You can purchase a duplicate trophy from the Don't Panic trophy shop here post winners announcement and these deliveries are estimated to take 7-8 weeks once payment has been received for your order.
BEST USE OF SEARCH - RETAIL / ECOMMERCE (SEO)
Winner 2026
FRDT Lab & DIY Door Store
— Measure Twice, Rank Once: SERPrecon Intent to a $952K Quarter
"The Judges Thought...A highly original SEO campaign built around a genuinely insightful understanding of the ecommerce customer. The combination of audience-led strategy, strong technical foundations and confident commercial decision-making stood out, with every element clearly connected to the customer journey and business objectives."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - RETAIL / ECOMMERCE (PPC)
Winner 2026
Eight Oh Two & Pure Hockey
— Customer Acquisition & Reactivation
"The Judges Thought...An outstanding campaign demonstrating sophisticated lifecycle strategy and strong commercial discipline. The thoughtful approach to acquisition, reactivation and demand creation, combined with value-based bidding and broader channel integration, delivered impressive results while creating a scalable framework for sustainable ecommerce growth."
Silver 2026
Tombras & Sportsman’s Warehouse
— Hook, Line, and Margin: Reeling in +25% Profit in Q1 to beat Wall Street
"The Judges Thought...A highly impressive campaign demonstrating a clear shift from revenue-focused optimisation to true profitability. The technical innovation, sophisticated margin approach and strong commercial understanding were particularly notable, delivering meaningful business impact while working creatively around complex infrastructure."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - FINANCE (SEO)
Winner 2026
Victorious & Instant Financial
— Tipping the Scales for Finance SaaS
"The Judges Thought...A genuinely impressive entry, demonstrating a strong integrated operating model across markets and disciplines. The breadth of work, clear strategic focus and exceptional client retention make this a standout submission."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - FINANCE (PPC)
Winner 2026
Impressive & Texas Trust Credit Union
— Beyond the Click: How Smart PPC Turned Ad Spend into Funded Accounts
"The Judges Thought...A standout transformation that demonstrated just how powerful paid search can be when backed by strong strategic thinking. The team tackled significant tracking, compliance and account challenges head-on, moving beyond clicks to optimise for genuine business value and delivering results far beyond expectations."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - TRAVEL / LEISURE (SEO)
Winner 2026
Minty Digital & Dream Yacht Sales
— Making Waves in US Search
"The Judges Thought...What really impressed the judges was the team’s resourcefulness in overcoming genuine client-side challenges, rather than allowing them to become blockers. Building their own tools, maintaining strong communication and ultimately securing increased investment and additional brands is a fantastic endorsement of the work."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - TRAVEL / LEISURE (PPC)
Winner 2026
Sahara & Blue Car Rental
— Taking Search Share as the Market Shrank
"The Judges Thought...A standout PPC campaign demonstrating exceptional strategic discipline in a challenging market. The market-segmented approach, rigorous account rebuild and thoughtful response to rising costs delivered strong commercial outcomes, while the honest, evidence-led storytelling made the campaign particularly credible and compelling."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - THIRD SECTOR / NOT-FOR-PROFIT
Winner 2026
Tombras & NMDP
— Team Match: Real-Time Actions Save Lives
"The Judges Thought...A highly agile and creative campaign that demonstrated exceptional responsiveness to a rapidly changing opportunity. The team combined smart audience targeting with disciplined bid management, scaling activity quickly while maintaining strong efficiency. The clear execution and sustained impact made this a standout campaign."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - B2B (SEO)
Winner 2026
Victorious & Instant Financial
— Tipping the Scales for Finance SaaS
"The Judges Thought...A truly exceptional campaign, combining strategic precision, creative agility and impressive execution across three separate products. Working within a highly regulated and challenging industry, the team demonstrated remarkable creativity, particularly in responding rapidly to a live regulatory development to achieve outstanding AI Overview visibility."
