Guide
How do you choose a local search agency?
Agencies can sound alike on a first call. The difference shows in how they answer a few plain questions. This guide lists them, the answers to walk away from, and how to weigh an agency like ours that has no track record yet.
What should you ask before you hire anyone?
Google publishes its own questions to put to anyone you might hire for search work (Google Search Central). A straight answer to each is easy to check later against the work.
- Can you show me examples of your past work? Ask for the site and what changed, then look for yourself.
- Do you follow Google's guidelines? A yes means more when backed by Google's own documentation.
- What results do you expect, by when, and how will you measure them? A careful answer names what they will track and how often they will report it.
- What experience do you have in my industry, and in my town?
- How long have you been in business? Ask us too. We are new, and further down we say what we offer in place of a track record.
- How will we communicate, and will you share every change you make to my site, with the reason?
Which answers should worry you?
Google warns about each of these. Any one is a reason to keep looking.
- Anyone who promises the top spot. Google's own wording is that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google (Google Search Central). An agency can commit to work and dates; where Google places you is Google's call.
- A claimed special relationship with Google, or a fast lane into its results. Google says to be wary of both, and that it never accepts money to include or rank a site (Google Search Central).
- An offer to buy a better place on the map. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking (Google Business Profile Help), and advertising with Google has no effect on where a site appears in its search results (Google Search Central).
- Secrecy. Google advises care with any company that will not clearly explain what it intends to do to your site, and says you should never have to link to an SEO or join link popularity schemes (Google Search Central).
Should an agency ever sell you reviews?
No. The FTC's rule bans fake reviews, including ones written by AI, bans paying for reviews that must say something positive or negative, and lets the FTC seek civil penalties from knowing violators (Federal Trade Commission).
Google's Maps rules reach ordinary requests too. A business may not offer anything for a review, ask only the customers it expects to be happy, or discourage negative reviews (Google Maps policy). A review service built on a discount, a prize, or a filter that steers unhappy customers elsewhere breaks that policy, whatever it is called.
A sound service asks every customer the same way, after every job, and answers every review. Our Review Engine plan sends that request and drafts each reply.
Who should own the accounts?
You should. Your Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics, domain and website belong in accounts in your name, with the agency added as a user you can remove. If an agency holds them under its own login, leaving can mean starting again.
Ownership also settles who answers for the work: Google says you are responsible for the actions of any company you hire (Google Search Central). Nobody needs your passwords for this; our access page shows how to grant a role from your own account. Ask which changes wait for your approval, too. Ours are listed on how we work.
How will you know whether it is working?
Agree on a day-one baseline, then expect a monthly report that sets the current figures beside it and lists the work done. Our Local, Growth and Authority plans each report against your day-one baseline every month.
Give changes time. Google says some show within hours and others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging one (Google Search Central). For an outside opinion first, Google's advice is to give an auditor read access to Search Console, not write access (Google Search Central).
Where are we new, and what do we offer instead?
We are new. We have no clients, results or testimonials yet, so when Google suggests asking an agency's past clients, we have nobody for you to call.
What we offer instead is what you can check before paying. Our prices are on the pricing page. The method page shows every check our scan runs and the math behind its estimate. The sample report is a full report on a demo business we built, not a client. Monthly plans run month to month, you own every account, page and piece of content, and the delivery guarantee refunds a month's fee in full if a monthly deliverable misses the date we give you, unless we were waiting on you.
Weigh that against an older agency's record. Years of references are real evidence; published terms are another kind, which you can read before you sign. Ask every agency these questions, us included.
Questions
Should I sign a long contract with an agency?
Not at the start. A year-long contract signed before you have seen any work leaves you paying for months you may not want. Month to month terms, or a short first term with a clear exit, make the agency earn each month. Ours run month to month.
Is it a red flag if an agency will not show its prices?
Not on its own. Some agencies quote each job after a conversation, and that can be fair. Get the price in writing, with what it includes and how it can change, before you share any access. Ours are on the pricing page because we sell set plans.
Should an agency ask for my passwords?
No. Google's tools, WordPress, Shopify and the other platforms we work with let you grant a separate login with a set role from your own account, and take it away in one step. Our access page shows how.
Related reading
Services
- Local SEO: Your Business Profile, reviews, listings and site worked on together for the map results and local searches your customers make.
- SEO: A written plan built from your own Search Console and Analytics data, then the fixes and pages that plan calls for, month by month.
- Review management: Review requests after every job and a drafted reply to every review, within the rules Google and the FTC set.
Guides
- Should you do local SEO in-house or hire an agency? What you can do yourself, what a hire costs, and when an agency is the better use of the money.
- What should a local SEO audit check? The checks a local SEO audit should cover, which ones our free scan runs, and what only access to your accounts can show.
Related terms
- Review gating: Asking only the customers you expect to be happy for a review, why the rules bar it, and what to do instead.
- Google Business Profile: The free listing that puts a business on Google Maps and in local results, and what keeping it accurate involves.
- llms.txt: A proposed file that points AI tools to the pages that matter on a site, and what it can and cannot do today.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?, updated June 5, 2026. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google. Checked September 26, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission: Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials, updated August 14, 2024. Checked September 27, 2026.
- Google Maps User Generated Content Policy Help: Prohibited & restricted content. Checked September 27, 2026.
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide: The Basics, updated December 10, 2025. Checked September 26, 2026.