How do I verify an SEO company's success stories?
Treat a success story as a claim and work back to the evidence behind it. That means three steps: get the specifics the headline leaves out, confirm them with the client the story is about, and check whatever can be checked against data the agency did not produce. The client’s own Search Console data carries the most weight, because it is recorded for the client’s site rather than estimated, and a client can show you a view of it without giving you access to their account.
Get the specifics behind the headline
A result such as “traffic up 300 percent” cannot be checked as it stands. Ask for the client’s name and website, the starting figure, the end figure, the period between them, and what the agency actually did. Ask whether the figure is organic search traffic or total traffic that includes ads, social media, and referrals. A large percentage of a small starting number can still be small, so the starting figure matters more than the percentage.
If the company cannot give you these details for any of its stories, none of them can be verified yet. Some confidentiality is normal. A company with real results should still have a few clients willing to be named.
Confirm it with the client
Ask to speak with the client behind the story, and ask plain questions. Did the result match what the agency described? Over what period? Did anything else change at the same time, such as a new website, more advertising, or press coverage? Would they hire the agency again?
Then ask whether they would show you the data. A client does not need to give you access to their account to do this. Google’s Performance report documentation explains that “you can share access to the report by clicking the Share button”, and that “this link grants access only to the current view of the report. It doesn’t grant access to other pages for your resource or enable the shared user to perform any actions on your property or account.” A shared view of the right date range and pages settles more than any screenshot.
Compare the right numbers
When you can see the data, compare like with like. Use the same date range the agency used. Look at clicks rather than impressions. Look at the specific pages the agency says it improved. And separate searches for the client’s own name from everything else, using Search Console’s branded queries filter where it is available, or by grouping the queries that contain the brand name apart from the rest. A rise in branded searches can come from many things besides SEO work, while growth in the other queries is closer to what the agency is claiming credit for.
Check what you can from outside
Some checks need no one’s cooperation. You can search the keywords the story mentions, but remember that Google tailors results to time, place, device, and search history, as the same documentation notes, so your own search is one view rather than the definitive ranking. Third-party SEO tools show estimated rankings and traffic for any domain. Their figures are estimates, not measurements, but a large gap between the claim and every independent estimate is worth a question.
Patterns that make a true number misleading
A figure can be accurate and still give the wrong impression. Watch for:
- A time window that starts at a low point and ends at a peak.
- Branded searches counted as an SEO result.
- One keyword highlighted while the rest are left out.
- A ranking gain on a phrase almost nobody searches for.
- A short spike presented without the months that followed.
Ask whether the result held over the following months. A company with lasting results should be able to show you the months after the peak as readily as the peak itself.