How to Compare SEO Companies (Side-by-Side Framework)
An eight-column scorecard for comparing UK SEO companies on price, contract, sector fit, lead consultant, case studies, AI search coverage, reporting, and audit option.
Compare SEO companies on a scorecard with eight columns: starting price, minimum contract, sector specialism, named lead consultant, two case studies in your sector, AI search platforms covered, reporting cadence, and paid-audit option. Score each company 0 to 5 against your priorities. Normalise proposals to per-deliverable cost and per-month commitment so different pricing structures become directly comparable.
The eight-column scorecard
| Column | What to capture | How to score 0 to 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Lowest published monthly retainer | 5 = within budget; 0 = over budget by 50%+ |
| Minimum contract | Shortest commitment + notice period | 5 = 3-month rolling; 0 = 12-month with full penalty |
| Sector specialism | Has worked with at least 3 brands in your vertical | 5 = deep specialism; 0 = generalist with no sector work |
| Named lead consultant | Senior strategist named on your account | 5 = founder or director; 0 = unnamed "team" |
| Sector case studies | Two case studies in your vertical with traffic + revenue data | 5 = both with revenue data; 0 = none |
| AI search coverage | Optimises for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Bing | 5 = all five; 0 = Google only |
| Reporting cadence | What you receive monthly + quarterly | 5 = monthly written + quarterly call; 0 = dashboard only |
| Paid audit option | Standalone audit before retainer | 5 = £500 to £2,000 fixed; 0 = no audit available |
Normalise proposals before comparing
Most SEO proposals are deliberately hard to compare. To level the playing field, reduce every proposal to three normalised figures:
- Per-deliverable cost, divide the monthly retainer by the number of significant deliverables (content pieces, technical fixes, link placements, audits).
- Per-month commitment, total contract value divided by months of commitment, including any setup fees amortised across the term.
- Per-channel coverage, number of platforms the proposal explicitly addresses (Google organic, Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Bing).
Eight metrics to compare on
Pick four leading and four lagging metrics. Compare each prospective company on whether they report on these and how transparently:
| Type | Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Leading | Organic clicks (GSC) | Earliest signal that work is landing |
| Leading | AI search citations | Visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
| Leading | Branded search impressions | Brand authority growth |
| Leading | Technical health score | Foundation for ranking gains |
| Lagging | Organic-attributed revenue | The number the board cares about |
| Lagging | Organic lead volume | Pipeline contribution |
| Lagging | Customer acquisition cost | Channel efficiency vs paid |
| Lagging | Share of voice | Competitive positioning |
Use the comparison shortlist
Browse the SEOCompare directory to filter UK agencies by sector, budget, and AI search specialism. Use the agency matcher for a personalised three-to-five-company shortlist. Read the SEOCompare methodology for how we evaluate every company we list.
Related questions
Oliver Mackman
AI Search Analyst, SEOCompare
Oliver leads SEOCompare's editorial and comparison research. With over a decade in digital marketing, he oversees agency evaluation, tool testing, and AI search data analysis.
Last reviewed: 7 April 2026
Need help with AI search visibility?
Get a free AI visibility audit to see how your business appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews.
Request your free audit