About EliteAEO

EliteAEO at a glance

Here is EliteAEO at a glance: who we are, where we are based and what we cover.

Why EliteAEO exists

EliteAEO exists because buyers now ask AI assistants which agency to hire, while many comparison pages are published by providers with a commercial interest in the ranking. EliteAEO ranks answer engine optimization providers independently, by the vertical they serve and the metro they work in, using the same seven factors and evidence we check ourselves.

How EliteAEO started

EliteAEO started in 2026, when David Quaid and Bike Hawley set out to rank AEO agencies on evidence a buyer can check, instead of on who paid for a spot. The first version of the ranking methodology was published on September 12, 2026, covering five industries. Local Business became the sixth industry the next day, and rankings for every industry and qualifying metro went live on September 25, 2026.

Since then the site has kept growing. Methodology version 2.0 added proof of AI search results as the largest scored factor, alongside the first AI Visibility Index and a public dataset. State pages came next, then the first rankings outside the US, for the UK and Scotland. The dataset now has public copies on GitHub, Hugging Face, Kaggle and Zenodo. Every dated step is in the milestones below, and every change to the scoring is dated in the methodology revision history.

What EliteAEO has checked so far

EliteAEO has checked 398 providers so far. Here are the totals.

The State of the AEO Agency Market 2026 report summarizes the full dataset and shows the base count behind every percentage.

How EliteAEO works

EliteAEO follows the same four rules for every provider and every page.

• We review provider evidence. Provider records are checked against a live website, an independent third-party profile, and evidence of work in the vertical where the provider is ranked.
• We separate provider location from markets served. Where a provider is based and which markets it serves are recorded as two separate facts, so a remote agency is never presented as local.
• We publish the method. The scoring factors and weights are public, and ranking pages explain the evidence behind the leading placements.
• We keep money outside the ranking. Featured and Sponsored positions are labeled and never change the editorial order. See the advertising policy.

Industries EliteAEO covers

The industries EliteAEO covers are Dental, Legal, Healthcare, SaaS, Home Services and Local Business. More industries and metros are added as the dataset supports them.

How EliteAEO makes money

EliteAEO makes money when providers buy labeled Featured and Sponsored positions and profile upgrades. They cannot buy a rank, a Verified badge or inclusion. Listing and verification are free. See plans.

Who runs EliteAEO

EliteAEO is run by David Quaid and Bike Hawley, two US-based search practitioners who split the editorial and publishing work.

David QuaidEditor and head of research

A search practitioner with more than twenty years in the field and the founder of Primary Position, a search agency. Sets the ranking methodology and the editorial standards every page follows.

Primary Position · X

Bike HawleyPublisher

Founder of High Salience, a search intelligence firm. Runs EliteAEO's provider research, the evidence checks and the site.

High Salience · LinkedIn

Conflicts of interest. David Quaid runs Primary Position and Bike Hawley runs High Salience, both search businesses. Neither company is listed or ranked on EliteAEO, and neither sells services through EliteAEO.

The methodology is owned by the editor, and every change to it is dated in the revision history on the methodology page.

EliteAEO milestones

Here are the EliteAEO milestones to date, in order.

Official EliteAEO profiles

These are the only official EliteAEO profiles. Any other account using the EliteAEO name is not run by us.

Corrections to EliteAEO pages

Corrections to EliteAEO pages are simple: if a fact on any page is wrong, tell us and we will re-check it. Providers can claim their profile to correct it directly.

Contact EliteAEO

Contact EliteAEO by email at hello@eliteaeo.ai, message @eliteaeo on X, or use the contact page.