Google publishes the test. Ask your agency how it measures success, then check the answer in Search Console rather than in their tool, because Google states plainly that third-party tools cannot see its ranking data. Then read your own page source, which is free and takes five minutes.
The report lands on the first of the month. Twelve pages of charts, a green arrow, a paragraph about momentum. You read it, you file it, and you still cannot say whether anything actually happened.
Google publishes an answer to this in two documents most buyers never open. One lists the questions to ask an agency. The other says plainly what any tool other than its own can and cannot tell you.
What does Google say you should ask an SEO?
Google's guide to hiring an SEO lists the questions it thinks a buyer should ask before signing. Three of them work just as well on an agency you already employ.
- What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
- Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?
- Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?
The same guide to hiring an SEO sets one hard limit, and it is the sentence to keep:
"No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google."
It is equally specific about access. Google advises granting read access to Search Console at audit stage and holding back write access. An agency that asked for write access on day one and never explained why has already answered one of your questions.
Can you trust the report your agency sends?
Most monthly reports are assembled from a third-party tool. Google's guidance on third-party SEO tools is unusually blunt about what those numbers are:
"Third-party tools don't have access to our internal ranking data. They can't guarantee performance. Any predictions are their own and like predictions generally, may not happen."
The same page states that Google does not evaluate third-party services at all, so any claim that a tool is approved by Google Search is the vendor's claim and nobody else's.
| Instrument | Can see Google's ranking data | What Google says about it |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party SEO tool | No | Any predictions it makes are the vendor's own |
| Google Search Console | Yes | Recommended as the first-party source, direct from Google Search |
- A visibility score is a vendor's model of your site, not a reading taken from Google
- Search Console reports what Google itself recorded, which is why Google points you there
Which numbers show whether the work is landing?
Search Console reports four metrics and they are not equally useful. Impressions count how often a link to your site was seen. Clicks count how often someone clicked through. Position is the topmost position your link held, averaged across every query it appeared in.
Google's guide to debugging search traffic drops ranks them for you:
"In general, you shouldn't focus too much on your absolute position. Impressions and clicks are ultimately the measure of success for your site."
A monthly report that opens with average position is leading with the weakest number Search Console offers. Google's reference on impressions, position and clicks warns that the same position number means different things in different situations, so one averaged figure should never be read as a rank.
What do flat impressions and falling clicks tell you?
One pattern in Google's traffic debugging guide is worth memorising, because it points at work nobody did:
"If your impressions remain the same but your clicks drop, you might not be generating the best page title and snippet that you could"
Titles and meta descriptions are the cheapest work in SEO and the easiest to skip. In August 2026 we fetched 30 Tamil Nadu engineering college homepages as raw HTML and recorded what was in the source.
| What the homepage source showed | Colleges | Share |
|---|---|---|
| No meta description at all | 12 of 30 | 40.0% |
| A description present but broken, generic, or belonging to another page | 4 of 30 | 13.3% |
| Not fully readable without JavaScript | 5 of 30 | 16.7% |
| No visible enquiry path, of the 25 returning readable content | 2 of 25 | 8.0% |
Twelve of those thirty had no description written for them, so Google writes the snippet instead. The full breakdown sits in our audit of those 30 homepages.
Want this run on your own numbers? We audit your site, your ad accounts, and one competitor, and send back the three things we would fix first.
What can you check yourself in five minutes?
- 1
Open your homepage, view source, and search for the description meta tag. Missing, empty, or describing a different page means nobody is minding the basics
- 2
In Search Console, set the date range to the last 16 months and compare the last three months year over year, which is what Google recommends for separating a real drop from seasonality
- 3
Read impressions and clicks before you read position. Flat impressions with falling clicks is a titles and snippets conversation
- 4
Ask for the list of changes made to your site last month, with the reasoning. Google tells you to expect exactly that
- 5
Ask which pages produced enquiries, not which keywords moved
None of that needs a tool licence, and none of it depends on the agency agreeing to help.
If the answers come back thin, what an SEO audit should actually contain is published by Google too.
We run one as a free SEO audit of your site and one competitor, with no deck and no pitch.
What this cannot tell you
- The metadata sample is 30 engineering college homepages in one state. It says nothing about your sector and we would not present it as an industry figure
- We did not test whether any of those 30 colleges employ an agency at all, so nothing here measures agency performance directly
- A missing description is evidence of an unattended page, not proof that anyone is idle. Some agencies are hired for content or links and never touch the homepage
- Search Console shows what Google recorded. It does not show effort, and competent work can run for months before impressions move
- Google's hiring guidance is advice, not a ranking factor. Following it does not make a site rank
Key takeaways
- Google publishes the questions to ask, including how the agency measures its own success, and states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking
- Third-party tools cannot see Google's ranking data, so a visibility score is a vendor model rather than a reading from Google
- Impressions and clicks are the measure Google points you to, not average position
- Flat impressions with falling clicks points at titles and snippets, and 12 of the 30 college homepages we fetched had no meta description at all
Frequently asked
How do I know if my SEO agency is working?
Check Search Console rather than their report. Look at impressions and clicks over 16 months, compare the last three months year over year, and ask for a list of the changes made to your site with the reasoning behind each one. Google's hiring guidance tells you to expect that list.
Can an SEO agency guarantee first place on Google?
No. Google's guidance on hiring an SEO says directly that no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and warns against anyone claiming a special relationship with Google or a priority submission.
Is a rising visibility score proof my agency is working?
Not on its own. Google states that third-party tools have no access to its internal ranking data and that any predictions they make are their own. Treat a tool score as a vendor model and check the movement in Search Console.
What access should my SEO agency have to Search Console?
Google advises granting read access at the audit stage and withholding write access at that point. Read access is enough to diagnose a site, and it leaves the settings that control indexing and removals under your control.
My rankings look flat. Is that the agency's fault?
Possibly not. Google lists algorithmic updates, technical faults, security issues, spam actions, seasonality and site moves as causes of traffic change. Comparing 16 months of Search Console data separates a seasonal dip from a real decline before anyone gets blamed.
Sources
- 1.Do you need an SEO? Tips for hiring an SEO, Google Search Central
- 2.Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice, Google Search Central
- 3.Debugging drops in Google Search traffic, Google Search Central
- 4.What are impressions, position, and clicks?, Search Console Help
- 5.Homepage metadata and machine readability, 30 Tamil Nadu engineering college homepages, Kula Digital
Adith Krishnan
Co-Founder & COO, Kula Digital
8+ years building marketing that is measured in revenue. Runs strategy, AI search visibility, and education marketing at Kula. Written from the studio in Coimbatore.