How long should SEO take before I worry?

Long enough that a single quiet fortnight is not a verdict. Not so long that a year passes with no named changes and no movement in Search Console clicks. Ask for the work and the clicks on a monthly rhythm, even when the honest answer is that nothing much moved.

They say the previous agency caused the problem. Now what?

Ask what, specifically, is still broken, and what they have changed since they took over. Blame of the last supplier is common. A list of current faults and a plan is the useful part.

Guide

Questions to ask before the next invoice

Search work is slow, and that is easy to hide behind. These questions separate a supplier who is doing specific work from one who is sending a ranking chart. You do not need to be an expert to hear a vague answer.

Scan a page free when you want this checked on your own site.

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The work

Ask for last month in sentences, not a slide of positions. Positions are where a page sat for a search. They are not visits, and they are not enquiries.

Which pages did you change, and what did you change on them?
Which new pages, if any, did you publish?
What did you deliberately not do, and why?
What are you waiting on from me?

The results, in Google's own numbers

Google Search Console is free, and it is Google's record of your site in search: the queries, the clicks, the impressions (how often you were shown) and whether pages are indexed. If the agency will not give you access, ask them to screen-share it. The beginner's guide to Search Console is a plain walk-through if you have never opened it.

Which queries got clicks last month, and how does that compare with the month before?
If rankings are 'strong' but clicks fell, what do they think changed: fewer searches, a lower position, or people not clicking because the result changed?
Are the important pages indexed? A page that is not indexed cannot earn clicks, however well it is written.
Did any pages drop out of the index, or start returning an error?

The website itself

Search work lands on a site. If the site is slow on a phone, blocks Google, or hides the thing you sell, the reports will not turn into enquiries. You can look at one page yourself with a free scan, and you can ask:

What is the single most important technical fix still open, and who is doing it?
Does the page we most want found say clearly what we do and how to get in touch?
For a local business: is the Google Business Profile complete, and are new reviews being asked for? The local SEO basics cover what that listing is.

Access and the contract

You should be able to get into Search Console, Analytics, the website and the domain if the relationship ends. Ask who the owner is on each, not only who logs in day to day. Then ask what notice you owe, and what they hand over on the way out. A fair supplier can answer this without drama.

If they want extra money for AI search

Some agencies now charge a further monthly fee to 'get you into ChatGPT' or similar. Before you agree, ask what they will change on the site, and how you would know it worked. Being mentioned by a chat tool is not the same as your pages being readable by those tools.

What you can check today is readiness: whether those tools are allowed to read the page, whether your business is identified clearly, and whether the writing can be quoted. That is what AuditCrow's AI visibility check looks at. It does not track whether ChatGPT mentions your brand. Mention tracking is not available yet. Pay an upsell for a named gap, not for a fear.

What we can check

Where AuditCrow fits

Use the questions in the meeting. Use a free scan when you want a second look at the page they are talking about. In the platform, Search Console and the rest of the site sit together, and a drop in visits can be traced along the chain from demand to clicks to enquiries.

Free page scan

One page, no signup

One page: indexing basics, speed, content and the next step for a visitor
A separate AI visibility check for whether tools can read the page

AuditCrow platform

Your whole site, kept watched

Search Console queries, clicks and indexed pages, read-only
Technical checks across the site, not only the one page
A ranked list of what to do, re-checked when the work is marked done
An evidence-based read when traffic drops, without claiming one task caused it

AuditCrow does not replace a human conversation, and it does not know what your contract says. It will not tell you whether an agency's fee is fair. It shows the site and, if you connect it, Search Console. Keyword and competitor data in the platform comes from your Search Console and our search data partner. It is not a promise of rankings.

Questions

Common questions

Keep going

When the checklist points at your site, scan a page.

The guide stands on its own. The free scan is there when you want the same kind of straight answer about a real page.