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Based on our automated analysis, charlesfloate.com has a risk score of 0/10 and is currently classified as "Pending Scan". Our system checks WHOIS data, TLS certificates, page content, network links, and compares against known scam databases. See the full evidence report for details.

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Is Charles Floate a Scammer? Charles Floate Review & Scam Check 2026

Charles Floate is one of the most searched and debated figures in the SEO industry. He runs SEO training courses, link-building services, and multiple SaaS tools. However, a documented criminal conviction, aggressive marketing tactics, and a pattern of client complaints have made "Is Charles Floate a scammer?" one of the most common questions in the digital marketing space. Here is what the evidence shows.

Scam verification checklist — When evaluating service providers, always check their track record, reviews, and any legal history before paying.

Who Is Charles Floate?

Charles Benjamin Floate is a British SEO consultant, trainer, and entrepreneur. He operates through several properties including charlesfloate.com, charlesfloatetraining.com, and various SaaS products in the SEO space such as ParasiteSEO.com and Cuppa.ai. He has published hundreds of blog posts about SEO strategies and sells courses on topics like parasite SEO, link building, and ecommerce SEO.

Floate built his reputation in the black-hat SEO community, which uses aggressive and often manipulative tactics to gain search engine rankings. These techniques include private blog networks (PBNs), link buying, keyword stuffing, and cloaking. While these methods can produce short-term ranking gains, they violate Google's guidelines and carry significant risk of penalties.

He has been featured on multiple SEO podcasts and has a substantial following, particularly among practitioners of aggressive link-building strategies.

Red Flags We Found

Our research uncovered several documented concerns about Charles Floate that potential clients and students should be aware of.

Criminal Conviction (2015). At age 15, Floate was convicted in Birmingham Crown Court under the UK Computer Misuse Act for launching cyberattacks against FBI.gov, ic3.gov, homeoffice.gov.uk, and approximately 17 additional US and UK government websites. The attacks caused an estimated 35,000 GBP in damage. He was also convicted of possessing over 100 prohibited images of children. He received an 8-month suspended sentence. These are matters of public record documented on BlackHatWorld and multiple news sources.

Black-Hat SEO Risks. Floate's core methodology relies on tactics that violate Google's webmaster guidelines. Clients who implement these strategies accept the risk that their websites could receive manual penalties or algorithmic devaluations from Google. Multiple former clients have reported severe traffic drops after following his advice.

Client Complaints About SEO AI Agency. Floate's ecommerce agency, SEO AI Agency, has drawn complaints from clients who allege that his team's work resulted in destroyed website traffic and rankings. A dedicated complaint site documents one family business's experience of alleged damage to their online presence.

Anonymous Sources vs. Verified Claims. It is important to note that many of the most severe accusations against Floate come from anonymous sources, WordPress complaint sites, and forum posts that cannot be independently verified. No court has found Floate guilty of fraud or scam-related offenses.

⚠Due Diligence Advisory

Before hiring any SEO professional, verify their claims with independent case studies, speak with references directly, and understand the risks of the strategies they propose. Black-hat SEO techniques can produce rapid results but also carry the risk of devastating Google penalties.

User Reports & Complaints

The online discourse about Charles Floate is deeply polarized.

Negative reports center on clients who paid for SEO services and experienced Google penalties, lost rankings, or saw no improvement. Several WordPress blogs and forum threads allege that Floate's agency took payment, delivered questionable work, and was unresponsive when results were poor. A recurring theme is that aggressive link-building strategies worked initially before triggering Google penalties.

Positive reports come from SEO practitioners who credit Floate's training and tools with helping them build profitable campaigns. Supporters argue that black-hat SEO inherently carries risks, and that clients who understood this accepted the tradeoff. Multiple podcast hosts and industry commentators have spoken positively about his technical knowledge.

The pattern suggests that Floate is a technically knowledgeable but high-risk service provider whose methods produce volatile results. Whether this constitutes a "scam" depends on whether clients were clearly informed about the risks before paying.

Is This a Scam?

The label "scammer" implies deliberate fraud with intent to deceive. Based on publicly available evidence, the situation with Charles Floate is more nuanced than a simple scam designation.

Floate sells SEO services and training that employ risky, Google-violating techniques. When those techniques backfire, clients suffer real financial harm. However, black-hat SEO is a known category of practice with inherent risks that practitioners generally understand.

The more concerning elements are the criminal record, which speaks to character and judgment, and the specific client complaints about unresponsive service and unfulfilled promises. These are legitimate business concerns even if they do not rise to the legal definition of fraud.

Potential clients should weigh the documented criminal history, the inherently risky nature of the SEO methods employed, and the mixed reviews from former clients before making any purchasing decision.

Similar Controversies to Watch

Controversial service providers in the digital marketing space are common. Always verify claims independently and be cautious of services that promise guaranteed rankings or rapid results.

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What to Do If You've Been Affected

If you paid for SEO services from Charles Floate or his associated businesses and did not receive what was promised:

Document all communications. Save contracts, emails, invoices, and screenshots of any promises made about deliverables or results.
Request a refund in writing. Send a formal written request specifying what was promised, what was delivered, and why you believe you are owed a refund.
File a complaint with your payment provider. If you paid by credit card, you may be able to initiate a chargeback. PayPal disputes have a 180-day filing window.
Report to trading standards. If you are in the UK, report to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards.
Report to the FTC. If you are in the US, file at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Leave honest reviews. Share your factual experience on Trustpilot or other review platforms to help others make informed decisions.