What an SEO report should contain — agency audit
A good SEO report doesn't say 'work was done' — it shows evidence: what changed on which page, the technical verification of each change, and what moved in traffic/visibility. Source-less summaries like '50 backlinks acquired', ranking guarantees, and self-invented metrics are classic red flags. Independent of your agency, you can always verify your site's technical state yourself.
The evidence standard: not 'done' but 'verified'
Every claim needs a repeatable verification:
- "Titles fixed" → on which pages, old vs new values — visible in the source.
- "Indexing fixed" → not a Search Console coverage screenshot, but per-URL before/after status.
- "Backlinks acquired" → the real URL list of links and their target pages — a backlink count without a list is padding.
- "Technical errors resolved" → a repeatable test for each error (e.g. a
curlcommand or Search Console validation).
Classic red flags
- Ranking guarantees: anyone promising "first page guaranteed" is either wrong or dishonest — Google itself says no one controls that.
- Opaque metrics: counting their own invented "SEO score" rising as success — what matters is organic traffic and non-brand query visibility.
- Packages without sources: "50 backlinks" — from where, what quality, pointing at which page?
- The activity = result fallacy: "12 meta descriptions written this month" is work, not outcome; the outcome is indexing and traffic.
- Account ownership: Search Console, Analytics and Ads accounts must be your property — reporting built inside an agency's account disappears when the relationship ends.
What can you verify yourself in five minutes?
Independent of the agency report, you can check your site's technical health:
- Do
https://yourdomain.com/robots.txtand/sitemap.xmlopen? - Does the page source (Ctrl+U) contain
noindex,<title>,description,application/ld+json? - Is your indexed page count rising in Search Console → Pages?
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -A "OAI-SearchBot" https://yourdomain.com/— can an AI search bot reach your site?
Repeat these checks on your own store. Evaluate technical findings, Search Console reports and actual visitor data separately.
What should you demand from the agency?
The monthly report's minimum content: (1) a page-level list of work done, (2) verification evidence for each item, (3) real traffic/query data from Search Console — not their own dashboard, (4) next month's priority list. A report that can't provide these exists to justify the invoice.
Frequently asked questions
I bought an SEO package but nothing changed — was I scammed?
Not necessarily — SEO results take months. But continuing with an agency that can't show what was done is risky; demand evidence.
Do backlink packages work?
Low-quality directory/comment links mostly don't work and sometimes hurt. Links that work are editorial — don't buy a package without seeing the source list.
How can I verify a technical finding?
Record the page URL, check time and observed result. Repeat the check to verify the finding; measure technical evidence and traffic outcomes separately.
These guides explain technical checks. Passing them does not guarantee search ranking or inclusion in AI answers.