The short answer: choose an SEO agency on its written scope, not its sales call. Ask for a specific first-90-days plan, a sample monthly report, proof of how they earn links, and confirmation that you'll own every account. Avoid anyone who guarantees rankings, buys links, or locks you into a long contract with no review point. If your needs are steady and well defined, a managed AI SEO employee can cover the routine work for less.
If you're still working out what SEO work actually involves, start with our guide to SEO services for small business. This page is about the buying decision: how to compare agencies, what to put in the contract, and how to tell a good one from a bad one before you've paid anything.
Agency vs freelancer vs AI employee
| SEO agency | Freelance SEO expert | AI SEO employee (managed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A team: strategist, technical, content, links, account manager | One experienced person | AI agents doing a fixed scope, with a person overseeing it |
| Best for | Several channels, competitive markets, bigger budgets | A specific hard problem, or a small ongoing scope | Steady weekly SEO work: fixes, pages, listings, reports |
| Main risk | Your account handed to junior staff; vague scope | Capacity and availability | Scope limits; not a replacement for strategy-heavy projects |
| Pricing | Varies widely; get it in writing | Varies; hourly or monthly | Ours: $599/month per role plus a setup fee |
We go deeper on the freelancer question in hire an SEO expert vs agency vs AI employee.
12 questions to ask before you sign
Send these by email, so you have the answers in writing and can compare them side by side. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO includes several of them (Google Search Central).
About the work
- What exactly will you do in the first 90 days? Look for named tasks: "fix indexing on these pages, rewrite these titles, build these two service pages." Not "develop a strategy."
- What do I get every month after that? Pages improved, posts written, listings built, technical checks, report. In numbers.
- Which searches will you target first, and why? Good answers name your services and your area. Weak answers are high-volume terms you'd never get a customer from.
- Do you follow Google Search Essentials? Google suggests asking this directly.
About the people 5. Who will actually do the work? The person on the sales call, a junior, a contractor, or software? Ask to meet them. 6. Do you use AI to write or change my pages? That can be fine if a person checks facts and adds your real details. The answer should be honest and specific. 7. Can you show work for a business like mine, and give me a reference? Google recommends checking references with past clients.
About links 8. How will you get links? "From real local organizations, suppliers and relevant directories" is fine. "We have a network" or "we buy placements" is not. Google's spam policies list buying links, excessive link exchanges and low-quality directory links as link spam (spam policies).
About proof 9. Can I see a real monthly report, with the client's name removed? (More on this test below.) 10. How will we know if it's working, and what happens if it isn't? A good agency explains what they'd change and when. A bad one only talks about patience.
About control 11. What will I own if we stop? The right answer is everything: domain, website, Search Console, Analytics, Google Business Profile, content, and any listings created for you. 12. How long is the contract, and how do I cancel? Write down the notice period.
Contract must-haves
Before you sign, make sure the contract or statement of work says:
- Deliverables in numbers. "Up to X pages improved, Y listings, weekly or monthly report." If it says "ongoing optimization," ask what that means.
- Ownership. All accounts are registered to you; the agency is added as a user. Content they write for you becomes yours.
- Access levels. The lowest access the work needs. Google suggests read-only Search Console access during an audit.
- Approval rules. Which changes need your sign-off: new pages, business claims, prices, anything that goes out under your name.
- A review point. A date (for example, day 90) when you review progress against the baseline together.
- Exit terms. Notice period, and what they hand back: logins, files, a list of every change and listing.
- No link buying. Put it in writing.
The sample report test
Ask for a real report from another client, with names removed. Then check it against this list:
- Does it show work done, with dates? "Rewrote titles on 6 service pages on Mar 3" beats "on-page optimization ongoing."
- Does it compare equal date ranges? This week vs last week, or this month vs the same month last year. Not a cherry-picked "best day."
- Does it use Search Console data? Clicks and impressions straight from Google beat third-party "visibility scores."
- Does it include rankings only for searches customers actually use? Ranking first for a phrase nobody searches is worth nothing.
- Does it mention leads or calls, honestly? Only where tracking reliably supports it, and flagged where it doesn't.
- Does it say what's next? A good report ends with the plan.
