Pubcon
Pubcon is a privately-held conference company founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, producing digital marketing and AI search conferences for SEO professionals, agency owners, and enterprise marketers through virtual events (Pro Virtual, Cyber Week) and in-person events in Las Vegas and Austin.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pubcon does
Pubcon is a privately-held conference and events company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, that produces digital marketing conferences focused on SEO, social media, paid media, and AI search optimization. The company serves digital marketing professionals, technical SEOs, content strategists, PPC managers, agency owners, and enterprise in-house marketers through both virtual and in-person event formats. Core products include Pubcon Pro Virtual (a single-track live virtual conference with bundled access to the last three events' replays), Cyber Week (a two-day online tactical conference), Pubcon Las Vegas (the flagship in-person event drawing approximately 3,000 attendees annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center), and Pubcon Austin (a single-day in-person conference at the AT&T Conference Center). An optional Masters Group Training add-on and virtual expo booth sponsorships round out the product portfolio. The company is marking its 25th anniversary in 2025 and is recognized by Forbes as a must-attend conference and by Inc. as a top conference for growing businesses.
The underlying technology is a conference management and virtual event platform with an on-demand replay library containing over 120 hours of session recordings, slides, downloads, and transcripts. Revenue is generated through three streams: conference pass sales (live virtual and in-person access), multi-tier sponsorship packages (Platinum $3,000, Gold $2,000, Silver $750, plus à la carte options ranging from $200-$750), and replay archive subscriptions. Sponsorship packages include virtual expo booths with embedded product demo videos, lead-generation CTAs, sponsored keynote intros, session replay watermarks, and ClickLife newsletter features. Go-to-market is event-driven, leveraging the pubcon.com website, ClickLife email newsletter, social media presence, and the owned WebmasterWorld/SearchEngineWorld media properties for organic attendee acquisition. Distribution is direct-to-customer via the secure.pubcon.com registration portal, serving primarily North American markets. Brett Tabke serves as founder; Neil Marshall is Director of Forum Operations. The company has no disclosed funding rounds, no institutional investors, no acquisitions, and no patent portfolio, consistent with a founder-controlled lifestyle business.
Pubcon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pubcon
- Legal name
- Pubcon Inc.
- Website
- https://pubcon.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pubcon is a privately-held conference company founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, producing digital marketing and AI search conferences for SEO professionals, agency owners, and enterprise marketers through virtual events (Pro Virtual, Cyber Week) and in-person events in Las Vegas and Austin.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pubcon industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Marketing Conferences and Events
- NAICS
- Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Conference Centers & Dedicated Meeting Venues (THAHAAAB)
Keywords
Where Pubcon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Pubcon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Conference Registration: Revenue from selling conference passes for in-person and virtual events including Pro Virtual conferences and Cyber Week events. Passes include live access and replay video access.
- Sponsorship Packages: Multiple sponsorship tiers (Platinum $3000, Gold $2000, Silver $750, and à la carte options) for Cyber Week events including keynote intros, virtual expo booths, session replays, track sponsorship, and virtual roundtable hosting.
- Replay Archive Access: Video replay access to last 3 conferences included with conference pass; standalone access to replay library for past events.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Platinum Sponsorship - Full featured sponsor package |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Gold Sponsorship - Enhanced visibility package |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Silver Sponsorship - Basic sponsor visibility |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Sponsored Session Replays |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Virtual Expo Booths |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Various à la carte sponsorship options |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Pubcon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pubcon is a conference and events company that produces live in-person and virtual conferences for digital marketing professionals, with a focus on search engine optimization, AI search, and generative engine optimization (GEO). The company sells conference passes providing access to single-track and multi-track sessions, keynotes, workshops, networking events, and on-demand replays through a 120+ hour content library. It also sells multi-tier sponsorship packages and virtual expo booths to agencies and technology platforms that want visibility with the marketing audience.
Product overview
Pubcon is a conference and events company offering multiple product lines: Pubcon Pro Virtual (live virtual conferences with replay access), Cyber Week (online multi-day tactical sessions), and in-person events (Las Vegas, Austin). The core offering consists of conference passes providing access to sessions on SEO, AI search, GEO, PPC, and digital marketing. Additional offerings include optional Masters Group training programs and virtual expo booth sponsorship opportunities. All events feature speaker sessions, keynotes, and networking opportunities for marketers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Pubcon Pro Virtual Live virtual conference platform providing real-time access to single-track sessions on GEO, AI search, and digital marketing strategies, with full on-demand replay access to previous events for senior marketers, agency leads, and in-house teams.
- Pubcon Cyber Week Two-day online multi-day conference featuring fast, tactical sessions on SEO, AI search, analytics, and paid media, with virtual expo booths, sponsored sessions, and on-demand replay access for SEOs, PPC leads, and digital marketing operators.
