Notes for owners · SEO, content and AI search
How to choose an SEO agency in India: questions that separate the honest ones
Questions to put to any SEO agency before you sign: who owns the accounts, what the plan covers, what they refuse to promise and which lines in a proposal should make you stop.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 7 min read
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Ask an SEO agency who will own the accounts, what the plan covers in your first quarter, how they report enquiries and what they will not promise. An honest agency answers these plainly, gives you access in your own name and refuses to guarantee a position. If a proposal is long on rankings and short on named tasks, that is your answer.
Questions to ask, and what to listen for
Put these to every agency in the same order and write down the answers. The table shows what a good answer sounds like and what should make you pause.
| Question | An answer worth taking | A reason to stop |
|---|---|---|
| Whose name will the accounts be in? | Yours, with the agency added as a user | "We manage everything on our side" |
| What will you do in the first three months? | A list of pages, fixes and checks, with who does each | "Optimisation of the website" and nothing more |
| How will I know it is working? | Enquiries by source, set against a baseline taken before work starts | Keyword positions only |
| What will you not promise? | Page one, a date, a number of enquiries | A promise of any of those |
| Who writes the content? | A named writer who understands your trade, and you approve before publishing | "Our team" with no name, or one article for many clients |
| What links will you build? | Real mentions from places your buyers use, which you can see | "A package of 50 links" |
| What do you need from me? | Access, product knowledge, approval within a stated time | "Nothing, we handle it" |
| What happens if I leave? | You keep the accounts, the content and a handover note | A notice period for the data |
| Can I speak to two clients? | Yes, by phone | Screenshots only |
Take the answers home. Do not decide in the meeting.
Read the proposal for three kinds of line
A proposal tells you more than the pitch. Mark each line in one of three ways.
- Task lines. "Rewrite service pages for X, Y and Z", "fix redirects after migration", "set up tracking for calls and forms". You can check these. The more of them, the better.
- Outcome lines. "Increase traffic", "improve visibility". Fine as intent, but they need a baseline and a way to count them.
- Promise lines. "Guaranteed top ranking", "results in thirty days", "first page or money back". Strike these through and see what is left.
If task lines are fewer than outcome lines, ask for the tasks. If promise lines are present, ask why they are there. The reply shows how the agency treats claims it cannot back.
Access, plan and limits
Three things deserve more time than the rest.
Access. Your analytics, your search report account, your business profile and your domain registration should sit in your name. See it set up on day one. An agency that insists on holding the only login is holding your history.
The plan. It should start from what you sell and who buys it. Which five searches do they think matter most to you? Ask why. If the list could belong to any business in your trade, they have not read your brief.
The limits. Listen for three admissions: results take time, nobody controls a search engine, and links are not bought. "Faster than anyone" is a sales pitch.
A hardware and paint dealer in Raipur
An invented example. A hardware and paint dealer in Raipur receives two proposals. One is cheaper and promises "page one in ninety days for twenty keywords". The other costs more, lists eleven tasks for the first quarter and says plainly that no position can be promised.
The owner leans towards the first, then asks each agency who will own the analytics. The first says it will create the account in its own name and share reports. The second says the owner should create it, and the agency will join as a user. The owner also phones a client of the second. That client says enquiries from search rose after the product pages were rewritten, though the first months were quiet and one batch of pages had to be redone.
The owner signs with the second, at roughly half as much again, and has to wait for results. The owner also asks the second agency to put the first quarter's tasks in the proposal itself, so there is a page to check later against what was done. The cheaper agency was not rude or evasive. It offered a number nobody could be held to, and a number like that is the thing to be wary of.
What to ask the two clients you phone
A reference is only useful if you ask the right things, and an agency will pick the happiest clients. So skip "are you satisfied?" and ask about events. What did the agency do in the first quarter that you could see? Did enquiries change, and how did you count them? Was there anything they said they would do and did not? How long did it take to get a straight answer to a plain question? If you left, would you be able to take your accounts with you?
Write the answers beside the table. A client who cannot say what changed in enquiries is telling you something, even if they like the people. A client who mentions a mistake and how it was handled is telling you something better. Keep the notes; they are your record when the proposal is compared with the real work six months on.
When not to hire an agency at all
- You have no one to answer enquiries. More visitors just means more unanswered rings.
- Your site is not yours. A previous developer holds the login? Get it back first.
- Your buyers do not search. A trade that sells by tender or reference may gain little. Check how your last twenty customers found you before you spend.
- You want a result in weeks. Search takes time. Read how long SEO takes first; if that timeline does not suit you, advertising may.
A fair test before signing
Ask for a short paid piece of work first, such as an analysis of your own enquiry records and site. It should have a written fee and a report you keep whether or not you continue. It shows you how the agency thinks. A paid diagnostic is one example. Whatever you choose, get the fee and terms in writing.
Put the same table to three agencies
Copy the table into an email, send it to three agencies and compare the answers side by side. Search is one part of your wider marketing, so ask each agency how its work connects to the calls you actually answer. If you would like us to answer the table as well, see SEO strategy, or tell us what you need.
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