Why it matters: analytics can mislead. On a B2B job board we run, analytics once showed Google traffic "down 80%," while Search Console showed real search clicks had gone up from 40 to 55 a week (how we found the truth). An agency whose reports would have panicked over that is reading the wrong numbers.
Red flags that end the conversation
- Guaranteed rankings. Google: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." Also beware claims of a "special relationship" with Google or a "priority submit."
- "We have a link network" or bulk link packages. These are the link schemes Google's spam policies describe.
- Unsolicited emails saying your site "isn't listed in the major search engines." Google quotes exactly this kind of email in its own hiring advice.
- They want to own your domain, hosting or Business Profile. Leaving would cost you everything they built.
- Secrecy. If they won't explain what they change on your site, don't give them access.
- Mass AI content as the main plan. On one of our sites, 383 auto-published AI posts earned 6 Google clicks in 90 days (what happened).
- Long lock-in with no review point. SEO takes time, so some commitment is fair. Being locked in without any way to judge progress is not.
A simple scoring sheet
Score each shortlisted provider from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). It stops a charming sales call from deciding for you.
| Criteria | Agency A | Agency B | AI SEO employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specific 90-day plan | |||
| Monthly deliverables in numbers | |||
| Sample report passes the test above | |||
| Honest answer on links | |||
| You own every account | |||
| Clear approval rules | |||
| Fair contract and exit terms | |||
| Relevant references or case studies | |||
| Total |
When an AI SEO employee is enough instead of an agency
An agency earns its fee when you need strategy across several channels, a complex site migration, or a highly competitive market with a big budget.
Many small businesses need something simpler: someone to fix the technical issues, improve the pages that sell, keep the Business Profile and listings accurate, and report every week. That's repeatable work, and it's what we built Sam for. Sam is our AI SEO employee, part of Stewart Labs' digital staff, and a person on our team runs your account.
- In scope: technical SEO, on-page fixes, local and service pages, Business Profile hygiene, AEO answer blocks, directory listings and backlink outreach, and a weekly rankings and clicks report.
- Not in scope: paid ads, buying links, guaranteed rankings, full redesigns. Long-form writing is a separate role, our Content Writer.
- Price: $599 a month per role, plus a setup fee per role.
- Control: you approve pages, business claims and significant site changes.
Run Sam through the same 12 questions and scoring sheet. That's the point. See the SEO/AEO Specialist role, or read AI employee vs virtual assistant for how AI staff compare with hiring people in general.
If you'd rather understand the day-to-day work first, see our weekly local SEO system, which backlinks and directory listings are safe, and how SEO and content staff work together.
Get a second opinion first
Before you sign with anyone, get an outside look at where you stand. Our free growth audit shows your biggest search gaps, and you can take it to any agency you're considering.
FAQ
What should an SEO agency do in the first 90 days?
Record a baseline from Search Console, fix anything that stops Google reading your site, improve titles and pages already close to page one, clean up your Google Business Profile, and start building or improving key service pages. You should get a written list of what changed and when.
How much should a small business pay an SEO agency?
Prices vary too widely to give one honest number. Compare written scopes instead: what gets done each month, by whom, and how it's reported. As a reference point, our AI SEO employee is $599 a month per role plus a setup fee, and its full scope is published on our site.
What are SEO agency red flags?
Guaranteed rankings, link networks or bulk link packages, cold emails about "not being listed," wanting to own your accounts, secrecy about changes, mass AI content, and long contracts with no review point.
Should my SEO agency own my Google accounts?
No. You should own your domain, website, Search Console, Analytics and Google Business Profile. Add the agency as a user with the lowest access the work needs, and remove it when you part ways.
Is an AI employee a replacement for an SEO agency?
For steady, well-defined work (technical fixes, page improvements, listings, weekly reporting), it can be. For multi-channel strategy, complex migrations or very competitive markets, an experienced agency or specialist is the better fit.
Do SEO agencies include content writing?
Some do, some charge for it separately, and some only "recommend" content you're expected to write. Ask how many pages or posts are included, who writes them, and who approves them. Our guide to content writing services explains what that work should include.
Sources (fetched Nov 9, 2026): Google Search Central "Do you need an SEO?" and spam policies. Case-study numbers come from our own published experiments, anonymized by business type.