LOCOMOTIVE Named Best Global Large Integrated Search Agency at the Global Search Awards 2026

We’re proud to share that LOCOMOTIVE was named Best Global Large Integrated Search Agency at the Global Search Awards 2026. The category recognizes the teams setting the standard for search across disciplines and borders, and it’s a result that means a great deal to everyone here.

This award isn’t about one campaign or one standout quarter. It recognizes a way of working that we’ve been building for more than a decade and spent the last two years scaling globally.

One team, six countries

The period this award covers was one of real transformation for LOCOMOTIVE. Following our acquisition of IMS Marketing, we took on a full global restructure. The aim was simple to describe and hard to deliver: bring our people across the US, Ireland, the UK, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal together into a single team with a single operating model.

That meant aligning how we deliver for clients, how we work together, and how we support our people across multiple time zones and cultures. It was challenging work. It’s now complete but always evolving, and the result is a partner that’s sharper, more resilient, and genuinely global. A US brand expanding into Europe and an Irish brand breaking into the US can work with the same team, using the same integrated approach.

Integration isn’t a positioning line for us. SEO, PPC, AI, paid social, content, brand, and web sit within one delivery model, so the strategy is joined up from the start rather than stitched together later.

Telling clients what they need to hear

Every engagement starts the same way: deep discovery, a tailored audit, and a clear roadmap built around the client’s goals. Sometimes that discovery reveals that the work a client expects isn’t the work they need.

The recent work we shared with the judges spanned ecommerce, local search, healthcare and international paid social expansion. Very different verticals and markets, but a common thread ran through all of them. In each case, we had to hold a position until the data proved it right.

For one client, that meant fixing a broken data foundation before touching a single campaign. For another, it meant explaining that reported performance didn’t reflect reality, and that the numbers would look worse before they looked better. For a third, it meant acknowledging that part of an engagement had been underscoped and building a better model rather than defending the original.

That kind of honesty isn’t always the easy path. It is the one that builds trust and delivers results that last.

Every lesson becomes a playbook

What we’re most proud of is what happens after the challenge is solved. Each of those engagements produced a process improvement that now benefits our entire client base.

A foundational ecommerce audit became our standard onboarding playbook for every new ecommerce client. Attribution work on a paid social account moved attribution audits to the very first week of every new engagement. Analysis of a complex, multi-location program produced a competitive tiering model we now apply to every franchise and multi-location pitch, so difficult markets are never underserved.

This is how an integrated approach compounds over time. The work we do for one client makes us better for all of them.

People who stay

None of this happens without continuity. Much of our senior leadership has been in place since LOCOMOTIVE began, and the majority of our team has been with us for years. That depth shows up directly in client outcomes. People who know a client well spot issues earlier, carry institutional knowledge forward, and build relationships that last. Many of our client partnerships have lasted just as long as our team.

Built for where search is going

Search is changing fast, and AI is reshaping how people discover brands. Over this period we developed and deployed our own proprietary AI visibility and search tools, giving clients a clear view of how they show up in AI search and where the gaps are. It’s a data-led approach to a new landscape, and it’s already shaping how we plan search strategy for clients across markets.

Thank you

Thank you to the Global Search Awards and the judging panel. Thank you to our clients, who trust us to tell them the truth and stay accountable to results. Most of all, thank you to the LOCOMOTIVE team across every location and time zone. This award belongs to you!