- Pubcon Las Vegas Annual flagship in-person conference held at the Las Vegas Convention Center featuring multi-track sessions on search, social media, and digital marketing for enterprise marketers, agency leaders, and SEO professionals.
- Pubcon Austin Single-day in-person conference held at the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin, focused on social media, search, and digital marketing topics.
- Pubcon Masters Group Training Optional professional day-long multi-track training program available as an add-on to conference attendance, offering in-depth workshops on search, social media, and digital marketing topics.
Quantifiable outcome
- 3,000+ annual attendees at Las Vegas events
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Pubcon
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pubcon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Pubcon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- Tandem InteractiveminorSponsor for Pro Virtual and Cyber Week conferences. Joe Laratro from Tandem Interactive appears as keynote panelist.
- Web Traffic AdvisorsminorSponsor for Pubcon conferences with Chris Boggs as featured speaker on schema and structured data.
- Brick MarketingminorConference sponsor supporting Pubcon Pro Virtual and Cyber Week events.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Pubcon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Moz (MozCon): MozCon is a leading SEO and digital marketing conference operated by Moz, one of the most recognized SEO tool brands. It directly competes with Pubcon for the same SEO practitioner and agency audience on a similar annual event cadence.
- Search Engine Land (SMX): SMX (Search Marketing Expo) is a long-running search marketing conference series run by Search Engine Land, a Third Door Media property. It competes head-to-head with Pubcon Las Vegas for SEO and PPC attendees and sponsors.
- Content Marketing World: Content Marketing World is the flagship event of the Content Marketing Institute and a large annual gathering for content, SEO, and digital marketing professionals. It overlaps with Pubcon's content strategy and GEO audience.
- Social Media Marketing World: Social Media Marketing World, run by Social Media Examiner, is a major annual conference for social media and digital marketing practitioners. It overlaps with Pubcon's social media and broader digital marketing track.
- Digital Summit: Digital Summit is a multi-city US conference series covering digital marketing, SEO, content, and AI topics for marketers. It targets a similar practitioner and agency audience as Pubcon's regional in-person events.
Emerging players
- Ahrefs (Ahrefs Evolve): Ahrefs, a leading SEO tool vendor, has expanded into events and educational content (Evolve, free workshops) that overlap with Pubcon's audience. It is an emerging player encroaching on Pubcon's SEO conference territory with tool-vendor backing.
- Semrush (Semrush Global): Semrush hosts its own customer and partner events and runs training/webinars targeting the same SEO and digital marketing professionals as Pubcon. It is an emerging tool-vendor-driven player in the conference/education space.
Broad incumbents
- HubSpot (INBOUND): INBOUND is HubSpot's flagship annual marketing and sales conference, one of the largest in the industry. It is a broad incumbent in marketing conferences, attracting an overlapping audience of in-house marketers and agencies that Pubcon also targets.
- Web Summit: Web Summit is one of the largest global technology conferences, with a marketing and advertising track that overlaps with Pubcon's audience. It is a broad incumbent that competes for sponsor mindshare rather than direct attendees.
Others
- SaaStock: SaaStock is a major SaaS industry conference covering B2B marketing, sales, and growth. It is adjacent rather than directly competitive, but the audience of B2B SaaS marketers overlaps meaningfully with Pubcon's agency and in-house marketing attendees.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pubcon social profiles
Digital presencePubcon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pubcon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Pubcon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pubcon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pubcon
What does Pubcon do?
Pubcon is a conference and events company that produces live in-person and virtual conferences for digital marketing professionals, with a focus on search engine optimization, AI search, and generative engine optimization (GEO). The company sells conference passes providing access to single-track and multi-track sessions, keynotes, workshops, networking events, and on-demand replays through a 120+ hour content library. It also sells multi-tier sponsorship packages and virtual expo booths to agencies and technology platforms that want visibility with the marketing audience.
Is Pubcon a public or private company?
Pubcon is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Pubcon founded?
Pubcon was founded in 1997. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pubcon based?
Pubcon is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pubcon make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Conference Registration is the primary driver. The others are sponsorship Packages and replay Archive Access.
Who are Pubcon's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Moz (MozCon), Search Engine Land (SMX), Content Marketing World, Social Media Marketing World and Digital Summit. Emerging players are Ahrefs (Ahrefs Evolve) and Semrush (Semrush Global). Broad incumbents are HubSpot (INBOUND) and Web Summit. SaaStock is listed as an others.
Does Pubcon have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pubcon.
What industry is Pubcon in?
Pubcon's product category is Digital Marketing Conferences and Events. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHAAAB, Conference Centers & Dedicated Meeting Venues. Its NAICS code is 71131 and its SIC code is 7900.