You're looking at another invoice for SEO—$4,000, maybe $8,000—and the same familiar feeling hits your stomach: frustration. You see reports filled with confusing charts and rankings for keywords you don't care about, but the needle isn't moving on what matters: leads, pipeline, and sales. You're starting to think your SEO company is doing nothing of value.
I've been in the SEO game since 2014, and I've seen this exact scenario play out hundreds of times. But here's what I've learned: the problem isn't necessarily that you have a bad SEO agency. The problem is their playbook was written for a version of the internet that no longer exists.
They're experts at playing a game that ended over the past 18 months with the rise of AI search. While they're still tracking keyword rankings, your competitors are getting recommended by ChatGPT. This guide will show you the symptoms of an outdated strategy and give you a clear path forward.
"You're paying for 100% of an SEO strategy, but you're only getting the 80% that worked in 2019."
I remember when Google's mobile-first update hit in 2018. Agencies that ignored it saw their clients' traffic plummet. The shift to AI search feels exactly the same—obvious in hindsight, but ignored by most in the moment.
The core issue is simple:
Think of it like this: your current agency is building a fantastic library, carefully organizing books on shelves. But today, around 25% of your customers are no longer browsing the shelves; they're asking a super-smart librarian (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google SGE) for a direct recommendation. If your books aren't formatted for the librarian to understand, you're invisible.
When you know what to look for, the signs of an obsolete strategy are obvious. It's not about a lack of effort; it's about applying that effort to the wrong things. Here's a quick comparison of the old playbook versus the modern approach.
| Symptom of an Outdated Strategy | The Old Playbook (What They're Doing) | The Modern Approach (What's Needed Now) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stagnant Rankings | Chasing a few high-competition "vanity" keywords. | Capturing hundreds of long-tail conversational queries. |
| 2. Meaningless Reports | Reporting on keyword positions and impressions. | Reporting on pipeline, lead quality, and revenue from organic. |
| 3. Radio Silence on AI | Strategy is 100% focused on Google's "10 blue links." | Optimising for the entire search ecosystem (Google, ChatGPT, etc.). |
| 4. "Content Mill" Strategy | Pumping out 2-4 generic blog posts per month. | Building a comprehensive knowledge hub that establishes authority. |
| 5. Risky Link Building | Acquiring dozens of low-quality, spammy backlinks. | Earning trust with true E-E-A-T signals (Digital PR, expert authors). |
| 6. Basic Technical SEO | Focusing only on site speed and title tags. | Structuring site data with advanced schema so AI can understand it. |
| 7. Vague Excuses | Blaming algorithm updates for poor performance. | Providing data-driven analysis of why competitors win in AI search. |
Let's break down the most critical signs.
The old playbook treats keyword rankings as the final goal. You get a report showing you went from #12 to #9 for a term, but there's no connection to your bottom line. This is the clearest sign of a failing strategy. An increase in traffic without a corresponding increase in qualified leads means they are targeting the wrong people with the wrong content.
A modern agency knows SEO is a sales channel. Their reports answer business questions:
If the conversation is about positions instead of profit, their playbook is obsolete.
"Vanity rankings don't pay the bills. If your agency can't connect their work to your revenue, you don't have a growth partner."
Ask your agency this question in your next meeting: "What is our strategy for getting recommended in ChatGPT?"
If you get a blank stare, a dismissive comment about it being a "fad," or an answer that pivots back to traditional Google rankings, you have your answer. They're not prepared for the future of search.
An agency that ignores AI search is like an agency in 2018 ignoring mobile. They are optimizing for a shrinking slice of the pie. A modern strategy is diversified—it ensures you are visible wherever your customers are looking for answers, whether that's a Google search bar or an AI chat window.
The Old Content Way: A content-as-a-commodity approach. The goal is to hit a quota of 2-4 blog posts a month to "feed the algorithm," resulting in a collection of disconnected articles that don't build real authority.
