King of James Dooley announces a crowning ceremony at Leigh Sports Village, hosted by Jesper Nissen, followed by press-release distribution, according to his own site.
David Quaid self-declares the title on his agency blog and LinkedIn, supported by a newswire release, according to his own site.
Vithurs announces a private social-media vote among SEO practitioners via press release.
Jacky Chou announces a project-reported private vote among SEO, digital marketing and AI search participants on his agency blog.
Julian Goldie self-declares the title with audience figures as evidence, according to his own site.
Stephane Morera enters as a self-declared dark horse, running his claim as a measured experiment, according to his own site.
Allan Oliveira self-declares with a public evidence table and his own citation log, according to his own site.
Edward Sturm documents how press releases shaped Google's AI Overview for the phrase king of aeo.
King of AEO launches with JP Zhang as founder and organiser, and the Round 0 baseline is measured from 128 answers. James Dooley leads on 72.1, Marc Moeller scores 0.0, and no title is awarded.
Round 1 is measured; results are published on 14 October 2026. The highest-scoring eligible competitor in Round 1 takes the first King of AEO title.
Rules v1 published: the title goes to the highest-scoring eligible competitor, Round 1 is measured on 13 October 2026.