How to choose an SEO agency: what to check before the first call and what to put in the contract

Short answer. Before the first call, check three things: whether the agency shows case studies with a time period and Search Console data, who exactly will work on your site, and who will make the changes. In the contract, spell out seven points: scope, reporting period and acceptance, what the fee covers, who pays for links, whose name the accounts are in, how links are disclosed, and how to exit. Don’t sign anything that guarantees rankings. Google says plainly that nobody can guarantee the top spot.

Questions for the first meeting are already covered in dozens of articles. Here we show something else: how our own SEO contract changed between 2017 and 2026, and what’s still missing even from it.

Three checks before the first call

Case studies with dates and access to data. A “+200% traffic” screenshot with no dates, niche or source proves nothing. Ask to see a Search Console chart that shows when the work started, or to speak with a client. Google’s guide for site owners gives the same advice: “Check your SEO’s business references. Ask past clients if they felt that this SEO provided useful service, was easy to work with, and produced positive results.”

Who will do the work. During the sale you talk to a manager, and afterwards an intern runs your site alongside several other projects. Ask who your specialist will be and how many projects they handle in parallel.

Who will make the changes. If the agency only writes recommendations and you don’t have a developer, your money goes on reports. Settle this before you get a quote.

How our contract changed: 2017 vs 2026

We’re showing our own experience because it makes clear which clauses actually matter. We stopped using the 2017 template long ago.

We dropped payment for rankings for three reasons. A ranking depends on the city, the device and search history, so two people see different results. AI blocks now sit above the regular results, and first place no longer means the first screen. Worst of all, paying for rankings pushes an agency to pick easy keywords that are no use to anyone.

Seven clauses to put in the contract

This is not legal advice. A lawyer should check the final text of the contract.

1. Scope with no ranking guarantee. Visibility and work, with no “top 3 in 30 days”. Google’s guide Do you need an SEO? (updated 5 June 2026) puts it plainly: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”
2. Reporting period and acceptance. A calendar month, an acceptance certificate, a deadline for signing it or giving a reasoned refusal, and a deadline for fixing shortcomings.
3. What the fee covers and what it doesn’t. How many pages, pieces of content and implementation hours the monthly fee includes. Anything not on the list goes into a separate agreement.
4. External costs. Who pays for link placements, ads and tools, and within what budget. Without this clause, the price in the quote means nothing.
5. Accounts and access. Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile and Merchant Center are registered to the client, and the agency gets access. When the work ends, access is revoked and everything stays with you.
6. Disclosure of changes and links. Every month the agency hands over a list of changes made to the site and a list of links acquired, with their domains. This is exactly what Google suggests asking: “Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?”
7. Exit. Notice period, payment for work done, handover of working files and texts.

Clauses 5 and 6 aren’t written into our 2026 contract as separate terms. We follow them as a working rule, and the contract doesn’t require them.

Sample monthly scope

A hypothetical example for a service business site. Plug in your own numbers.

A list like this heads off most disputes before they start. If a point won’t fit into the table, it needs a separate conversation.

Red flags in a contract

• a guarantee of specific rankings or of “reaching the top” by a deadline;
• a ban on disclosing the agency’s methods;
• Search Console or Analytics accounts created in the agency’s name;
• automatic renewal with no clear exit procedure;
• not a word about external costs;
• reports on rankings only, with no traffic or leads.

The first two were in our own 2017 template. We know what they look like from the inside.

Next step

Before you sign, ask the agency for a sample report from last month and a list of what the fee covers. How to work out the budget itself is covered in how much SEO costs. Our terms (a three-month minimum, then month to month) and plans are on the SEO services page.

Author: Yevhenii Chyzh, founder of Chyzh Agency. Reviewed by Dmytro Popryadukhin, Head of SEO.

Sources: the agency’s 2017 contract template (payment for rankings); the agency’s current contract for SEO and AI visibility, September 2026 (client details removed); Google Search Central, “Do you need an SEO?”, updated 5 June 2026; Google Ukraine search results for a Ukrainian-language query on choosing an SEO agency, 12 Nov 2026.