Hiring an SEO is risky if you don’t know what to ask. Here are 9 questions, backed by Google’s own advice, that separate real experts from smooth talkers.
Hiring an SEO feels a bit like hiring a mechanic. You don’t really know what’s under the hood. So you nod along when they say “canonical” and “crawl budget,” and you hope for the best.
I’ve been in SEO for over four years, working with clients in India, the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. And the thing is, most bad hires don’t happen because the SEO was a crook. They happen because the business never asked the right questions.
So let’s fix that. Here’s what I’d ask if I were the one hiring an SEO.
First, do you even need one?
Google’s own guidance says the earlier you bring in an SEO, the better. It also says that if you won’t make the changes they recommend, hiring one isn’t worth it. Ouch, but fair.
Before you search “hire SEO expert” or “SEO freelancer near me,” skim Google’s SEO starter guide. You don’t need to master it. You just need enough to notice when someone suggests something shady.
The 9 questions
1. “How will you measure success?”
This is one of Google’s own suggested questions. A good answer mentions leads, calls, sales or qualified traffic. A weak answer is “we’ll get you to page one.”
Rankings are a scoreboard, not the game. If you run a dental clinic in Panchkula, 5,000 visitors from across the world are worth less than 20 people from Chandigarh who book appointments.
2. “What do you need to know about my business?”
Flip this one around. Google says a good SEO should ask about what makes your business unique, who your competitors are, and how your customers find you.
If they send a proposal without asking you a single question, that’s a template. And you’ll get template results.
3. “Can I talk to past clients?”
Ask whether those clients felt the SEO was easy to work with and delivered results. Don’t just read the testimonials on their website. Pick up the phone.
Also ask for a case study with real numbers. For example, we helped an electrical client, EMO Electric, grow clicks by 468%, with their average position moving from 27.1 to 8.2. That’s the kind of detail you want: before, after, and the timeframe. Vague claims like “we boosted traffic massively” tell you nothing.
4. “Can you back up your recommendations with a trusted source?”
This one’s my favorite. Google suggests asking your SEO to corroborate their recommendations with something like a Search Console help page or a Google Search Central post.
A real expert will happily point you to the source. Someone bluffing will get defensive.
5. “Will you audit my site first, and what will I get from it?”
A proper audit should hand you a prioritized list of fixes and a realistic estimate of improvement and effort. Not a 90-page PDF of tool screenshots.
Expect to pay for it, too. And here’s a small safety tip: when they ask for access to Google Search Console, start with read-only access.
6. “What will you do that I might not like?”
Sounds odd, right? But it tells you a lot. An honest SEO will say things like: “We’ll need to rewrite your service pages,” or “Your site speed is hurting you,” or “Some of your old blog posts should go.”
If the answer is “nothing, we’ll handle it all,” be careful. SEO usually needs something from you: content, approvals, developer time.
7. “How do you build links?”
Google says you should never have to link to your SEO. It also warns you to be wary of agencies that email you out of the blue.
Ask how they earn links, and read Google’s spam policies so you know what crosses the line. Remember, Google also says you’re ultimately responsible for what the companies you hire do on your site. A penalty lands on your business, not theirs.
8. “How long will this really take?”
Anyone promising page one in 30 days is selling hope. Ahrefs studied 2 million pages and found that only 5.7% reached the top 10 within a year. The average top-10 page was more than two years old.
That study is a few years old now, and newer analyses suggest the odds for brand-new pages are even tougher. But your site isn’t brand new, and a good SEO can usually show early movement on low-competition keywords while the bigger ones build. Ask for a rough timeline and what they’d expect at month 3, month 6 and month 12.
9. “What about AI search?”
This one’s new, and it’s where many older-school SEOs go quiet. People now get answers from AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity before they ever click a blue link. So ask: “How do you make sure my business shows up in AI answers?”
You want to hear about clear, well-structured content, strong brand mentions, and schema markup. Not magic. At The Fixer Marketing, AEO and GEO are a big part of how we work, because that’s where search is heading.
Freelancer or agency?
You’ll probably look at both. Searching “SEO freelancer near me” is a fine start, especially if you want someone in the Tricity area you can meet over chai.
A freelancer is often cheaper and more hands-on. The risk is that one person has to be good at technical SEO, writing, link building and reporting, and that’s rare. An agency brings more skills under one roof, but you should ask who will actually work on your account.
Either way, the same nine questions apply. Whether you hire a search engine optimizer or a whole team, the title doesn’t matter. The answers do.
What does it cost?
Published pricing pages show a huge range, from around $500 to over $5,000 a month, depending on scope, competition and who’s doing the work. The cheapest isn’t always a rip-off, and the priciest isn’t always better.
Ask for a written scope: what’s included each month, how many pages or articles, what reports you’ll get. If you want a feel for what small-business plans look like, you can see our pricing here.
Red flags in one quick list
- Guaranteed #1 rankings
- No questions about your business
- Secret methods they “can’t share”
- Unsolicited emails or cold calls
- Contracts that lock you in with no clear deliverables
- No mention of reporting
Final thought
Hiring an SEO doesn’t have to be scary. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to ask good questions and listen for honest, specific answers.
If you want to see how we’d answer all nine, get in touch with The Fixer Marketing. No pressure. Even if you hire someone else, you’ll walk away knowing what to ask. You can also read more about our team first.
Quick FAQ
How do I know if an SEO expert is legit?
Ask for past client references, case studies with real numbers, and sources for their recommendations.
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency?
Freelancers suit smaller budgets and simple needs. Agencies suit bigger projects that need several skills.
How long before I see results?
Early movement can show up in a few months, but meaningful growth usually takes six months to a year.
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