The Modern Content Way: Building a "knowledge hub." The goal is to create the single most comprehensive resource on your topic, with interconnected content that covers it from every angle. This establishes true topical authority—a signal highly valued by both Google and AI models.
The Old Link Building Way: A focus on quantity. They might show you a report with 50 new links, but they come from spammy directories or irrelevant blogs. This is not only ineffective; it's dangerous and can lead to Google penalties.
The Modern Authority Way: A focus on trust (E-E-A-T). This means earning high-quality mentions from reputable publications, showcasing author expertise, and publishing original data that others want to cite. These are the trust signals AI looks for.
After reading this, your first instinct might be to fire your SEO agency. But here's the good news I've learned from over a decade in this business: the foundation matters.
Think of it with an 80/20 principle for AI SEO:
Your agency isn't bad, they're just incomplete. They've built you a solid foundation, but they don't know how to build the rest of the house. The answer isn't to tear everything down. It's to find a partner who can build that final, critical 20%.
You're already paying for SEO. The question is whether you're paying for a complete strategy or an obsolete one. We can show you the difference.
Let us run a free, no-obligation AI Opportunity Audit. We'll analyze your site and show you the exact 20% your current agency is missing. We'll show you where your competitors are showing up in AI search and provide a clear, actionable plan to get you there, too.
The best time is when you realize their strategy is fundamentally misaligned with how search works today. If they show no signs of adapting to AI search after you've raised the issue, it's time to find a partner who is already living in the future, not the past.
Beyond just having an outdated strategy, major red flags include a lack of transparency, poor communication, using risky "black-hat" tactics like buying spammy links, and being unable to connect their work to tangible business results like leads and revenue.
A modern agency should deliver a comprehensive audit (including AI readiness), a clear 90-day strategic plan, foundational technical fixes, and initial content strategy execution. While significant ranking changes take time, you should see clear progress on strategic milestones and improved reporting that connects to your business goals within the first quarter.
Fire your SEO agency once it stops driving qualified traffic and revenue. In our experience, agencies worth keeping link every tactic to business goals, communicate transparently, and show month-over-month growth in conversions. If you're only getting vanity-metric reports, vague answers, or discover hidden black-hat tactics, the relationship has turned toxic. Switching early limits lost revenue and avoids deeper technical clean-ups later.
A bad agency hides methods, misses goals, and clings to outdated tactics. Watch for: • "Secret sauce" they won't explain • Guaranteed #1 rankings • Thin content or spammy links • Irregular, jargon-filled reports • Slow, defensive communication These red flags show poor ethics, strategy, and operations—criteria we rely on when auditing 100+ engagements yearly.
Switch agencies the moment data proves stagnation for 4-6 straight months. Supportive details: flat organic conversions, declining click-through rates, or unresolved technical errors signal the current team can't—or won't—adapt. Document issues, serve formal notice per contract, and have a vetted replacement ready so momentum continues.
If weekly activity doesn't map to revenue KPIs, they're likely billing for "busy work" like meta-tag tweaks or generic blog posts. We've audited agencies that log hours but ignore critical tasks—crawl errors, AI excerpt optimisation, or link-gap analysis. Ask for a task-to-impact matrix; silence or excuses confirm inaction.
Your SEO isn't improving when organic traffic, qualified leads, and assisted revenue plateau or drop for 90 days. Track: Search Console impression vs. click trends, goal completions, and pipeline value. Flat rankings on striking-distance pages and rising bounce rates are additional proof something's off.
An outdated agency still pushes "more blog posts and links" without AI search planning. Tell-tale signs: keyword density talk, PBN backlinks, no schema implementation, and zero mention of Google AI Overviews or generative engine optimisation (GEO). Forward-looking partners discuss citation strategy and structured data within the first call.
Use a simple rubric: Trust, Traction, Timeline. If you still trust their ethics, see measurable traction, and they deliver a credible 60-day recovery plan, try fixing. Lacking any one pillar suggests firing. We recommend documenting gaps, giving a final probation period, then exiting if KPIs miss.
