How to choose an SEO agency you can check

Choose an SEO agency on proof you can check yourself. Ask to see the Search Console of a live client, look at how its non-brand search terms grew, and ask what the agency will change on your site in the first three months. Drop any SEO company that guarantees a position in Google.

What should an SEO agency show you before you sign?

An SEO agency that does good work can show it on a screen in ten minutes. The strongest proof is the Google Search Console of a live client, shared with that client's permission: clicks, impressions and positions per search term over at least a year. A slide with logos proves nothing about rankings, and a rank tracker on its own proves little, because it shows only the terms the agency chose to track.

Search Console separates two kinds of growth that a sales deck tends to mix. Brand terms are searches for the client's own name; those grow with advertising, word of mouth and time. Non-brand terms are searches by people who did not know the client yet, such as a service plus a town. Growth on non-brand terms is the part an SEO agency can claim. Ask the agency to filter the client's name out of the report while you watch.

Google publishes its own list of questions to ask before hiring: examples of previous work, the results the agency expects and in what timeframe, how you will communicate, and its experience in your industry. Those questions work well in a first call because a capable agency answers them with specifics. Whether you need outside help at all is weighed in do I need an SEO specialist. The day-to-day of that work is described in what an SEO specialist does.

Which type of SEO party fits your situation?

The right party depends on the state of your site and on who can make changes to it. A freelancer, a specialist agency and an agency that also builds sites can all do good SEO work, for different situations.

The comparison of a freelancer and an agency in general is in freelancer or agency, and the costs of each route are in SEO cost. A company that needs SEO, ads and social media together can read how to choose a marketing agency or the page on a full service marketing agency.

What are the red flags in an SEO offer?

Guaranteed rankings are the clearest red flag. Google states on its page about hiring an SEO that no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and advises finding someone else when an SEO promises first place. An agency that writes a position into the contract either controls nothing it promises or plans to rank you for terms nobody searches.

Link packages are the second red flag. Google's spam policies name buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, and a site caught in such a scheme can lose rankings it had before. A good backlink comes from a page that mentions you for a reason; a package of fifty links a month for a fixed price does not.

What should an SEO agency report every month?

A monthly SEO report shows what changed on your site and what that did in Google. The report should start from Search Console data, because that data comes from Google itself, and add your own analytics for what visitors did after they arrived.

Google rolled out the generative AI performance reports in Search Console to all websites worldwide on 31 August 2026. Those reports show how often your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, so an agency can report on AI visibility with Google's own data. More on that in the Search Console AI performance report and in how to get found in ChatGPT.

How do you test an SEO company for a Belgian or multilingual site?

Belgium has three official languages, Dutch, French and German, and English is widely spoken without official status. A company that sells across Belgium usually needs pages in Dutch and French, and often in English for expats and international buyers. Each language has its own search terms: a French-speaking employer searches with other words than a translated Dutch phrase.

Ask the agency three things about languages. First, whether it researches search terms per language or translates one list. Second, whether a native speaker writes or reviews each language. Third, how the site tells Google which page belongs to which language, through separate addresses and hreflang. A plan that answers all three is described in international SEO strategy; the build side is on multilingual website development, and the difference between Dutch and Flemish wording is in Dutch vs Flemish.

The language of the agency matters too. An expat founder or a foreign company with a Belgian branch can ask for calls, reports and the contract in English, while the agency writes the pages in Dutch and French. Invoicing follows the usual EU rules: a Belgian agency charges Belgian VAT to a Belgian company, and for business services to a company registered in another EU country, the customer generally pays the VAT in its own country through the reverse charge. Check the VAT number of either side with the EU VAT number check.

Who owns the accounts and the work?

You should own every account the agency works in, from the first day. Search Console has owners, full users and restricted users: an owner has full control and can add or remove other users, while a full user can view all data and take some actions. Make yourself a verified owner and give the agency full access or delegated ownership, so the history stays with you when the agency changes.

The same goes for Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, the domain name and the website itself. Write down in the contract who owns the texts the agency writes and what happens to them at the end. An agency that refuses to work in accounts you own is protecting its position, and that tells you how leaving will go.

Which questions belong in the first call?

1. Which three clients can you show in Search Console, and which non-brand terms grew there?
2. What will you change on my site in the first three months, page by page?
3. Who writes the content, and in which languages are those people fluent?
4. Who handles the technical side, and can that person change my site directly?
5. How do you earn links, and do you ever buy them?
6. What does your monthly report contain? Can I see a real one?
7. Which accounts will be in my name?
8. How long is the minimum term, and what is the notice period after it?
9. How will you measure enquiries or sales from organic search?
10. Which kind of client do you turn down?

The last question tells you a lot. An agency that knows which clients it does not fit has thought about where its work pays off. How long a fair test period takes is covered in how long does SEO take, and a quick check of your own site before the call is possible with the SEO checker.

A scorecard to compare two offers

Score each offer from 0 to 3 per line, multiply by the weight, and compare the totals. The weights put proof and ownership above price, because a cheap offer without proof costs more in lost months.

An offer that scores low on proof or ownership drops out, whatever the price. A two-offer comparison for a website project works the same way in compare website quotes.