May 27, 2026
The DiscoverCars.com SEO Growth Team made it to the final of the European Search Awards 2026
This year, the DiscoverCars.com in-house SEO Growth team entered the European Search Awards in the Best In-House Team category and was highly recognized by the judges, being named a European Search Awards Finalist in the category. Seeing our team along with three other finalists is truly a remarkable achievement, making us one of the best SEO in-house teams in Europe.
The entry process
Some awards recognize businesses, others look at single campaigns, and the European Search Awards Best In-House Team is one of those nominations that are made to evaluate the processes in the teams and the results connected to them.
Our entry was focused on the goals for AI-driven search, processes of achieving these goals and, of course, the results; with July, 2025 - March, 2026 taken as the time period.
We shared our creative approach and certain practices that helped us succeed in the newly essential AI SEO. Well, not all practices led to success — and we proudly shared this, too — but the ones that did work had strong outcomes.
The form consisted of five main questions designed to cover the team's objectives, recent work examples, recent achievements, any challenges faced, how these were overcome, and combine everything in one overview to say it all briefly and straight to the point. Clearly, the submission would have been incomplete without supporting files, because every word is just a word until it’s proven to be trustworthy.
Our entry was focused on the goals for AI-driven search, processes of achieving these goals and, of course, the results; with July, 2025 - March, 2026 taken as the time period.
We shared our creative approach and certain practices that helped us succeed in the newly essential AI SEO. Well, not all practices led to success — and we proudly shared this, too — but the ones that did work had strong outcomes.
The form consisted of five main questions designed to cover the team's objectives, recent work examples, recent achievements, any challenges faced, how these were overcome, and combine everything in one overview to say it all briefly and straight to the point. Clearly, the submission would have been incomplete without supporting files, because every word is just a word until it’s proven to be trustworthy.
The judging process
Judges were looking for the best practices with a creative and innovative approach to search, while considering the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.
The entry forms were first pre-scored, giving a score for each question from 1 to 10 points. Then the points were combined to give an overall score from each judge for each entry. All judges’ pre-scores were combined after that, and the highest-scoring entries made the shortlists.
The entry forms were first pre-scored, giving a score for each question from 1 to 10 points. Then the points were combined to give an overall score from each judge for each entry. All judges’ pre-scores were combined after that, and the highest-scoring entries made the shortlists.
Why is this achievement so special to us?
The Best In-House Team award is about the team. It’s a big achievement for every person in the SEO Growth department, which consisted of 18 people at the time of submission: Aleksandrs( Head of Growth), Daniel, Anastasija, Davis, Diana, Gianluca, Ilina, Ilze, Elisaveta, Jovana, Krista, Marina, Matilde, Milica, Oumaima, Priscilla, Sabina, and Sergejs. Each of them played their part in our AI SEO effors, working on the company’s online credibility, presence expansion, digital PR campaigns, technical SEO, brainstorming ideas and shaping new initiatives.
Our success was driven by a highly motivated in-house team operating in a focused, supportive environment where key elements are:
Our success was driven by a highly motivated in-house team operating in a focused, supportive environment where key elements are:
- Strong internal ownership
- Freedom to run bold experiments
- Acceptance that some experiments will fail
- Fast iteration cycles
- Cross-team collaboration
About the European Search Awards
The European Search Awards is a top-tier awards program across the continent that celebrates excellence in SEO, digital marketing, and paid media. From creativity to tech, these awards spotlight the campaigns, tools, and teams driving the ‘SEO-world’ forward.
The program attracts hundreds of entries annually from digital agencies, in-house marketing teams, and freelancers.
The program attracts hundreds of entries annually from digital agencies, in-house marketing teams, and freelancers.
Aleksandrs Buraks
Head of Growth at DiscoverCars.com
Aleksandrs has over 10 years of experience in marketing with a focus on creating stellar content that provides topical insights using data. Having taken five road trips across Europe and one in the U.S., he is passionate about traveling by car. His favorite countries to visit are Denmark and Thailand. You can find him on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter.
©DISCOVERCARS. All Rights Reserved.
