The short answer: before you hire an SEO agency or company, ask five things. Who will do the work on my website, and who is accountable? What will you deliver each month? How will you measure results beyond rankings? What happens if I leave? And what do you promise, and what don’t you? An agency that answers these clearly and specifically is worth a closer look. One that dodges them is not.
Below are 21 questions to put to any agency, grouped by what you are trying to find out. Each one comes with what a good answer sounds like and the red flag that should make you walk away. They apply to any SEO agency in Melbourne or elsewhere in Australia. If you are comparing broader digital marketing agencies, our guide to the questions to ask before hiring a digital marketing agency covers that.
The five questions that matter most, and how to read the answers
| Ask the agency | A good answer sounds like | A red flag sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Who will do the work on my website, and who is accountable? | Names and roles, with one person accountable for the account | Vague answers, or no one you can speak to before signing |
| What will you deliver each month? | A written list of work, pages and content, plus the report date | “It depends”, with nothing in writing |
| How will you measure results? | Enquiries, sales and search traffic, reported monthly | Rankings and “visibility” only |
| What happens if I leave? | You keep your accounts, content and data, with clear notice terms | The agency holds your accounts, or the terms are unclear |
| What do you promise, and what don’t you? | Honest timeframes and transparent work | A guaranteed number one ranking, or results in days |
All 21 questions at a glance
- Have you worked with businesses like mine?
- Can you show results for past clients, with numbers?
- How long have your clients stayed with you?
- Who will do the work on my website, and who is accountable for it?
- Can I speak to the person who will run my account before I sign?
- What will you need from me?
- How often will I hear from you, and how?
- What is your process, from audit to ongoing work?
- How will you decide what to focus on?
- What will you deliver each month?
- How will you handle content?
- Will my accounts and data be in my name?
- How do you stay within Google’s guidelines?
- How will you help my business show up in AI search as well as Google?
- How do you track whether AI assistants mention my business?
- How long before I see results?
- Do you guarantee rankings or a number one spot?
- How will you measure success and report?
- How are you priced, and what is included?
- What happens if I leave?
- How will you tell me about changes to my website?
Questions about experience and proof
Q1. Have you worked with businesses like mine?
A good answer: they name similar clients in your industry and city, show live examples, and ask you about your customers, your competitors and what stops people choosing you. Google’s own advice for hiring an SEO is to ask about experience in your country or city and, if you sell overseas, with international sites. An agency without your exact niche can still be right if its research approach is strong.
Red flag: no questions about your business, or a pitch that could be sent to any company.
Q2. Can you show results for past clients, with numbers?
A good answer: yes, with specific figures such as traffic from search, enquiries or sales, and references you can call. Confidentiality may stop an agency naming a client, but it should not stop them showing the results. Read their reviews as well, and check they are a real Australian business with an ABN, which you can look up on ABN Lookup.
Red flag: results quoted only as rankings or impressions, no references, or an agency that cold-emailed you out of the blue. Google specifically warns businesses to be wary of those.
Q3. How long have your clients stayed with you?
A good answer: a clear history, including how long they have been in business, and at least a few clients who have stayed for years. SEO takes months to show consistent results, and long relationships suggest the work is delivering something worth paying for.
Red flag: only short-term clients, or no one willing to say how long clients stay.
Questions about the team and how you will work together
Q4. Who will do the work on my website, and who is accountable for it?
A good answer: named people, with one person accountable for your account and clear owners for strategy, content, technical changes and reporting.
Red flag: nobody can say who does what, or accountability sits with no one if something goes wrong.
Q5. Can I speak to the person who will run my account before I sign?
A good answer: yes. The person who sells the work and the person who manages it are often different people, and you will be working with the second one for months. Check they understand your business and can explain how they will drive results.
Red flag: you only ever meet the sales lead.
Q6. What will you need from me?
A good answer: a clear list up front: reviewing recommendations, approving changes, checking content for accuracy and style, and giving access to your website and accounts. If your industry is technical, you may need to supply the core points for content.
Red flag: “nothing, we handle it all”. Good SEO needs your knowledge and sign-off.
Q7. How often will I hear from you, and how?
A good answer: a regular report, a named contact and a stated response time, with a monthly check-in on progress and open items. They should be able to work around your schedule and the tools your team already uses.
Red flag: no set rhythm, or you only hear from them when it is time to renew.
Questions about strategy and process
Q8. What is your process, from audit to ongoing work?
A good answer: they start with an audit of your site, competitors and customers, then give recommendations before work begins. The audit should cover technical health, mobile and site speed, content, and your Google Business Profile and local presence. After that comes the work itself: keywords, technical fixes, on-page changes, content and off-page work such as links. Some agencies offer a paid audit first, which lets you judge their thinking before you commit. For the audit, Google advises granting only read access to Search Console, not full control. Do the same for Analytics.
Red flag: they promise a plan before looking at your site, or want full access to everything before you have agreed on the work.
Q9. How will you decide what to focus on?
A good answer: they explain in plain English which searches matter for your business and why, based on real search data and your customers’ questions. Google’s own list of questions for an SEO includes asking for the reasoning behind their recommendations. Ask which pages they would improve first and what they expect that to change.
