Discovering that your SEO company has used black hat techniques is a serious problem, because the consequences land on your website, not the agency’s. Black hat tactics include buying links, cloaking, doorway pages, hidden text, and mass-produced spam content designed to manipulate rankings. Google’s spam policies prohibit these practices, and when its systems or a human reviewer catch them, your site can lose rankings, lose traffic, or be removed from search results. The agency walks away. You are left to clean up. Acting quickly and methodically gives you the best chance of limiting the damage.
Stop the practices immediately
The first step is to halt anything that violates Google’s guidelines. If you are still under contract, instruct the agency in writing to stop all link buying, automated content generation, and any other manipulative work. If they resist or downplay the issue, that is a strong signal to end the relationship. Continuing black hat activity only deepens the hole and makes recovery harder. Do not let an agency talk you into “just one more month” while the underlying problem grows.
Assess the damage
Before you can fix anything, you need to know what was done and how badly it hurt you. Check Google Search Console for manual actions, which appear under the Security and Manual Actions section. A manual action means a human reviewer flagged your site, and the notice will name the specific problem, such as unnatural links or thin content. If there is no manual action but your traffic dropped, the cause may be an algorithmic adjustment instead. Export your full backlink profile and review your content to identify what the agency actually produced. This audit tells you the scope of the cleanup.
Clean up the problems
Cleanup depends on what you find. For manipulative content, remove or rewrite the spam, doorway pages, and thin articles so the site genuinely serves readers. For unnatural links, Google recommends first trying to get the bad links removed by contacting the sites that host them. Links you cannot get removed can be added to a disavow file submitted through Search Console. Use the disavow tool carefully, because disavowing legitimate links removes real value from your profile. If you are unsure, this is a point where an experienced and reputable SEO professional can help.
If you have a manual action, fixing the problems is not enough on its own. After the cleanup, you submit a reconsideration request through Search Console, explaining honestly what went wrong and what you changed. Be thorough and specific, because a vague request is likely to be rejected. Recovery is possible, but it can take time and is never guaranteed, so set realistic expectations.
Consider changing providers
An agency that knowingly used black hat techniques has shown poor judgment and a willingness to put your business at risk for short-term numbers. Even if they offer to fix the mess, ask hard questions about why they used these tactics in the first place. In most cases, moving to a provider that follows Google’s guidelines is the safer choice. Before you sign with anyone new, ask exactly how they build links and create content, and ask them to explain it in plain terms.
Protect yourself in future contracts
Use this experience to write stronger agreements. A future contract should require the provider to follow Google’s spam policies, prohibit paid links and automated content, and give you full visibility into every link built and every page created. Ask for regular reporting that lists new backlinks and content, not just ranking charts. Keep your own access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics so you can monitor your site independently. The clearer your contract and the more transparent your provider, the less likely you are to face this situation again.
Black hat shortcuts can produce quick gains, but they expose your business to penalties that are far more expensive to undo. Recovering takes patience and honest work, and the goal afterward is a site that earns its rankings through quality.