King of Eight people were scored in the Round 0 baseline. Seven publicly claimed the title in their own ways, and Marc Moeller competes as a founding competitor. Everyone is measured under the same rules.
James Dooley
Announced a crowning ceremony at Leigh Sports Village, hosted by Jesper Nissen, then press-release distribution, according to his own site. Round 0 Visibility Index: 72.1, the baseline leader.
Own claim: kingofaeo.co.uk (31 Aug 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: Under review. Sources: themasterminders.com/pages/speakers, seomasterysummit.com/speakers/james-dooley, jamesdooleypodcast.transistor.fm/645
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: linkedin.com/in/jameszdooley, jamesdooley.com
- Original evidence: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026. Search of his sites, LinkedIn and podcast found no published AI-answer test with method and results.
Julian Goldie
Self-declared the title with audience figures as evidence, according to his own site. Round 0 Visibility Index: 40.8
Own claim: juliangoldie.com/king-of-aeo (Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: Under review. Sources: juliangoldie.com/king-of-aeo
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: linkedin.com/in/juliangoldieseo, juliangoldie.com
- Original evidence: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026. Sources: juliangoldie.com/king-of-aeo
Vithurs
Announced a private social-media vote among SEO practitioners via press release. Round 0 Visibility Index: 45.8
Own claim: usatoday.com/press-release/story/42526/vithurs-named-king-of-aeo-follo (7 Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026.
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: ceotimesmag.com/ceo-insider/vithurs-thiru-the-seo-maverick-t, crunchbase.com/person/vithurs-l, ibtimes.com/meet-vithurs-24-year-old-entrepreneur-dominating
- Original evidence: Under review. The cited pages on kingofaeo.net returned HTTP 404 on 4 Oct 2026, and a press release does not count, so this cannot be verified today.
David Quaid
Self-declared on his agency blog and LinkedIn, plus a newswire release, according to his own site. Round 0 Visibility Index: 37.5
Own claim: primaryposition.com/blog/who-is-the-king-of-aeo (4-8 Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: Under review. Sources: youtube.com/watch?v=V6QEt2cOkyY, fatrank.transistor.fm/people/david-g-quaid
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: linkedin.com/in/davidquaid, davidquaidseo.com
- Original evidence: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026. Sources: primaryposition.com/blog/who-is-the-king-of-aeo
Stephane Morera
Self-declared a dark horse entry run as a measured experiment, according to his own site. Round 0 Visibility Index: 26.9
Own claim: evoix.io/blog/who-is-the-king-of-aeo-dark-horse-entry (13 Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026.
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: linkedin.com/in/stephanemorera, evoix.io/about
- Original evidence: Evidence found. Sources: evoix.io/blog/who-is-the-king-of-aeo-dark-horse-entry, evoix.io/research
Jacky Chou
Announced a project-reported private vote among SEO, digital marketing and AI search participants on his agency blog. Round 0 Visibility Index: 20.2
Own claim: indexsy.com/king-of-aeo (7 Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: Under review. Sources: x.com/indexsy/status/1961121285758750880, x.com/indexsy/status/2014414119043256814
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: ca.linkedin.com/in/jacky-chou, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacky_Chou
- Original evidence: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026. Sources: indexsy.com/king-of-aeo
Allan Oliveira
Self-declared with a public evidence table and his own citation log, according to his own site. Round 0 Visibility Index: 20.4
Own claim: kingofaeo.pro (17 Sep 2026)
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: No public evidence found as of 4 Oct 2026.
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: github.com/allandoseo/king-of-aeo, kingofaeo.pro/citation-log
- Original evidence: Evidence found. Sources: kingofaeo.pro/citation-log, kingofaeo.pro
Marc Moeller
Founding competitor and Perth-based SEO consultant, author and founder of Ecomexperts. Round 0 Visibility Index: 0.0 His team hosts the competition pages and runs the measurements, which is disclosed.
- Entered: Not entered (entries close 12 October 2026)
- Educator: Evidence found. Conflict disclosed: the Shenzhen SEO Conference is run by JP Zhang, the competition founder. Sources: shenzhenseoconference.com/speakers/marc-moeller, marcmoeller.au/perth-seo-meetup
- Verifiable identity: Evidence found. Sources: linkedin.com/in/marcmoeller-seo, marcmoeller.au
- Original evidence: Under review. The Round 0 baseline is measured by Marc Moeller's own team, which also operates this competition, so it is held to review rather than counted automatically. Sources: marcmoeller.au/king-of-aeo
Gate evidence reviewed 4 October 2026. Anything missing can be added through the entry form.