Red flag: a generic keyword list, or recommendations with no explanation.
Q10. What will you deliver each month?
A good answer: a written list covering the work planned, how many pages and content pieces, the technical changes, and the date you will get the report. If they build links, ask how many and from where. Also ask what else ties in with the SEO, such as web development, content or Google Ads.
Red flag: “it depends”, with nothing in writing, so you cannot check what you are paying for.
Q11. How will you handle content?
A good answer: they say who writes it, who checks the facts and who approves it. Business-to-business content often needs guides, case studies and expert input, while consumer content leans on clear, practical pages. If they use AI to draft content, ask who checks and edits it before it goes live. Ask for samples of their writing.
Red flag: bulk or mass-produced pages with no one who knows your industry reviewing them. Google’s spam policies treat content produced at scale mainly to manipulate rankings as spam.
Q12. Will my accounts and data be in my name?
A good answer: yes. Your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Business Profile and domain name should be registered in your name, so you keep access if you leave. Ask for a sample report too. The tools they use matter much less than who owns the data.
Red flag: the agency registers your domain or accounts in its own name.
Questions about Google’s rules
Q13. How do you stay within Google’s guidelines?
A good answer: they can explain a recent Google update and what it meant for their clients, and describe how they build links. They should know Google Search Essentials and its spam policies. If they have helped a site recover from a Google penalty, ask to see examples.
Red flag: paid links, link networks, bulk directory submissions, or secrecy about their methods.
Questions to ask a generative engine optimisation (GEO) agency
Q14. How will you help my business show up in AI search as well as Google?
A good answer: a plan for AI Overviews and AI assistants such as ChatGPT, built on solid SEO basics. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the work of making your business easy for those tools to find and cite. Google says its AI features need no special optimisation beyond good SEO, but several things can help: clear answers to real customer questions on your pages, accurate structured data, consistent business details across the web, and pages that AI crawlers can read. See how we approach this on our generative engine optimisation page.
Red flag: “secret” AI tricks, or a plan that ignores your normal SEO.
Q15. How do you track whether AI assistants mention my business?
A good answer: they test real customer questions repeatedly, record which sources the answers cite and whether your business is named, and track visits from AI assistants in your analytics. AI answers vary from one run to the next, so they should be honest about what can and cannot be measured.
Red flag: a promise of exact positions in AI results.
Questions about results, pricing and leaving
Q16. How long before I see results?
A good answer: for a new campaign, early movement typically comes within three to six months. Meaningful growth in traffic and enquiries often takes six to twelve months, and longer in competitive markets. Ask what they expect at each stage.
| When | What you can reasonably expect |
|---|---|
| Month 1 | Audit finished, technical fixes underway, a plan you understand |
| Months 3 to 6 | Early movement in rankings and impressions for target searches |
| Months 6 to 12 | Meaningful growth in visits and enquiries traced to search |
Red flag: anyone promising results in days or weeks.
Q17. Do you guarantee rankings or a number one spot?
A good answer: no. Google itself says no one can guarantee a number one ranking. Search engines decide rankings and change how they work over time, so a good agency commits to the work, to transparency and to honest timeframes, not to outcomes it does not control.
Red flag: any guaranteed ranking, or a promise of “first page in 30 days”.
Q18. How will you measure success and report?
A good answer: reporting that connects to enquiries and sales, not just rankings and traffic. A useful monthly report covers what was done, search traffic, rankings, conversions, and the key actions for the next month. Ask for a sample, and ask how they will show the return on what you spend.
Red flag: reports full of rankings and charts but no link to enquiries or sales.
Q19. How are you priced, and what is included?
A good answer: pricing in writing, with exactly what each fee covers, so you can compare like for like. Our guide to how much SEO costs for a small business in Australia explains what drives the price.
| Pricing model | What to check |
|---|---|
| Project fee | Exactly what is in scope, and what costs extra |
| Monthly retainer | The monthly deliverables, and how to change or end it |
| Set package | Whether it fits your business, including secondary services such as content |
Red flag: a very low price with no list of what you are getting.
Q20. What happens if I leave?
A good answer: clear terms covering the deliverables, any minimum commitment, pricing, notice period, and how assets are handed back to you. Compare structures, such as rolling monthly terms against a fixed 12-month commitment. You should own your website content, your accounts and your reports.
Red flag: a long lock-in with no exit terms, or the agency keeps your accounts or content if you leave.
Q21. How will you tell me about changes to my website?
A good answer: a written log of every change, with the reasoning behind it, and agreed sign-off before anything goes live. SEO work involves technical and content changes, and some may need a developer. If rankings or the user experience change, the log lets you trace what was altered and when.
Red flag: changes made to your site with no record and no approval.
Where Sharp Instincts fits
Sharp Instincts is a digital marketing agency based in Melbourne. Our SEO services include eCommerce SEO, local SEO, international SEO, enterprise SEO, mobile SEO and video SEO. You can contact us to talk through your own situation.
21 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an SEO Agency or Company