Choose a real estate SEO agency by comparing a written baseline, exact scope, evidence standards, access plan, measurement definitions, ownership terms, and exit process. Do not hire from a ranking forecast or a broad promise to “increase visibility.” Ask every provider the same questions, require the answers in writing, and make sure the proposal connects the work to the real decisions your brokerage needs to make.
This guide is published by 10xSearch, which sells SEO, AEO, and AI-search services. Apply the checklist to 10xSearch exactly as you would to another provider.
Start with a one-page buying scorecard
| Decision area | Evidence to request | What it helps you decide |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Dated query set, pages, source systems, denominator, timeframe, and known gaps | Whether later changes can be measured against a defined starting point |
| Scope | Deliverables, exclusions, dependencies, owners, approvals, and schedule | Whether the proposal covers the work you expect and assigns responsibility |
| Methods | Technical and editorial standards, prohibited tactics, and change-control process | Whether the work protects the site while pursuing visibility |
| Access | Initial read-only roles, reasons for any later write access, credential handling, and removal plan | Whether access is proportionate and recoverable |
| Measurement | Separate definitions for rankings, impressions, clicks, leads, pipeline, and transactions | Whether reports answer business questions without blending unlike metrics |
| Evidence | Case starting point, dates, denominator, source, authorization, and limitations | Whether examples are comparable enough to inform the decision |
| Ownership and exit | Account, domain, code, content, data, export, and handoff terms | Whether the brokerage can continue operating if the engagement ends |
The scorecard is an editorial buying workflow, not a Google requirement or legal advice. Use the actual proposal and agreement, and have qualified counsel review contract questions.
1. What business decision will the work support?
Start with the brokerage's decision, not the agency's tool list. Examples include:
- deciding which service and market pages deserve investment;
- diagnosing why qualified organic inquiries declined;
- improving visibility for a defined set of property, neighborhood, seller, or relocation questions;
- making important pages easier for search engines and AI systems to understand and cite; or
- connecting search demand to trackable consultation requests.
Ask the provider to restate the goal in measurable language. “Grow Denver seller visibility” is incomplete. A better scope might name the pages, query set, geographic coverage, starting date, source systems, and the conversion event that will be reviewed.
Do not confuse the stages. A ranking is a position for a query. An impression means a result was shown. A click is a site visit from that result. A lead is a defined inquiry. Pipeline and transactions are later business outcomes influenced by many factors. A report should keep these measures separate.
2. What is the dated baseline—and what is the denominator?
The denominator is simply the full set being measured. If an agency says “visibility doubled,” ask: doubled across which queries, pages, markets, devices, locations, or engines, and from what starting value?
For example, a brokerage might approve a baseline of 60 buyer and seller questions across Denver, Lakewood, and Littleton. If the next report shows 18 improved queries, the denominator should still identify the 60-query set unless the report clearly explains a change. Reporting only the improved 18 would answer a different question.
A useful baseline should state:
- the exact measurement date or period;
- the query and page set;
- the geographic and device settings, when relevant;
- the source system;
- the conversion definition;
- known tracking or attribution gaps; and
- who approved later changes to the measurement set.
Google's guidance on hiring an SEO recommends interviewing providers and asking for explanations that can be corroborated. A baseline gives those later explanations a stable reference point; Google does not prescribe this particular scorecard.
3. What work is included, excluded, or dependent on the brokerage?
Ask for a responsibility matrix that covers each proposed workstream. Depending on the engagement, that may include:
- technical crawling, indexability, canonical, structured-data, performance, and internal-link work;
- local profile or location-page work;
- demand research and page planning;
- new content, revisions, fact review, and publishing;
- analytics, call or form tracking, and reporting;
- conversion-page recommendations and implementation;
- approvals from brokerage, compliance, legal, brand, or website vendors; and
- dependencies on MLS, IDX, CMS, hosting, domain, analytics, or third-party access.
For each item, identify who recommends, who approves, who implements, who verifies production, and who maintains it. “Content included” is not enough if the proposal does not state quantity, page type, review process, publishing responsibility, or acceptance criteria.
Review package and fee details on the provider's current proposal. For 10xSearch, the separate pricing page owns those commercial terms; this article does not reproduce or modify them.
4. Which methods are rejected—and how are changes controlled?
Ask the agency to explain practices it will not use. Google's spam policies describe deceptive or manipulative practices that can reduce visibility or lead to removal from search results. No provider should imply that an undisclosed shortcut is safer because it is difficult for the client to understand.
Require a change log for material edits. At minimum, it should identify:
- the page, configuration, or account changed;
- the reason for the change;
- the approver;
- the implementation date;
- the expected observable effect;
- the verification performed; and
- the rollback path when one is available.
Google's SEO Starter Guide is useful for checking whether explanations align with public fundamentals. It does not validate a vendor, promise results, or make every recommendation appropriate for every real estate site.
5. What access is needed now, and who remains the owner?
Begin with the least privilege needed for the current task. Google specifically notes in its hiring guidance that an audit does not require write access to Search Console. If implementation is later approved, document the exact role, account, reason, duration, and removal process.
For a real estate business, review ownership and permissions for:
- domain registrar and DNS;
- website repository and hosting project;
- CMS and media library;
- Search Console and analytics;
- Business Profile and local listings;
- form, CRM, call-tracking, and email systems;
- advertising accounts, if in scope; and
- dashboards, exports, and generated content.
Google's Search Console user and permission guidance explains current owner and user controls. Translate those controls into a written client policy: the brokerage should know who owns each property, who can add users, and how agency access will be removed.
