AI SEO Agency: What They Do and How to Choose One

Three things "AI SEO agency" can mean

Before you compare agencies, decide which service you want. The same phrase is used for all three.

We expect most buyers want the second. Check that a proposal delivers the second and does not simply describe the first in new words.

What a credible AI search engagement contains

• An audit first. Which pages are indexed, which bots are blocked, which questions you appear for, and which competitors do.
• A named list of changes. Pages to rewrite, with the questions each will answer. Not "optimize content".
• Crawler access work. A review of robots.txt, CDN and firewall rules for OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Google and Bing agents.
• Measurement. A fixed prompt set, run repeatedly, plus Search Console and Bing reports. The method is in how to track your brand in AI answers.
• A statement of limits. In writing, including that no one can guarantee a citation.

Questions to ask, from Google's own list

Google's guidance on hiring an SEO suggests eight interview questions and three further checks on recommendations and tools. The ones that matter most here:

1. Can you show examples of previous work?
2. Do you follow Google Search Essentials?
3. What results should I expect, over what timeframe, and how do you measure success?
4. What is your experience in my industry and my city?
5. Will you share every change you make and the reasoning?
6. Do your recommendations cite official Google documentation?
7. If you offer AI optimization advice, does it align with Google's official guidance?

The last one separates agencies that read the sources from agencies that repeat trends.

Red flags

• A guaranteed citation, ranking or "position one in ChatGPT". Google itself says no one can guarantee a number-one ranking, and indexing or serving of any page is not guaranteed.
• A claimed special relationship or direct access. Google's guide says no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems.
• Secrecy. A plan the agency will not explain.
• Write access to Search Console on day one. Google suggests read-only access at first.
• Large batches of AI-written pages. Mass-produced pages for query variations can fall under Google's scaled content abuse policy.
• llms.txt or special schema sold as the fix. No confirmed effect for either on the major assistants.
• Unsolicited outreach. Google advises caution toward firms that contact you unprompted.

How to compare two quotes

Should you hire at all?

Do it yourself if you have fewer than about 20 pages that matter and a few hours a month. Can I do SEO myself covers what is realistic. Hire if the issue is time or technical access, or if a mistake would be costly.

Where Sempor Labs fits

We are a studio in Limassol. What we can show is the method on this site, with sources and limits. If you want a careful audit and plain reporting from a small team, our AI search optimization service begins there, and we quote in writing after seeing your site. You can contact us with your site address, and ask the questions above first.