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Hiring Local SEO Help

How Do I Choose a Local SEO Company?

Choose the one that can show real results for businesses like yours, explains what it will do in plain words, and lets you own your accounts. Avoid anyone who guarantees a ranking, will not share access to your profile and website, or sells a fixed bundle without looking at your business first.
By Eric Walker · Last updated October 2026

Do your homework first

Before you talk to anyone, write down what you want in plain terms: more calls from which towns, for which services, and what a good month looks like. Look up your own profile and your top competitors using the steps in how do I check where my business ranks on Google?. You will ask better questions, and you will notice quickly when an answer does not fit your situation.

Know your budget range too. My page on what local SEO costs gives realistic ranges so a quote does not surprise you.

Questions worth asking every company

  • What exactly will you do in the first 90 days, and what will you do each month after that?
  • Who will do the work, and will I have one person to talk to?
  • Can I see results for businesses similar to mine, and can I speak with one of those clients?
  • Who owns the Business Profile, website, analytics, and ad accounts, and will I have admin access from day one?
  • How and how often will you report, and what numbers will you show me?
  • What is the contract length, and what happens to my accounts if I leave?

Red flags

  • A guaranteed ranking or a guaranteed timeline. Nobody controls Google.
  • A fixed package sold before anyone looked at your profile or website.
  • A very low monthly price that includes “hundreds of links” or “thousands of directory listings.” Google’s spam policies cover link schemes, and the cleanup can cost more than the savings.
  • Refusing to give you access to your own accounts, or creating them under their name.
  • Vague talk of secret or proprietary methods with no plain explanation.
  • Reports that show only rankings for terms nobody searches, with no calls or leads.
  • Pressure to sign today.

Check their own work

A company that sells local SEO should be able to show its own. Search their service and city and see whether they appear. Read their reviews and ask yourself whether they sound like real customers. Look at the case studies and check whether the numbers have a date, a place, and a source you could verify.

Freelancer, agency, or doing it yourself

A freelancer is often cheaper and closer to the work, with the risk that one person is a single point of failure. An agency has more hands and more process, and you can end up as a small account with a junior contact. Doing it yourself costs time instead of money and covers the basics well, as I explain in can I do local SEO myself? Many owners do the basics and hire for the harder parts.

I do this work, so weigh my view with that in mind. The questions above are fair to ask of any provider, including me.

Start small if you are unsure

A short paid review of your profile, website, and competitors, or a small first project with a clear scope, tells you far more about a company than a sales call does. If the first deliverable is clear, specific, and useful, you have learned something good. If it is vague, you have learned something cheaply.

Related questions

Want a second pair of eyes on this?

If you would rather have someone look at your own profile and website, I will tell you what is worth fixing first and what can wait.
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