Jason Barnard at BrightonSEO September 2019 - Autumn (Authoritas Livestream / Bias and Machine Learning)
September 12-13, 2019 - When Jason Barnard attended BrightonSEO in 2019, he wasn’t just participating in one of the world’s leading SEO conferences - he was connecting ideas, people, and data that would later form the foundation of The Kalicube Process™.
That year, Jason hosted a series of live interviews for Authoritas, speaking with digital leaders from across the industry. Those conversations - streamed from the Brighton conference floor - were later republished on his #SEOisAEO podcast, where they continued to shape discussions around entity optimization, machine learning, and the future of brand understanding online.
Through these sessions, collaborations, and thought leadership moments, Jason explored how brands could take control of their digital identity and teach Google - and, eventually, AI - who they are, what they do, and why they’re trusted.
The Authoritas Livestream - Turning Conversations Into Data
That year, Jason also collaborated with Authoritas, hosting a livestream and conducting a series of interviews with leading voices in SEO, branding, and data analysis.
Each discussion added a new layer to his research on how Google’s algorithms interpret and recommend entities.
Featured guests included:
- Ahmed Khalifa - on the importance of captions and subtitles for accessibility and SEO-friendly video publishing.
- Paul Bongers - exploring how SaaS startups can scale sustainably and optimize visibility in competitive spaces.
- Dixon Jones - discussing both the bias in the Knowledge Graph and his analytical model of the web in blocks, chunks, and fraggles through Majestic.
- Paul O’Donoghue - unpacking what “near me” searches and local intent reveal about user behavior and brand presence.
- Martha Van Berkel, Robin Allinson, and Dateme Tubotamuno - a roundtable on structured data, ontologies, and common-sense knowledge graphs.
- Paula Didone - reflecting on eCommerce and Amazon strategies with a realistic lens on brand competition.
These sessions, recorded live with Authoritas, were later released as part of Jason’s #SEOisAEO podcast series and across YouTube.
What 2019 Still Teaches Us in 2025
Looking back, BrightonSEO 2019 wasn’t just an event. It was a glimpse into today’s reality. Jason’s reflections remind us that bias, understanding, and reputation aren’t technical side notes - they’re the beating heart of modern digital strategy.
What started as conversations over seaside coffee has become a framework - The Kalicube Process - built to ensure that when AI “thinks fast,” it thinks right about your brand.
Because in a world where algorithms now decide who gets trusted, seen, and chosen, understanding isn’t optional. It’s everything.
