Charles Floate is a British SEO consultant and entrepreneur — founder and Head Judge of the Charles Floate Annual SEO Awards, advisor and part-owner of the link building marketplace PressWhizz, and one of the most influential (and most polarising) figures in search of the last decade.
| Born | April 1996, Solihull, England |
| Based in | Koh Samui, Thailand |
| Years active | c. 2008–present |
| Known for | “God of SEO” blog · link building · founding the SEO Awards |
| Current roles | Founder & Head Judge, The SEO Awards · Advisor & part-owner, PressWhizz · Founder, Charles Floate Training & Shadow Ship Labs |
Floate started in SEO at twelve years old — first client at thirteen — after watching a digital agency fumble his family's business, and spent the next 17+ years at the sharp end of how Google actually ranks things. His “God of SEO” blog became one of the most-read practitioner sites in search, known for publishing the experiments, case studies and aggressive techniques the rest of the industry only discussed in private.
Through Charles Floate Training he has trained thousands of SEOs — including operators who went on to run seven-figure agencies — authored guides including Parasite SEO Secrets, The Six-Figure Freelance SEO and Omniscient OnPage SEO, and reported more than $5 million in combined consulting and course sales. He has spoken at 40+ conferences across five continents, from BrightonSEO and Chiang Mai SEO to DMSS and SEO Vibes Poland, returning to the BrightonSEO stage in 2026 with research drawn from more than 1.5 million outreach emails on how link building shifts in AI-powered search. His work has been covered in outlets including The Times, TechCrunch and Entrepreneur; Tech Times dubbed him “the SEO Boy King.”
Floate joined PressWhizz — the link building and AI SEO marketplace — as part-owner and chief marketing officer around its September 2024 launch, and drove the growth that took it past a publicly reported $500K+ in monthly recurring revenue with tens of thousands of publishers. In 2026, after roughly two years scaling the company, he stepped back from the CMO role into an advisory position, retaining his ownership stake. PressWhizz competes in the SEO Awards like any other company — with the affiliation disclosed and Floate recused from its categories.
In 2026 Floate founded the Charles Floate Annual SEO Awards — the first free-to-enter, data-verified awards program in search — and Shadow Ship Labs, an AI product studio building a portfolio of software products, most of which are still unannounced. He has described his longer-term ambition as moving toward full-time angel investing.
As founder and Head Judge, Floate chairs the panel, holds a casting vote in the event of a tie, and abstains otherwise. He is recused entirely from any category containing a founder-affiliated entrant — those categories are decided by the independent panel majority on verified data alone. The award's design philosophy is his one-liner:
Is Charles Floate still the CMO of PressWhizz? No — he stepped back in 2026 to an advisory role and remains a part-owner.
Can Charles Floate win his own award? No. The founder, the judges and their companies are all ineligible, permanently.
What is Shadow Ship Labs? An AI product studio Floate founded in 2026. Its product lineup is largely unannounced — watch @Charles_SEO.