Silver 2026
NUOPTIMA & Cortavo
— $403K in Contracted Sales at 4.6x ROI from SEO and AI Search
"The Judges Thought...A strong, commercially focused campaign with clear objectives and a thoughtful approach to understanding the B2B buying journey. The connection between search performance, stakeholder engagement and contracted revenue was particularly well evidenced, with impressive results demonstrating clear commercial value."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - B2C (SEO)
Winner 2026
Unframed Digital & Castelblanco Law Group
— From Invisible to In-Demand: 14x Clicks, 17x+ Impressions, and Consistent Lead Growth Across 15 Months of B2C Legal SEO
"The Judges Thought...An outstanding campaign demonstrating exceptional and sustained growth, with impressive gains in visibility, traffic and meaningful conversions. The transparent response to the algorithm update further highlights the strength and resilience of the approach."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - B2C (PPC)
Winner 2026
the7stars & Financial Times
— Using Value-Based Bidding to Drive Premium Subscriber Growth
"The Judges Thought...Choosing to optimise for fewer, higher-value subscribers rather than simply chasing conversion volume was a particularly smart decision. The use of proprietary lifetime value signals brought real sophistication to the strategy, while the strong results and thoughtful reporting demonstrated excellent commercial judgement."
Silver 2026
ATRA & Science Care
— Closed-Loop Optimization From Search Visibility to Verified Donor Acquisition
"The Judges Thought...A very strong example of PPC being aligned with genuine business value rather than simply lead volume. The thoughtful campaign restructure, connection between audience and downstream outcomes, and clear commercial gains demonstrate excellent strategic execution."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - B2B (PPC)
Winner 2026
Forthea & Cemex Direct
— High-Intent PPC for Bay Area Concrete
"The Judges Thought...A well-executed B2B campaign demonstrating strong strategic thinking and a clear understanding of PPC’s role in a complex market. The approach to overcoming limited data volume was particularly smart, with thoughtful implementation, transparent reporting and solid results supporting the overall strategy."
Silver 2026
JJ Koch & Deposco
— Pipeline Over Clicks: Same Demand, 180% More Pipeline
"The Judges Thought...A particularly strong B2B PPC campaign with a clear focus on commercial value rather than surface-level metrics. The thoughtful approach to attribution, bidding strategy and optimisation demonstrated strong strategic maturity, with disciplined decision-making and a clear understanding of the realities of long B2B sales cycles."
BEST USE OF SEARCH – HEALTH
Winner 2026
Pero SEO, Inc. & Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)
— How Pero SEO Used Animation to Reclaim and Deliver Record Traffic for CHLA.
"The Judges Thought...A highly creative and focused campaign that demonstrated an excellent understanding of the health audience and evolving search landscape. The team identified a clear opportunity, executed it brilliantly across multiple search surfaces, and delivered a simple, effective solution to a complex challenge."
Silver 2026
beMarketing & A Guide to Wellness
— Multi-State Mental Health Lead Generation Through Intent-Based Search Strategy
"The Judges Thought...A strong, well-structured campaign demonstrating a clear understanding of search intent within a challenging, highly regulated industry. The thoughtful multi-channel approach, transparent objectives and disciplined execution delivered meaningful results and showcased a sophisticated understanding of the healthcare audience."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - AUTOMOTIVE
Winner 2026
Honest Digital & Mercedes-Benz Atlanta South
— Tripling Inventory Visibility in Modern Search
"The Judges Thought...A strategically smart and agile campaign that showed a deep understanding of changing automotive search behaviour. The focus on transactional intent, vehicle detail pages and local optimisation was particularly effective, combining strong SEO fundamentals with thoughtful execution and clear commercial focus."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY
Winner 2026
Forthea & Embrey
— Turning the Tide: A Data-Driven SEO Turnaround for The Artesian at Bee Cave
"The Judges Thought...Sometimes the smartest SEO strategy is knowing what not to rebuild. Faced with a challenging market and declining organic performance, the team identified a more valuable opportunity in hyperlocal search intent and repositioned existing assets accordingly. The resulting recovery in visibility and commercial performance made this a particularly compelling entry."