6. How will content be researched, approved, published, and corrected?
Ask the provider to show the workflow for a concrete page. Suppose a brokerage wants a guide for owners comparing whether to sell now or prepare first. The workflow should identify:
- the demand and page-intent evidence;
- the current page or content gap;
- the sources permitted for legal, tax, market, property, and transaction statements;
- the facts requiring brokerage or property-specific confirmation;
- the draft and revision owner;
- the approval required before publication;
- the exact route and metadata plan;
- production readback and rendered QA; and
- the correction or rollback path.
The agency should distinguish public-source facts from its own recommendations. It should also label unsupported inventory, market, property, outcome, or AI-citation claims instead of filling gaps with confident language.
7. How are AI-search claims measured?
Ask what an “AI visibility” result actually represents. A useful report identifies the prompt set, platform, account or authentication state, geography or personalization limits, collection date, repetition method, denominator, and evidence retained.
Do not treat one screenshot or one favorable answer as proof of broad citation coverage. Also do not merge traditional rankings, AI citations, referral traffic, leads, and closed transactions into one success rate.
Google warns in its third-party SEO guidance that outside tools and services do not have Google's internal ranking data and cannot guarantee performance. That principle supports careful labeling; it does not establish how any specific AI-answer system works or endorse a particular provider.
If methodology matters to your comparison, review it separately. 10xSearch describes its own approach on the AI Visibility Audit methodology page. That is first-party information and should be evaluated alongside the proposal and retained evidence.
8. What does a case study prove—and what does it not prove?
Ask for enough context to interpret an example:
- starting condition;
- work performed;
- dates and duration;
- query, page, market, or account denominator;
- source systems;
- client authorization to publish;
- material dependencies or concurrent changes; and
- limits on attribution.
For example, an increase in non-branded clicks after a technical migration may be relevant, but it does not alone prove that one article created a transaction. A local-profile improvement in one market may not transfer to a multi-office brokerage with different access, competition, and website architecture.
10xSearch publishes selected examples on its results page. Those are commercial first-party claims. Apply the same source, timeframe, denominator, and limitation questions before relying on them.
9. What will the reports say—and who acts on them?
A report should make decisions easier. Ask for a sample that shows:
- baseline and current period;
- what changed;
- why the provider believes it changed;
- what remains uncertain;
- completed work with production evidence;
- unresolved client or vendor dependencies;
- the next recommended decision; and
- the owner and due date for each approved action.
For a brokerage, useful segmentation might separate buyer versus seller demand, branded versus non-branded queries, market or office, page type, and conversion event. The segmentation should reflect the approved business question rather than create a favorable metric after the fact.
10. What happens if the engagement changes or ends?
Before signing, ask for a plain-language exit schedule covering:
- agreement term and termination process;
- final invoices or fees;
- account, domain, data, code, content, and media ownership;
- repository and hosting access;
- exports in usable formats;
- documentation and change history;
- removal of agency users and credentials;
- transfer of open work;
- redirect, canonical, and published-content continuity; and
- a final inventory of systems and owners.
These are recommended contracting questions, not statements of Google policy and not legal advice. Have qualified counsel review the actual agreement and ownership terms.
A hypothetical agency comparison
Suppose Provider A forecasts visibility gains across 200 queries. Provider B proposes work on 30 high-priority pages and 80 approved questions. Neither forecast proves rankings, traffic, leads, revenue, or transactions.
To compare them, normalize the evidence:
- Which queries and pages are in each denominator?
- What is the starting date and source?
- Which work is included?
- Which results depend on brokerage approvals or third parties?
- How are search rankings, AI citations, visits, leads, and transactions separated?
- Who owns the accounts, source files, and exports?
- What happens at exit?
The smaller scope may be stronger, weaker, or simply different. The written definitions and evidence determine whether the proposals can be compared.
Red flags before you sign
Pause if a provider:
- guarantees a number-one ranking, citation, traffic level, lead count, revenue, or transactions;
- refuses to explain a tactic in terms you can understand;
- requests broad owner or write access for an initial audit without a specific reason;
- reports percentages without a denominator or source;
- presents forecasts as measured results;
- cannot distinguish its recommendations from official platform guidance;
- offers case claims without dates, starting state, method, or limitations;
- leaves account, data, code, content, or export ownership unclear; or
- has no documented handoff and access-removal process.
For named-provider comparisons, use the separate 10xSearch comparison center. This guide remains a general buying framework and does not rank providers.
Frequently asked questions
Can an SEO agency guarantee first-place rankings?
No credible evaluation should rely on that promise. Google states that no one can guarantee a number-one ranking. Require methods, evidence, definitions, and limitations instead.
Should an agency receive Search Console owner access for an audit?
Not by default. Google's hiring guidance says write access is not needed for an audit. Begin with the least privilege required, then document any approved expansion and its removal path.
What is a reporting denominator?
It is the full set behind the result. “20 queries improved” means something different when measured from 25 approved queries than from 500. The report should state the set, date, source, and any changes.
Are AI citations the same as leads?
No. A citation or mention is one observation. Referral traffic, a defined inquiry, qualified pipeline, and a transaction are different measures with separate attribution limits.
What should a real estate SEO scope include?
It depends on the site's needs, but the proposal should clearly identify included work, exclusions, dependencies, owners, approvals, implementation, production verification, reporting, and maintenance.
Who should own the domain, accounts, code, and content?
The agreement should state ownership and control explicitly. A brokerage should understand current account roles, export rights, credential removal, and the handoff process before work begins.
Choose the evidence and operating model—not the promise
The right agency decision is the one your brokerage can verify and operate. Define the business question, lock the baseline, compare the written scope, constrain access, separate metrics, inspect evidence, and agree on ownership and exit terms. Then evaluate the provider against the same framework throughout the engagement.