed to tackle the day-to-day challenges faced by industry professionals:
- Affiliate Leaders Stage: Explores changing traffic sources, tighter regulations, shifting audience behaviors, and the impact of AI across three main themes—Platforms & Performance, Future of Affiliate Strategy, and Content & Discovery. Day one focuses on breaking down silos between SEO, paid media, CRM, and content; day two examines compliance, market diversification, and sustainable growth; and day three looks at visibility amid the rise of generative search platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.
- Conversion Conf Stage: Delivered in partnership with Conversion Club, this stage addresses the practical mechanics of building and operating successful marketing businesses across three tracks: Scale, Growth, and AI. Discussions will cover predictable sales systems, scaling media-buying teams, user-generated content, and how AI-driven automation transforms workflows while preserving human judgment.
Daily Agenda Breakdown: What Delegates Can Expect
Day One: Platforms & Performance and the Scale Track
The opening day on the Affiliate Leaders Stage kicks off with a heavy focus on breaking down traditional silos between SEO, paid media, CRM, and content to build robust funnels that convert and retain audiences. Delegates will learn how behavioural data and stronger loyalty strategies can turn attention into retained players, particularly as traffic sources fragment and audiences move away from search towards AI and social discovery channels. The discussions will also address the decline of third-party cookies and why first-party data matters more than ever.
Simultaneously, the Scale track on the Conversion Conf Stage will examine what businesses need to move beyond their early stages without losing control. Topics will explore full-funnel B2B marketing, predictable sales systems, product-market fit, and scalable operations, alongside guidance on how founders can retain top talent and build leadership structures that support continued growth.
Day Two: Future of Affiliate Strategy and the Growth Track
Day two of the Affiliate Leaders Stage shifts attention to how tighter advertising rules, greater platform control, and rising acquisition costs are forcing affiliates to rethink sustainable growth. Sessions will cover how businesses can diversify across markets and revenue streams while remaining compliant, protect their operator relationships, and adapt as AI and fragmented player journeys place established affiliate models under pressure. Experts will also explore which content formats are still earning attention and where the sector’s next major commercial opportunities may emerge.
On the Conversion Conf Stage, the Growth track will focus on the channels and creative strategies delivering results in 2026. Discussions will cover scaling media-buying teams, creating high-converting user-generated content, and deciding whether influencer partnerships are better managed in-house or through external specialists. Delegates will also gain tactical insight into Telegram, TikTok, PPC, and the changing balance between professional production and AI-generated content.
Day Three: Content & Discovery and the AI Evolution
The final day of the Affiliate Leaders Stage examines how affiliates can remain visible as the balance between SEO and paid media shifts, and as generative platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews change how audiences find information. Sessions will highlight how AI can support traffic quality, fraud detection, and compliance, while further discussions will examine short-form content, generative engine optimisation, and building new audiences without sacrificing trust or quality.
Alongside this, the Conversion Conf Stage will analyze how AI is reshaping affiliate businesses from the inside out—from tools and agents automating entire workflows to the creative and trust-building challenges that AI cannot fully solve alone. The core focus remains on identifying where automation provides a genuine advantage versus where human judgment is essential.
Executive Insights on the 2026 Debut
Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and Founder of SBC, commented:
“Launching the Affiliate Leaders Summit as a standalone event lets us build the entire programme around what affiliate and performance marketing professionals are actually dealing with right now. Affiliates are under pressure to perform better while relying less on any single platform, as search, paid media and social all shift the ground beneath them, and AI reshapes how people find content. We’ve brought together the people tackling these issues day to day, so delegates leave with practical insight into what’s working now and where the next opportunities for sustainable growth are likely to come from.”
