How We Review SEO Agencies
Our Top SEO Companies pages are reviews, not directories. In each city we look at every SEO agency we can find, check each one against the same written rubric, and list only the few that stand clearly above the rest. No agency pays to be listed, and The Fractional SEO is never on the list.
The review so far
Across the nine cities published as of October 2026:
- 5,642 businesses found in local search results and maps
- 1,672 of them offer SEO as a service
- 381 passed the screen
- 104 finalists got a deep review
- 36 agencies listed
Each city page shows its own numbers in the “How we reviewed” section.
The rules we hold ourselves to
- No paid placements. No agency pays to be listed, to be reviewed or to move up.
- We don’t rank ourselves. The Fractional SEO is never one of the picks. Our own offer appears on the page as an alternative, clearly labelled as ours.
- Every point needs evidence. Each score traces back to something we recorded: a URL, a number or a date.
- We don’t name agencies we leave out. Only listed agencies are named. Everything else appears as totals, such as how many agencies publish their prices.
- Reviews are quoted, not rewritten. Client quotes are copied word for word, kept to 15 words or fewer, and credited to the platform and year.
- No agency is contacted. We review what an agency publishes and what its clients say, the same way a prospective client would.
- Relationships are disclosed. If we have any business relationship with an agency we review, the city page says so.
Step 1: Find every agency
We start with Google Maps listings for SEO and marketing businesses across the city and its surrounding area, then add every agency that ranks in Google’s regular results for local SEO searches such as “SEO company [city]” and “local SEO [city]”. Duplicates are merged, and businesses that don’t offer SEO are set aside.
Search results favour agencies that are good at marketing themselves, so starting this wide lets smaller, quieter firms reach the screen.
Step 2: The screen
Every agency that offers SEO is checked against five pass/fail tests. An agency has to pass all five:
- Offers SEO. SEO is a named service with its own page or section.
- Has a local presence. A real office in the area, shown on its site, Google Business Profile or LinkedIn.
- Is active. Signs of new work, posts or reviews in the last 12 months.
- Has a real team. At least one named person.
- Has client feedback. At least one review on Google, Clutch or a similar platform.
What counts as local
- An established firm with a real local team counts as local, even when it works from a coworking or serviced office.
- A mailing address or home office can count when the founder and team are based in the area.
- A national firm with only a “[City] SEO” landing page doesn’t count, and neither does a firm headquartered overseas.
What rules an agency out
- Guaranteed rankings. Promises such as “page one”, “top 3” or “#1 or you don’t pay”. Nobody controls Google’s rankings.
- Selling, renting or buying links. This includes private blog networks, paid guest posts and link insertions sold by the link. Paid links break Google’s guidelines and put a client’s site at risk.
- Agencies that only serve other agencies. White-label firms that don’t take direct clients aren’t reviewed.
A guarantee on fees or results, such as a refund if traffic doesn’t grow, doesn’t rule an agency out. We point it out in the agency’s watch-outs so you can read the terms.
We publish a city only if at least 15 agencies pass the screen. Fewer than that, and a “top” list would mean little.
Step 3: Scoring (70 points)
Every agency that passes the screen is scored on what it publishes and what it can show.
| Criterion | Points | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of results | 20 | Case studies with real numbers score highest. One case study scores less, testimonials alone very little. |
| Reputation | 12 | Google rating adjusted for the number of reviews, review volume, and reviews on Clutch. |
| Transparency | 12 | Published prices, contract terms, a named team, and an explanation of reporting. |
| Rankings for its own city | 10 | Where the agency ranks in Google for 10 to 14 local SEO searches in its own city. |
| Own-site visibility and authority | 6 | How many searches the agency’s own site ranks for, and the strength of its backlinks. |
| SEO depth | 6 | Whether SEO is a core service or one item on a long list, and whether the agency publishes SEO content. |
| Awards | 4 | Juried awards verified at the source, and earned partner badges. Pay-to-play badges score nothing. |
A small number of review stars counts for less than a large one. A 5.0 rating from three reviews is pulled toward the average until more reviews back it up.
Step 4: The deep review (30 points)
About the top ten agencies from the scoring move on to a closer look, usually cut where there’s a clear gap in the scores.
| Criterion | Points | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Client sentiment | 10 | We read the review text on Google and Clutch, sorted by newest and by lowest rating. Points are added for reviews that describe SEO results and recent reviews. They’re taken away for repeated complaints, reviews from people who aren’t clients, and bursts of reviews that look organised. |
| Team stability | 10 | How long the agency’s people have stayed, from LinkedIn tenure. High turnover means your account changes hands. |
| AI visibility | 10 | How often the agency is named when we ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini five standard questions about SEO agencies in the city: 15 answers in all. |
The final score is the scoring plus the deep review, out of 100.
Step 5: Choosing the list
- We list the finalists above the clearest natural break in final scores, between three and seven per city. A city with one clear leader still gets at least three picks.
- Picks appear in score order. We don’t publish ranks or scores; we publish the evidence behind them.
- Each pick gets a “best for” label, because the right agency for a dental practice isn’t always the right one for an ecommerce brand.
- Each pick also gets watch-outs: the weak points we found, such as missing prices, a pattern in negative reviews, or a team that’s shrinking. No agency is perfect, and a list that says otherwise isn’t a review.
- The market numbers on each page, such as how many agencies publish prices, come from every agency that passed the screen, not just the picks.
What this method can’t do
- We can’t see inside client accounts. Results are judged from what agencies and their clients make public.
- Google shows review dates as “a year ago” rather than exact dates, so review recency is approximate.
- LinkedIn can overcount a team, because anyone can list a company as an employer.
- Glassdoor rarely covers small agencies, so we use it only when an agency has at least 10 reviews there.
- AI answers change from one day to the next. AI visibility is a snapshot taken on the review date.
- A newer agency with few reviews and little published work can be very good and still score lower than an established firm.
Updates and corrections
We re-review every city each quarter. Each page shows the date it was reviewed and when the next review is due. An agency can rise onto the list or drop off it between reviews.
If something on a page is wrong, such as a price, an address or a team size, send a correction with a link to the source and we’ll check it. Corrections fix facts; they don’t change scores on request.
Common questions
Can an agency pay to be listed?
No. There’s no paid placement or sponsored slot, and an agency can’t buy a better position.
How does an agency get reviewed?
Every agency we can find in a city is reviewed automatically. Agencies don’t need to apply, and applying doesn’t help.
Why isn’t my agency on the list?
Most agencies we review don’t make the list, and we don’t publish why individual agencies fell short. The rubric on this page is the full set of criteria. If a fact about your agency was wrong at the time of review, send a correction.
Why isn’t The Fractional SEO on the list?
Because ranking ourselves would make the list worthless. We sell fractional SEO, and say so on every page, but we never score our own work.
How often are the lists updated?
Every quarter. The review date is shown at the top of each city page.
More research
All researchWhy Fractional SEO