What references should I request from an SEO company?

Ask for clients you can speak to directly: at least one current client, at least one former client, and at least one whose business resembles yours in size, market, or the kind of search it depends on. Google’s guide to hiring an SEO recommends checking business references and asking past clients whether the service was useful, whether the SEO was easy to work with, and whether the work produced positive results. Those three questions are the starting point. The rest of the value comes from asking for references the company would not have chosen first, and from checking that each reference is who the company says it is.

Current, former, and comparable clients

A current client can tell you what the work is like now: how often you hear from the company, whether reports arrive when promised, and who actually does the work. A former client can tell you how results developed over a longer period and how the relationship ended, including whether access, accounts, and content were handed over without trouble. A comparable client tells you whether the company’s experience fits your situation. Competition and search behavior differ between markets, so a strong result for a national online store says little about a local service business, and the reverse.

Ask for references the company did not pick

The references a company offers first are ones it has chosen, and that is expected. You learn more by asking for a reference defined by your criteria instead of theirs. Ask for the client who most recently ended an engagement, a client who started with a scope and budget close to yours, and a client in a market as competitive as yours. A company may decline one of these for good reasons, but how it answers tells you something, and a reference who did not finish as a showcase client gives you a view of the ordinary case.

What to ask a reference

Keep the conversation specific. Ask what the company was hired to do and whether that changed. Ask how results were measured, and whether the figures in the company’s reports matched what the client saw in its own analytics and inquiries. Ask whether the people the client met before signing were the people who did the work. Ask how a problem or a slow period was handled, and what the company did when something went wrong. Finally, ask whether they would hire the company again for the same work.

Listen for detail. A reference who can describe particular projects, decisions, and trade-offs gives you more to go on than one who offers general praise.

Check that the reference is real

A reference is only as good as its identity. Before the call, confirm that the business exists and that the person named works there, through the business’s own website or a public listing. Where you can, reach the reference through the business’s publicly listed contact details rather than only the number or email address the SEO company supplied. This takes a few minutes and closes the gap that a supplied contact leaves open.

When a company will not provide references

Some clients prefer not to be named, and some agreements limit what a company can disclose, so a refusal to share one particular client is not unusual. What matters is whether the company offers an alternative, such as asking a client for permission to speak with you, or arranging a call without naming the business publicly. A company that cannot produce any client willing to speak with you, and offers no alternative, has left you with only its own account of its work.

Weighing what you hear

Treat references as one source among several, alongside the proposal and any case studies you can verify. If two references independently raise the same concern, take it seriously. If they describe a way of working that does not fit how your team operates, weigh that even when their results were good.