Simultaneously evoked otoacoustic emissions (SEOAEs) were recorded in 24 ears of 17 normal‐hearing subjects. The data are pooled as frequency separations between neighboring maxima expressed in critical‐band rate. The distribution shows a clear maximum at 0.4 Bark corresponding to a distance of about 0.5 mm along the basilar membrane. This characteristic value is discussed using related data from an analog model of nonlinear cochlear preprocessing with active feedback and lateral coupling. Results indicate that the phase characteristic of the traveling wave in the cochlea has a slope of 180° per 0.4 Bark (0.5 mm) near the respective characteristic place. A frequency shift corresponding to a traveling‐wave‐place shift of 0.5 mm results in an SEOAE‐phase shift of two times 180°, i.e., 360° phase shift, as found for neighboring SEOAE maxima or minima.