An SEO proposal can sound convincing while leaving the important buying decisions unresolved. Who will make the changes? What will count as success? What happens if the work creates risk—or you want to leave?
Use the questions below to move the conversation from sales promises to evidence and responsibilities. Ask the agency to demonstrate its answers with a sample deliverable, an explanation of a relevant project or a clause in the proposed agreement. A confident answer is not a substitute for documentation.
If you are still building a shortlist, compare SEO agencies and use our guide to choosing an SEO agency to structure your evaluation.
Test the strategy before discussing deliverables
What would you investigate before recommending a plan?
Ask the agency to separate what it knows from what it needs to verify. A preliminary sales review should not be presented as a completed diagnosis.
- **A useful answer:** It will examine crawling, indexing, site structure, existing content, search demand, conversion tracking and business priorities before setting the backlog.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It prescribes the same content package for every site or declares technical problems without showing evidence.
Ask for an example of a finding that would change its proposed approach.
What outcome are you committing to, and what cannot be guaranteed?
Require the agency to distinguish controllable work from outcomes influenced by search systems, competition and your own implementation capacity.
- **A useful answer:** It commits to defined deliverables and explains how those should support qualified enquiries, sales or another agreed business goal.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It guarantees a particular organic position or claims privileged access to Google.
Google explicitly cautions buyers against agencies that guarantee top placement in its guidance on hiring an SEO. Have any verbal promises reconciled with the contract.
What determines the timetable, and when will we reassess?
Ask for a sequence of work, not an unsupported deadline for results. The plan should distinguish discovery, implementation and evaluation.
- **A useful answer:** It names dependencies, explains what can start immediately and defines review points for adjusting the plan.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It promises results by a fixed date without reviewing the site, or uses uncertainty to avoid all accountability.
Ask what the agency would investigate if agreed work was completed but the expected indicators did not improve.
Find out how the work actually gets done
Who implements technical recommendations?
An audit is not the same deliverable as a working fix. Establish whether implementation sits with the agency, your staff or a separate supplier.
- **A useful answer:** The scope identifies who writes specifications, changes the site, tests releases and checks whether fixes worked.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It promises technical improvement but only supplies a spreadsheet that nobody is assigned to implement.
If you need web development support, include that dependency in the budget and approval process. Ask who can stop or reverse a risky release.
How will you decide what content to create, improve or remove?
Ask the agency to walk through a proposed content decision using your customers’ needs and your existing pages.
- **A useful answer:** It checks existing coverage, commercial relevance, subject expertise and approval requirements before commissioning work.
- **An answer that should worry you:** Its strategy is simply to publish more pages, with no explanation of usefulness, duplication or factual review.
Clarify who supplies expertise and signs off claims. If content marketing services are separate, establish who owns the shared brief and avoids overlapping work.
How do you acquire links, and which methods will you refuse?
Do not accept “proprietary outreach” as a complete explanation. Ask to see the process, approval rules and an example report.
- **A useful answer:** It explains why a relevant publisher would reference your business and discloses any commercial arrangements.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It sells undisclosed paid placements for ranking purposes, automated links or access to a controlled network of sites.
Google identifies links created primarily to manipulate rankings as link spam in its search spam policies. Require disclosure before approving placements.
Can you show evidence that resembles our situation?
Look for relevance rather than impressive-looking client logos. Ask about the starting problem, actual work, implementation constraints and outcome.
- **A useful answer:** It explains its contribution, acknowledges other influences and provides a reference or appropriately anonymised supporting material.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It offers an isolated traffic screenshot without dates, context or a clear account of what it delivered.
Confidentiality can reasonably limit disclosure. Ask what alternative evidence is available rather than treating either secrecy or a polished case study as proof.
What would you do differently for AI search visibility?
Require a concrete explanation of the proposed work and how it differs from the existing SEO scope.
- **A useful answer:** It connects recommendations to accessible, useful content and explains the limitations of its measurement approach.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It promises guaranteed AI citations or insists Google requires a special optimisation package for inclusion.
Google says its established SEO practices remain relevant to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no additional requirements, in its AI features guidance. Ask the agency to substantiate any claimed special requirement.
Make reporting and contract terms explicit
How will reporting connect search performance to business outcomes?
Ask for a sample report and a walkthrough of the decisions it would help you make.
- **A useful answer:** It separates search visibility, visits and conversions; documents tracking limitations; and explains the next action behind each finding.
- **An answer that should worry you:** It reports rankings and traffic as if they automatically establish revenue or qualified demand.
Google’s Search Console performance report documentation explains clicks, impressions, click-through rate and position. Those search metrics should complement—not replace—your agreed business measures.
Who will do the work after the sale?
Ask to meet the person responsible for delivery and understand how specialist input will be obtained.
- **A useful answer:** It identifies the account lead, delivery responsibilities, subcontracting arrangements and escalation route.
- **An answer that should worry you:** You can speak only to the salesperson, staffing remains vague or nobody can explain who reviews recommendations.
Clarify your responsibilities too. Agree who approves content, grants access and resolves blocked decisions, so delays can be discussed against a documented workflow.
What is included in the fee, and what triggers extra charges?
Request a written scope that connects fees to work and responsibilities. Compare agency pricing models by their contractual mechanics rather than their labels.
- **A useful answer:** It distinguishes included services, exclusions, third-party costs and the approval process for additional work.
- **An answer that should worry you:** “Full service” is the only scope description, or necessary implementation becomes an unexplained add-on after signing.
Ask how the plan changes when urgent technical work displaces scheduled content. Put the answer in the agreement.
What will we own, and how does the relationship end?
Review access and exit terms before paying, not when the relationship becomes difficult.
- **A useful answer:** Your business retains appropriate control of its accounts, and the agreement defines ownership, licences, cancellation, handover and access removal.
- **An answer that should worry you:** Essential accounts sit under agency-only credentials, ownership is ambiguous or handover depends on terms absent from the proposal.
Request the handover provisions alongside the scope. Specify which reports, briefs, source files and implementation records you receive, while distinguishing agency-owned tools from your business assets.
Turn the answers into a signing decision
Record each material answer as supported, unresolved or unacceptable. Resolve gaps through evidence or contract changes—not reassurance.
The strongest proposal is not necessarily the most ambitious. Prefer an agency that explains its reasoning, acknowledges uncertainty and accepts clear responsibilities. If it will not document an important promise before you sign, do not build your buying decision around that promise.