BEST USE OF SEARCH - FASHION
Winner 2026
AIMCLEAR
— 2 Agency Puckheads Overturned Sports Sweater Brand’s SEO Technical Debt & AEO Semantics: Half a Mill' for $14K
"The Judges Thought...An exceptional campaign combining rigorous SEO strategy with genuine customer insight. The disciplined technical foundations, evidence-led decision-making and clever use of customer feedback to shape both content and product development demonstrated impressive strategic thinking and delivered outstanding results."
BEST LOCAL CAMPAIGN (SEO)
Winner 2026
GLIDE & Austex Fence and Deck
— Intent Over Volume: 825% Lead Growth in the AI Search Era
"The Judges Thought...A standout campaign that prioritised intent and business impact over traffic volume, delivering exceptional lead growth and conversions while tackling significant technical and local search challenges."
Silver 2026
Honest Digital & Mercedes-Benz Atlanta South
— Tripling Inventory Visibility in Modern Search
"The Judges Thought...A smart, well-executed campaign combining technical and content improvements with a strong understanding of user journeys, delivering excellent results despite a challenging search market."
BEST LOCAL CAMPAIGN (PPC)
Winner 2026
B&G Collective & Parkline Contracting
— Owning Richmond's Remodeling Market with Margin-Paced PPC
"The Judges Thought...A standout campaign that went beyond simply optimising PPC performance, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of how the client’s business operates. Aligning budget with crew capacity, project margin and core services was particularly impressive, delivering substantial commercial results and genuine value beyond the campaign itself."
Silver 2026
beMarketing & Z Urology
— Hyper-Local Multi-Location PPC Strategy for Patient Acquisition Across South Florida
"The Judges Thought...A strong and thoughtfully structured campaign, with geographic and service-line segmentation used particularly effectively. The clear rebuild strategy, careful keyword refinement and highly relevant messaging delivered impressive results despite a modest investment."
BEST LOW BUDGET CAMPAIGN (SEO)
Winner 2026
Honest Digital & Mercedes-Benz Atlanta South
— Tripling Inventory Visibility in Modern Search
"The Judges Thought...A highly focused campaign that delivered impressive results through smart, locally relevant SEO. The strategic approach was particularly strong, balancing traffic protection in a declining market with targeted growth, while thoughtful execution and efficient use of resources demonstrated excellent value from a limited budget."
BEST LOW BUDGET CAMPAIGN (PPC)
Winner 2026
Synergize & Greater New York TDA
— EV Conquest Pmax: Winning Competitor Market Share on a $4K Budget
"The Judges Thought...Competing with much larger advertisers on a modest investment, this campaign found a smarter way to make every pound work harder. A well-defined objective, a clever change in approach and exceptionally strong efficiency gains made this a compelling example of what can be achieved with a limited PPC budget."
BEST INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN
Winner 2026
AIMCLEAR & Lightspeed DMS
— Paid. Organic. Social. $10M. Done.
"The Judges Thought...A highly integrated campaign with a clear connection between strategy, execution and commercial outcomes. The coordination of paid and organic search, combined with closed-loop measurement and a smart response to AI search challenges, demonstrated a genuinely joined-up approach that delivered meaningful impact."
MOST INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGN (SEO)
Winner 2026
First Optimise & Koupon.ai
— The Challenger's Comeback: From 2 Pages to Page One
"The Judges Thought...A genuinely innovative campaign built around an exceptionally bold SEO decision. The team demonstrated outstanding technical understanding and strategic conviction, tackling a highly complex challenge with a carefully considered, reversible approach. The combination of innovation, transparency and team collaboration made this campaign truly stand out."
Silver 2026
SINE Digital & Broadway Direct
— Setting The Stage For Search Success
"The Judges Thought...A highly innovative campaign demonstrating a forward-thinking approach to SEO, AI and automation. The intelligent use of MCP connectors and live data, combined with clear objectives and strong measurement, showcased how search can be integrated into a broader, user-focused digital strategy with impressive results."
MOST INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGN (PPC)
Winner 2026
Synergize & Greater New York TDA
— Reinventing Automotive Conquest Through AI-Powered Performance Max
"The Judges Thought...What makes this campaign particularly deserving of recognition is the way it rethought a well-established PPC challenge. Using AI-driven audience discovery instead of competing directly for costly competitor terms was genuinely innovative, delivering a striking improvement in both efficiency and lead generation."
