How to Choose an SEO Agency: 12 Questions to Ask Before You Sign
We write as an SEO agency; we do not rate other companies by name.
Data: service pages, price lists and terms of 17 SEO agencies (as of October 25, 2026), Google results (DataForSEO, Nov 4, 2026).
Short answer
Choose an SEO agency by what you can check before the contract: whether it shows a sample report or a portal demo, whether Google accounts, content and links stay yours, what the notice period is, whether it measures inquiries rather than rankings alone, and whether it states a price before a call. Below are 12 questions with good answers and red flags.
12 Questions for an SEO Agency
Ask these questions in the first conversation or request written answers. A good agency will answer concretely and show a document, a report or a screenshot. Platitudes and promises without conditions are a signal to dig deeper or keep looking.
| Question for the agency | Good answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Will you show a sample report or a portal demo? | A report from a real month with client data hidden, or a portal demo without logging in | "You will see the report after you sign the contract" |
| Whose accounts will Search Console, GA4, the Google Business Profile and the ad account be under? | Yours; the agency gets permissions only | Accounts created under the agency's email or its manager account |
| Who owns the content and links after the engagement ends? | Content is transferred to you in writing, links stay | Links "rented" for the term of the contract and removed when you leave |
| How long is the contract and what is the notice period? | A monthly or open-ended contract with a one-month notice period, no exit fees | 12–24 months with automatic renewal and a three-month notice period |
| What will you measure every month? | Inquiries from forms and calls and clicks from your own Search Console and GA4, alongside rankings | Only a list of rankings from the agency's tool |
| How much does it cost and what exactly does it include? | A price given before a call or in the offer together with the scope: keywords, content, links, hours | "Price after a call" with no scope in the offer |
| Which keywords will you report on or bill for? | A list of keywords with volume from Keyword Planner and queries from your own Search Console | Keywords without volume, or containing the company name, that reach the top 10 on their own |
| Do you guarantee the first place in Google? | No; instead, a description of the work and how progress will be measured | A guarantee of "TOP 1" or of a position within 30 days |
| Who exactly will work on my website? | A named specialist and direct contact with them | Only a hotline, or an account manager changed without notice |
| What will you change on the website and will I approve it? | A list of changes before implementation, your approval and a work log | Changes made without notice and access to the site without agreed rules |
| How do you measure visibility in ChatGPT and AI Overviews? | A fixed list of questions, named models, measured weekly or monthly | A promise of "ChatGPT recommendations" with no measurement method |
| What happens if there is no progress after 3 months? | A goal written into the contract and a consequence, e.g. a change of plan or compensation | No goal and no way out before the end of the contract |
Compiled by AI SEO COMPANY from the contract terms and client complaints described in our market analysis of October 25, 2026, and from Google's guide "Do you need an SEO?".
What We Checked at 17 SEO Agencies: Price, Portal, Contract, AI
Before writing this guide, we reviewed the service pages, price lists, terms and directory profiles of 17 SEO agencies operating in Poland. We do not rate their quality and we do not give names: the numbers show what you can expect before you ask the first question.
| What we checked | Number of agencies out of 17 |
|---|---|
| A "from" price or a price range on the website | 12 |
| A client portal with login | 4 (public demo without login: 0) |
| Notice period stated on the website | 6 (4 × about 1 month, 2 × 3 months) |
| A separate AI visibility (GEO) service | 13 |
Source: service pages, price lists, terms and general terms of 17 SEO agencies operating in Poland, and their directory profiles, checked on October 25, 2026 (compiled by AI SEO COMPANY). AI SEO COMPANY is not counted among the 17. We do not assess the quality of services.
The takeaway: most agencies state a starting price and sell work on AI visibility, but only a minority publish their notice terms, and none of them lets you view its portal without logging in. That is why the questions in the table above are worth asking every agency, including one with a public price list.
The Contract: 6 Clauses That Protect Your Company
- An indefinite term, or a short initial period, and a notice period of no more than one month that you can send by email.
- No activation fees or early-exit fees, and if there are any, the amount written out explicitly.
- Search Console, GA4, the Google Business Profile, the ad account and the domain held by your company; the agency has permissions only.
- Transfer of copyright in the content to you. Under Polish law (articles 41 and 53 of the Copyright Act) this requires written form and covers only the fields of exploitation listed in the contract.
- Links gained during the engagement stay after it ends, and their list is part of the report.
- Scope of work and reporting: every month, a list of changes made and results from your own accounts.
If the contract has a trial period, check what happens once it ends. On legal forums, clients describe contracts that, after a two-month trial, automatically turned into 12 months with no right to terminate.
How to leave your current contract and what to take from the agency is covered in our guide to switching SEO agencies.
This is not legal advice. For a high-value contract, have a lawyer review it.
Reports and Account Access
A monthly report should answer three questions: what the agency did, what changed in the results and what it will do next month. The numbers should come from your own Search Console and GA4, not only from the agency's tool, because only then can you check them without intermediaries.
In the report, look for inquiries from customers (forms, calls, emails), clicks from Google and a list of changes on the website. Keyword rankings alone, without traffic and inquiries, say little, especially when an AI Overview appears for the keyword.
With us, this data is in the client portal, and you can see how it works without logging in in the portal demo.
How Much an SEO Agency Costs
In our sample, 12 of 17 agencies state a "from" price or a range on their website. The lowest amount, PLN 490 (€115) net per month, applies to a package that covers only a Google Business Profile. According to an agency offer roundup published by NapoleonCat in September 2026, a typical SEO budget for a small or mid-sized company is PLN 2,000–3,500 per month.
When comparing offers, check what exactly you get for that amount: how many keywords, articles and links per month, what the report looks like and what the notice period is. Our SEO Standard package costs PLN 1,900 (€450) net per month and includes up to 20 keywords, 2 pieces of content and 2 links a month; the other packages are in the SEO pricing.
Agency or Freelancer
A freelancer is sometimes cheaper. According to the Useme platform, the average SEO job settled through it in 2025 came to PLN 2,050. In Ahrefs' global survey (439 providers, updated 08.2024), agencies charged an average of USD 3,209 per month and freelancers USD 1,349.
Three things matter more than price: who steps in during the contractor's vacation or illness, whether accounts and data stay with you, and whether the contract and report are as concrete as at an agency. The questions in the table above work for either choice.
How to Vet an Agency in Google and in ChatGPT
- Reviews on Google Maps: how many there are, their dates and whether the agency responds to critical reviews.
- Profiles in business directories, e.g. Clutch, with reviews from clients whose identity can be verified.
- The agency's own visibility: whether its website shows up in results for the keywords it sells.
- AI answers: ask ChatGPT and Perplexity about the agency by name and see which pages they cite. If the agency sells AI visibility, ask for its own measurement.
You can run the same test for your own company: the free AI visibility checker shows whether ChatGPT mentions you in its answers.