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What should you expect in the first months after hiring an SEO or GEO agency?

Ascent Vision · Published October 26, 2026

Expect set-up before results. In the first weeks, a good agency gets access to accounts in your name, writes down where inquiries come from today and asks about your business. By the end of the first month or so you should have a written plan; in months two and three, a dated list of changes and a first report that ties the work to inquiries. More inquiries from search usually take months, so judge the trend, not one month.

Weeks one to four: set-up

• Access: the agency is added as a user on accounts that stay in the business's name. The related answer on what to tell a marketing agency before it starts covers the brief and the access.
• A starting record: inquiries per month by source today, written down, so later months have something to be compared with.
• Questions about you. Google's guide "Do you need an SEO?" says an SEO should ask what makes your business unique, who your competitors are and how your customers find you.
• A written plan: what changes first and why, and the few numbers you will both watch.
• Your part, agreed: who approves work, and how fast you will send photos, answers and sign-offs.

Months two and three: the first changes

• A dated list of what was changed or published, which you can check through your own logins; the related answer on telling whether your SEO agency is working explains how.
• A first monthly report with inquiries by source, each followed to won, lost or still open.
• Reasons, not just tasks. Google suggests asking an SEO whether it will share all the changes it makes, with detailed information about its recommendations and the reasoning behind them.

What is too early to judge

More inquiries from search usually take months, not weeks; the related answer on how long SEO takes covers why. Being named in AI answers varies by assistant, as the related answer on how long it takes to show up in AI answers explains.

On AI search work, Google's hiring guide suggests checking that advice sold as "AEO" or "GEO" is aligned with its official guidance, and its guide for site owners says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that the best practices for SEO remain relevant. As general advice, a plan built on a secret extra step is a reason to ask more questions.

Signs to raise early

Raise any of the signs below in the first months. If they persist, the related answer on switching marketing agencies covers leaving without losing your website or your lead records.

• Accounts set up in the agency's name instead of yours.
• No written plan after the first month.
• Changes you cannot see, or that nobody explains.
• A promised ranking or AI recommendation. Google says: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google."
• Reports with traffic and rankings but no inquiries.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Do you need an SEO?"
2. Google Search Central, "AI features and your website"

Related answers

• How can you tell whether your SEO agency is actually doing anything?
• How long does SEO take to work?
• What should you tell a marketing agency before it starts?