BEST PPC CAMPAIGN
Winner 2026
LOCOMOTIVE & VOYA
— The PPC Overhaul That Unlocked Growth Across Three Markets
"The Judges Thought...A strong, commercially focused campaign demonstrating excellent platform expertise and disciplined execution across multiple markets. The strategic rebuild, creative testing and transparent approach to attribution were particularly impressive, turning challenging starting conditions into meaningful results while building sustainable performance for the brand."
BEST SEO CAMPAIGN
Winner 2026
First Optimise & Koupon.ai
— The Challenger's Comeback: From 2 Pages to Page One
"The Judges Thought...A standout campaign demonstrating exceptional technical SEO expertise, bold strategic thinking and excellent client collaboration. The team tackled a complex recovery challenge with a brave, evidence-led approach, delivering meaningful growth while embedding SEO into the client’s wider development and digital strategy."
BEST AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION CAMPAIGN
Winner 2026
Acadia & AirSculpt
— Optimizing Visibility in the AI Search Era
"The Judges Thought...A highly thoughtful and comprehensive AI search campaign, combining strong strategic rationale with large-scale visibility analysis and sophisticated technical execution. The focus on understanding AI-driven search behaviour, supported by compelling evidence of conversion impact, made this a particularly impressive entry."
Silver 2026
JJ Koch & Deposco
— Pipeline Over Prompts: An Attribution Model for AI Search
"The Judges Thought...A highly impressive, data-driven approach to AI search optimisation, grounded in genuine buyer language rather than assumptions. The connected attribution, analytics and tracking framework was particularly strong, creating a credible way to measure AI search impact through the pipeline and commercial journey."
BEST USE OF CONTENT MARKETING
Winner 2026
Re:signal & Self Financial
— Side Hustle Statistics
"The Judges Thought...The strongest-performing entry in the category, combining genuinely smart audience insight with a highly effective content strategy. The quality of the thinking behind the campaign was matched by exceptional results, creating both significant visibility and lasting value for the client."
BEST USE OF DATA (SEO)
Winner 2026
DIY Door Store
— Unhinged Growth Training Agents to Sell Doors: The SERPrecon Signal
"The Judges Thought...A highly rigorous and thoughtful data-led SEO campaign, underpinned by a genuinely scientific approach to testing and validation. The disciplined methodology, careful control of variables and innovative use of search-intent architecture demonstrated how data can drive confident, evidence-based SEO decisions."
BEST USE OF DATA (PPC)
Winner 2026
Eight Oh Two & Pure Hockey
— Customer Acquisition & Reactivation
"The Judges Thought...The level of analytical rigour here really set the entry apart. Customer lifecycle data was used with real sophistication to shape segmentation and investment, while the depth of validation and transparency around performance gave us genuine confidence in the results."
Silver 2026
ATRA & Medical Monks
— How Profit Data Powered Scalable Growth
"The Judges Thought...The commercial thinking behind this campaign was a real strength, moving beyond revenue to focus on profitability as the true measure of success. Strong technical execution and a clear connection between first-party data and business outcomes made this a highly effective approach and a worthy silver."
BEST USE OF AI IN PPC
Winner 2026
ATRA & Medical Guardian
— Using AI-Powered PPC Optimization to Scale Profitable Growth
"The Judges Thought...A highly effective use of AI that goes beyond standard automation, with verified sales data feeding back into the platforms to create a far stronger optimisation signal. The clear strategy, commercial focus and closed-loop approach demonstrated genuine innovation, backed by strong results."
BEST USE OF AI IN SEARCH
Winner 2026
Flow Agency & Forcepoint
— Breaking Into a New Product Category in AI Search & Turning It Into Pipeline
"The Judges Thought...The sophistication of this approach really stood out, moving beyond traditional search to address the complexities of optimising for AI-driven discovery. The evolution into an automated, agentic workflow was particularly impressive, with compelling evidence that the strategy translated into meaningful commercial growth."