No—provided the agency used white-hat tactics and you control all assets, rankings usually hold steady in the short term. Risk rises only if they built rented PBN links or own your analytics accounts. Secure admin access first, line up a new team, and revoke old logins on the termination date to stay safe.
Review the termination clause, give written notice that meets the contract's notice period, and document performance breaches. Early-termination fees often vanish when you terminate "for cause." Keep email records, consult legal counsel for ambiguous language, and always transfer full ownership of content, links, and data before final notice.
Expect a 30-60-90-day plan with an AI Opportunity Audit, quick-win fixes, and revenue-linked reporting. Deliverables include: 1. Comprehensive technical and content audit 2. AI-assisted keyword clustering and content briefs 3. Implementation of high-impact fixes (schema, internal links) 4. Dashboard showing traffic, leads, and ROI signals By day 90, you should see rising impressions and early conversion lifts.
These tools shift goals from ranking links to earning AI citations and zero-click visibility. Strategy now demands extraction-friendly content (clear answers, FAQ schema), stronger E-E-A-T signals, and optimisation for long-form, conversational queries. Agencies must monitor which pages AI models cite and refine content accordingly.
A credible report highlights organic sessions, click-through rate, assisted conversions, pipeline value, and ROI. We integrate: • Keyword visibility for revenue-intent terms • Goal completions and lead quality scores • Closed-won revenue attributed to organic touchpoints • Cost-per-acquisition vs. other channels These numbers let executives link spend directly to profit.
Begin overlap before firing: secure all logins, back up data, and onboard the new agency during the notice period. Provide them audits, content calendars, and link records early. Post-termination, revoke old access and change passwords the same day. This three-phase checklist keeps rankings stable.
No—quality, authority, and AI-readiness beat sheer volume. We've seen single, expertly written hubs with strong internal links outperform 50 thin posts. Modern success hinges on depth, structured data, and earning editorial links from trusted publications, not pumping out low-value articles or buying bulk backlinks.
An AI Opportunity Audit analyzes where artificial intelligence can unlock faster wins and reveal unseen risks. It reviews extraction-readiness, schema usage, content gaps for AI Overviews, and workflow automations. When we run one, clients often discover missed citation chances, duplicate manual tasks, and untapped semantic clusters.
Expect noticeable traction in 4-6 months and substantial gains by month 9-12. Month 1 is audit and planning, months 2-3 fix foundations, and months 4-6 show rising rankings and conversions. Timelines stretch if penalties exist or the market is fiercely competitive, but proactive implementation accelerates momentum.
Yes—existing assets become the raw material for AI-optimized upgrades. We audit, prioritize "striking-distance" pages, enhance them with concise summaries, schema markup, and missing semantic terms, then add expert insights. This refresh keeps prior authority while meeting new extraction standards, saving time and budget.
Allocate 15-25% of your digital marketing budget, or roughly 1-2% of annual revenue, to SEO. Most mid-market B2B firms invest $7,500–$20,000 per month for full-service, AI-integrated programs. Factors like competition, sales targets, and desired speed influence the final figure.
Ask: 1. "How will you align SEO with our revenue goals in 2025's AI landscape?" 2. "Can you share B2B case studies proving ROI?" 3. "What's your link-building methodology?" 4. "Which KPIs appear in your standard report?" 5. "Who is my day-to-day strategist?" Clear, confident answers separate future-proof partners from pretenders.
Choose an agency that demonstrates continuous R&D, transparent data usage, and adaptive contracts. Look for: ongoing AI experimentation, participation in industry thought leadership, short renewal cycles with performance clauses, and a roadmap that evolves quarterly. Long-term relevance comes from baked-in agility, not frozen multiyear promises.
Get your free AI Opportunity Audit and discover the exact 20% your current agency can't deliver.
Get My Free AI Opportunity Audit