Hiring a local SEO agency? Ten questions to ask first

You’ve found an agency, the proposal looks good, and you’re ready for more customers to start finding you on Google.

I’ve worked with more than fifty businesses, and this is what I’d suggest asking if you’re about to hire someone for local SEO. Most of it applies to freelancers too.

1. Have they asked what you actually want more of?

If you’re a plumber, do you want emergency calls, bathroom renovations, or commercial maintenance contracts? Those are different priorities.

I’d want the agency to understand which jobs are worthwhile, where you’re willing to travel, and whether you have room for more work.

You can rank for several services at once, and usually do. But priorities decide where the effort goes first, especially on a limited budget or when your services fall under different categories on your Google Business Profile.

If you already run Google Ads with reliable conversion tracking, share the data. Searches that bring paying customers are a useful place to start the conversation.

2. Do you know where you stand compared with your competitors?

Get a baseline before anyone starts changing things: Maps visibility, website traffic from search, and inquiries, wherever you can track them.

Then ask how you compare with the businesses you’re trying to beat.

Reviews are one useful comparison. How many new reviews do you get each month, and how consistently? What about your competitors? If they keep getting fresh reviews while yours have barely moved in a year, that’s worth discussing with your agency.

For Maps, look beyond your own ranking. One dental office I measured ranked first for “dentist” at its front door, but appeared in the top three at only 7% of the surrounding points checked.

What share does the strongest competitor hold across those same points, for the same search? If even they only reach 60%, I’d want a convincing explanation before treating 100% as your target.

That leading competitor’s coverage can serve as a rough “soft cap” for initial expectations. You might eventually outperform them, but it gives you a more grounded starting point than assuming you should be first everywhere.

Agree on the searches and area that matter to your business, and keep them consistent in later checks. Otherwise, changing the measurement can make progress look better or worse.

3. What are you paying them to do?

I wouldn’t sign a proposal that just says “monthly SEO.”

Will they make changes to your website, or send you an audit and expect your developer to handle it? Who writes the content? Who publishes it? Will the content lead readers to the services you sell? Are software and call tracking included?

If backlinks are part of the pitch, how will they get them, from what kinds of websites, and are there additional costs?

Also, who will actually do the work? The person selling you the service might not be the person managing your account. If a junior team member handles the day-to-day work, who sets the strategy and reviews what they’re doing? Who can you speak to when something needs attention?

You don’t need to dictate every task. Priorities will change. But you should understand what the fee covers, who’s responsible, and what could land you with an extra bill.

4. Will you understand the reports?

A report should leave you understanding what was done, what happened, and what they suggest doing next.

If traffic is up, where is it coming from? Is it relevant to the services you want to sell? Are people discovering you, or mostly searching for your business name?

And check the definitions. Google Business Profile’s “calls” number counts clicks on the call button. It doesn’t mean that many people spoke to your team, let alone booked.

For seasonal businesses, last month might be a poor comparison. Ask how things look against the same period last year.

If AI visibility is part of the package, I’d also ask how they check it. One screenshot of ChatGPT recommending you wouldn’t tell me much.

5. Have you discussed what’s realistic?

Ask when the initial work will be finished and when you’ll sit down to assess progress.

SEO can take months. Your competition, starting position, and location matter. An agency can’t change how far your premises are from someone searching across town.

No one can guarantee rankings.

That said, waiting for results shouldn’t mean wondering whether anyone is doing any work. You should see what’s been completed from the beginning.

6. Are you prepared to do your part?

There will be things they need from you: access, service details, photos, approvals, and feedback on whether the inquiries are any good.

Earning links may also need you: joining your local chamber of commerce, sponsoring a local event, partnering with complementary businesses, or doing more with a partnership you already have.

Try to make time for those requests. If content or requests sit waiting for approval for weeks, that affects the work.

And please have a process for answering inquiries and following up. Paying to become more visible while calls go unanswered is an expensive combination.

Asking customers for honest reviews should also become a normal part of how you operate, given how important review cadence is for local SEO.

7. How will the work change through the year?

Most local businesses have seasons. An HVAC company’s searches swing from air conditioning repair in summer to furnace repair in winter; a painter’s move from exterior work to interior. Ask how the plan follows that:

• Seasonal pages published well before the season, on one permanent address, so they have time to rank before demand arrives.
• Posts, photos and offers on your Google profile that match what people are searching for that month.
• Holiday and seasonal hours updated ahead of time.

Some advice goes further, such as switching your main category on Google with the seasons. Your main category is one of the changes that can send a profile back through Google’s verification, so if it’s proposed, ask what it risks as well as what it might gain.

8. Are they suggesting anything that makes you uncomfortable?

Buying reviews, offering discounts for them, or asking only happy customers. Publishing hundreds of near-identical pages, or only general posts that never lead readers to the services you sell.

Adding keywords that aren’t part of your real business name, unless it’s a genuine rebrand. Creating listings at addresses where you don’t genuinely operate.

I’d ask questions about all of these. Several violate Google’s rules, and it’s your profile that could face the consequences.

The same goes for links. “We’re building backlinks” deserves a better explanation than “don’t worry about it.”

9. Could you leave without a headache?

Have this conversation while everyone still likes each other.

Keep primary ownership of your Google Business Profile and control of your domain. Make sure you have access to your website and relevant Google accounts.

Who owns the content? What happens to tracking numbers? What’s the notice period? What gets handed over?

These are much easier questions to settle before signing.

10. What if you do all this and it still doesn’t work out?

It happens. Disappointing results don’t automatically mean the agency is terrible or you’ve been duped. Sometimes the fit or approach simply isn’t right.

Give the work a reasonable chance. Two months without being number one across your whole area isn’t a fair test. But “SEO takes time” shouldn’t buy anyone unlimited patience either.

Was the work delivered? Is there progress? Can they explain what’s falling short and propose something credible?

If you no longer believe they can help within a reasonable time and budget, you’re allowed to move on. Accept the cost as a business expense, take what you’ve learned, and find another provider.

What I’d avoid is writing off SEO altogether because one hire didn’t work out.

You can hire an employee who ticks every box and still have to part ways. It doesn’t mean the job you hired them to do didn’t need doing.

Whoever you hire, one question at every review meeting covers most of this: “Can you show me what you changed, what happened afterward, and what you recommend next?”