Why an SEO agency is hard to verify
In construction you can see the wall. In SEO you see nothing for months, and when you do, it is hard to say whether it happened because of the agency or because a competitor broke their own site. That creates room for firms that invoice monthly and do almost nothing.
The problem is not that SEO is a scam — it works, and works well. The problem is that the result arrives late, and until then the only evidence of work is a report the agency writes itself.
The questions below need no technical knowledge. They need concrete answers, and anyone without them shows immediately.
The 12 questions to ask before signing
1. Show me a client you worked with and their growth in Search Console. Not a case study you wrote, a screenshot from the real account with the date range visible. If it is under NDA, at least anonymised.
2. Which keywords do you think I have a chance at in 6 months, and which not? An honest answer includes “you have no chance at these this year”. Anyone who says you can win everything is lying.
3. How much of the budget goes to content and how much to technical work? If they cannot answer, they do not have a plan, they have a subscription.
4. Who writes the copy and who reviews it? Mass-generated text without someone who understands the field stopped working years ago.
5. What exactly do you do about links? The right answer describes real sources: trade directories, local publications, partners, clients. The wrong answer is “we have our own network of sites”.
6. Do the Search Console and Analytics accounts stay in my name? The only acceptable answer is yes. If the analytics are theirs, you lose all the history when you part ways.
7. What do I get in the monthly report? A useful report has: what was worked on, how positions moved on the agreed keywords, how many enquiries came from organic. Not “number of links built”.
8. What do the first 30 days look like? Almost always they should start with an audit and a priority list, not with “we publish 10 articles”.
9. What happens to the work if we stop? Content and technical changes stay yours. If the positions rest on links rented monthly, they disappear with the payment — ask explicitly.
10. Do you also work with my direct competitors? Not automatically a dealbreaker, but it has to be said upfront.
11. Who is the person actually working on my account? In small agencies the person selling is often the one doing it. In large ones, not. Find out who.
12. What do you guarantee? The right answer: the process, the pace of work, transparency. Not the position. Nobody controls Google's algorithm.
The 5 red flags
“We guarantee the number one spot on Google.” Nobody can. Google explicitly forbids agencies from promising positions. Anyone who does either does not know, or knows and is betting that you do not.
Reports positions without naming the keywords. “You went up 40 places” means nothing if those keywords are searched three times a year.
Suspiciously low price. Below €150 a month you cannot pay for a person who writes, analyses and implements. You can only pay for automatically generated reports.
Refuses access, or works from their own accounts. The clearest sign that the work would not survive an inspection.
Sells “packages of 500 links”. Bulk-bought links are exactly what Google penalises. The risk is yours, not theirs.
What it should realistically cost
One-off SEO audit: €250–€700 depending on site size. It is the best first order — you see how they think before committing monthly.
Monthly retainer for a business website: €300–€600. Below €300 it does not cover content plus technical work.
Retainer for an online store: €500–€1500, because the page count and technical problems grow considerably.
Timeline: first movement at 2–3 months, results you feel in enquiries at 4–8 months. Any offer built on “results in 30 days” is describing something other than SEO.
At ARTYONIX an SEO audit starts at €290 and ships in 5 days, and monthly optimization starts at €350. The audit fee is credited against your first month if you continue. We do SEO as engineers: first fix what is technically broken, then build the content — and we tell you upfront which keywords you have no chance at this year.
What to remember
- Ask for a real Search Console screenshot from a client, not a case study the agency wrote.
- An honest agency will also tell you which keywords you have NO chance at this year.
- Analytics and Search Console accounts must stay in your name, without exception.
- “We guarantee number one” is forbidden by Google itself — the clearest red flag there is.
- Below €150 a month you are not buying a person's work, you are buying automated reports.
- Start with a paid audit, not a 12-month contract. See how they think before committing.