BEST USE OF AI IN CONTENT
Winner 2026
Acadia & AirSculpt
— Scaling High-Authority Medical Content with AI
"The Judges Thought...A thoughtful and purposeful use of AI in a challenging healthcare category. The campaign stood out for using AI to improve auditing, consolidation, localisation and content planning rather than simply generating more content, while retaining strong human oversight and delivering meaningful results."
BEST USE OF AI FOR DATA
Winner 2026
Honest Digital
— Reverse Engineering AI Search
"The Judges Thought...What really sets this tool apart is the thoughtful balance between AI automation and human control. The architecture feels genuinely designed for the future of PPC, while the strong evidence of time saved and operational impact demonstrates that the innovation delivers meaningful value in practice."
BEST SOFTWARE INNOVATION
Winner 2026
Adthena’s AI Overview Dashboard
— Protecting performance in the AI era
"The Judges Thought...A genuinely innovative solution addressing one of the biggest challenges facing search marketers today. The combination of actionable AI Overview insights, competitor intelligence and paid performance modelling makes this a highly relevant and commercially valuable product, backed by strong evidence of real-world impact."
BEST PPC MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SUITE
Winner 2026
Optmyzr
— Powered by AI, Controlled by Humans
"The Judges Thought...There is a lot more here than an impressive feature list. Years of PPC expertise have clearly shaped a sophisticated platform where AI and automation are grounded in real-world optimisation logic, giving advertisers a powerful and proven way to manage performance at scale."
BEST SEARCH SOFTWARE TOOL
Winner 2026
PPC Mastery
— PPC OS
"The Judges Thought...Automation with guardrails is a powerful combination. This tool brings together AI, specialist knowledge and connected workflows while keeping people firmly in control of the decisions that matter. The result is a genuinely forward-thinking approach to search software, backed by striking improvements in day-to-day efficiency."
BEST AI SEARCH SOFTWARE SOLUTION
Winner 2026
Adthena’s AI Overview Dashboard
— Protecting performance in the AI era
"The Judges Thought...A genuinely innovative solution to one of the biggest challenges facing search marketers today. By connecting AI Overview visibility with paid search performance, this product turns a rapidly changing search landscape into actionable intelligence. Strong commercial evidence, rapid adoption and measurable client impact made this a standout entry and a highly deserving winner."
BEST LLM ADOPTION & INTEGRATION BY AN AGENCY/IN-HOUSE TEAM
Winner 2026
DIY Door Store & DemandSphere
— Marketing Through the System: The AI Stack That Out-Ranked Home Depot
"The Judges Thought...A highly practical and well-governed application of LLM technology, focused on a clearly defined problem where AI could add genuine value. The human-in-the-loop approach was particularly strong, combining automation with appropriate oversight and a clear, evidence-led implementation process."
BEST IN-HOUSE TEAM
Winner 2026
Slack SEO
"The Judges Thought...A highly impressive in-house team demonstrating both strong SEO performance and genuine organisational impact. The clear evidence of growth, executive buy-in and a shift in how SEO is valued across the business was particularly compelling, showing strategic leadership beyond channel performance alone."
Silver 2026
DIY Door Store & DemandSphere
— The 35-Person Door Company Outrunning Big Box Retailers
"The Judges Thought...A strong in-house team demonstrating clear strategic thinking, adaptability and impressive ownership of the search function. The honest analysis of performance, thoughtful approach to bringing capabilities in-house and detailed delivery against objectives showed a mature, commercially focused team with genuine impact."
EMERGING TALENT AWARD
Winner 2026
Sydney Martin - Forthea
"The Judges Thought...A truly impressive emerging talent with a strong combination of technical capability, initiative and industry engagement. From innovative AEO work and ambitious client projects to mentoring colleagues and contributing to the wider agency, Sydney has demonstrated a clear commitment to making an impact."
BEST SMALL PPC AGENCY
Winner 2026
Blackbird PPC
"The Judges Thought...The quality of the thinking behind this agency's work was particularly impressive. Advanced measurement, rigorous experimentation and strong commercial outcomes demonstrated a level of PPC sophistication that belied its size, backed by an enviable client base and outstanding client relationships."
