Guides
What to check before you sign
Every question a business owner should be able to answer before hiring a marketing agency, including the ones that are awkward for us. Several of these argue against our own commercial interest, which is the point: a buyer who cannot check a claim should not be asked to take it on trust.
Does It Matter If an Agency Only Does SEO
Scope boundary is not industry specialisation. What full service buys, when one discipline is right, and what to ask about the edges. Book a discovery call.
August 2026Who Actually Does the Work at a Marketing Agency
The four staffing arrangements behind a retainer, what each changes about the output, the account manager layer, and how to get it in writing.
August 2026Who Owns the Content an Agency Writes for You
Ownership of content, accounts and data when an agency produces them, what work-for-hire does not cover, and the clauses that decide it.
August 2026What to Ask an Agency About How It Measures
Nine questions that separate an agency measuring an outcome from one reporting activity, and the answers that should end the conversation.
August 2026Best SEO Companies: How to Build a Shortlist and Check It
The four kinds of agency review platform, how their incentives differ, which assistants point buyers toward, and how to read a review page quickly.
August 2026What Can and Cannot Be Guaranteed in AI Search
The three things no agency can guarantee in AI search, the four it can, and why a guarantee of placement is a warning rather than a benefit.
August 2026What SEO and AI Search Visibility Actually Cost
The four things that decide the monthly number, why the same deliverable is quoted at wildly different prices, and how to compare on total commitment.
August 2026How to Take an Agency Reference Call
Who to ask for, the six questions that produce information, what a refusal means, and why a flawless reference is less useful. Book a discovery call.
August 2026Retainer, Project or Performance: How Agencies Charge
The four charging models, what each does to the incentives, why performance pricing is rarer than it sounds, and which fits when. Book a discovery call.
August 2026What a Scope of Work Has to Name
The four things a scope must specify to be enforceable, the vague phrases that hide a shortfall, and how to rewrite a proposal into countable units.
August 2026What an AI Visibility Measurement Actually Measures
The three different things sold as AI visibility measurement, what a defensible reading has to record, and what it cannot tell you. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026How Long Should You Sign an Agency Contract For
What a minimum term is for, the legitimate reason to ask for one and the illegitimate one, and what to negotiate instead. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026How to Choose an AI Search Agency
The five checks a buyer can run before signing, in the order they become answerable, and the two that cannot be run at all. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026Affordable SEO: What a Low Monthly Fee Actually Buys
The arithmetic behind a low retainer, the three ways a low price is reached, which are legitimate, and when cheap is right. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026Does Industry Specialisation Matter When Hiring an Agency
What specialisation shortens, the conflict question nobody asks, when a generalist is better, and how to test the claim. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026How to Verify an Agency Case Study
What a case study has to name before it can be checked, the four numbers that are usually missing, and how to verify one in ten minutes. Book a free discovery call.
August 2026Our Own AI Search Visibility, Measured
We sell AI search visibility and assistants do not name us. Half the responses named no agency at all. The baseline and the method, published.
August 2026How Long Before an AI Assistant Names Your Business
Why the honest answer is that nobody knows yet, what the components suggest, and what a vendor quoting a timeline is telling you. Book a discovery call.
July 2026How to Leave a Marketing Retainer
Notice periods, auto-renewal, what you keep, and the offboarding steps that decide whether leaving costs you the work you paid for. Book a free discovery call.
July 2026Still deciding?
Bring the checks above to the call. We will answer them about ourselves, on the record.