BEST LARGE PPC AGENCY
Winner 2026
LOCOMOTIVE
"The Judges Thought...What impressed us most was the agency’s willingness to tackle the difficult problems first. Prioritising accurate tracking, feed infrastructure and attribution over quick wins showed real PPC discipline, while the ability to turn that expertise into repeatable processes demonstrates a genuinely mature agency approach."
BEST SMALL SEO AGENCY
Winner 2026
Hive Digital
"The Judges Thought...A highly transparent and compelling agency entry, demonstrating a strong team culture, technical expertise and clear commercial focus. The detailed client examples were particularly effective, showing a disciplined approach to diagnosing challenges, delivering results and building long-term client relationships."
Silver 2026
Kanbar Digital LLC
"The Judges Thought...A strong small agency demonstrating clear commercial focus, deep SEO expertise and a mature, data-driven approach. The repeatable methodology, integration of GEO and SEO with CRO, and focus on developing team capability showed an agency thinking beyond individual client wins."
BEST LARGE SEO AGENCY
Winner 2026
Honest Digital
"The Judges Thought...A really impressive body of work, with the agency consistently turning complex client challenges into effective, measurable solutions. The breadth across sectors was a real strength, while the Volvo research and exceptional AI visibility results provided a particularly convincing demonstration of market impact."
BEST SMALL INTEGRATED SEARCH AGENCY
Winner 2026
AIMCLEAR
— RE-Founded
"The Judges Thought...A standout agency demonstrating genuine innovation, adaptability and a strong commitment to the evolving search landscape. The combination of AI-driven measurement, experienced human expertise and integrated search capabilities was particularly impressive, backed by credible client work and a clear focus on delivering value."
BEST LARGE INTEGRATED SEARCH AGENCY
Winner 2026
LOCOMOTIVE
"The Judges Thought...A consistently excellent and well-evidenced entry, demonstrating a genuinely integrated approach across markets and disciplines, with impressive client retention and a diverse range of high-quality work."
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Testimonials
"This is an extraordinary honor for the company at the US Search Awards, held annually to recognize the ever-expanding world of search marketing, is known for being the premier celebration of SEO, PPC, and content marketing in various territories across the globe."
beMarketing
"The US Search Awards ceremony is a momentous event in the digital marketing industry, celebrating outstanding achievements and innovation within the sector. Block & Tam’s multiple nominations underscore their dedication to excellence and their ability to consistently exceed client expectations."
Block & Tam
"These nominations are confirmation that we have created an excellent software offering that agencies are finding essential to their client work and strategic planning."
Manick Bhan, CTO LinkGraph
"Report Builder 2.0 is the best reporting tool on the market and deserves to be recognized as such. Plus, it has the power to change the industry, so reaching the final of the US Search Awards and getting the thumbs up from the expert judges helps take us one step further towards the change the industry needs when it comes to reporting."
Dragon Metrics
"As a company that has submitted to the US Search Awards in the past, we're thrilled to say that the US Search Awards is a platform that celebrates excellence and innovation in the search industry. Participating in this prestigious event not only provided us with unparalleled recognition but also offered us an invaluable opportunity to connect with the best in the field. The US Search Awards is a beacon of inspiration, pushing us to strive for higher standards and achieve greater success in our digital endeavours."
Ryan Edwards
Tombras
Tombras
"Winning these awards is a huge deal for our business, it encourages the team members to know that what they do is verifiably excellent, and it encourages the clients who see the value in our offerings when it comes to generating business and brand awareness on their behalf."
Tobias La Cour Somebody Digital
"From the moment we submitted our entry, the Don’t Panic team has been nothing short of excellent. The entry process was clear and well-structured, and the communication has been top-notch. We truly appreciated the transparency, the reminders, and the sense of excitement leading up to the shortlist."
rankingCoach
"Working with Don’t Panic on the US Search Awards was a genuinely pleasant experience. Despite being based across the Atlantic, the team was consistently responsive, professional, and a pleasure to speak with over the phone. Their attention to detail and smooth coordination made the entire process seamless. We’re thrilled to be finalists in our submission category and are grateful for the positive experience throughout."
Evan Burr Level Agency
Awards Ceremony
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