# Independent SEO Agency Review Before You Renew

> A second opinion from an independent UK consultant. I check what your agency reported against what changed on your site and in Search Console, delivered within 5 working days after access.

Source: https://sunnypatel.co.uk/services/seo-agency-review/
Published by Sunny Patel, independent SEO consultant, Reading, Berkshire. Last updated 2026-11-09.

**An independent SEO agency review checks whether the work you pay for shows up on your site and in your search data. It is for owners and marketing leads with an agency contract up for renewal. The fee is £495 fixed: my technical SEO audit plus a check of your agency's reports against what changed. Findings arrive within 5 working days after access and include a 60-minute walkthrough. Send your site URL and renewal date to start.**

The aim is a fair and evidenced view of the work. It is built on my [£495 technical SEO audit](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/services/technical-seo-audit/). I am an independent consultant based in Reading, Berkshire. I run the review online for businesses anywhere in the UK. Sometimes the honest answer is that your agency is doing good work and you should renew. Sometimes the scope needs sharpening. Either way you go into the renewal conversation knowing what the reports mean.

> **Get a second opinion before you renew** Send your site URL, your renewal date and your last few agency reports. I will confirm the scope and access before any paid work starts. [Request a free 20-minute SEO diagnosis](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/contact/)

| What you get | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| **Price** | £495 fixed. I am not VAT-registered. This is the full amount |
| **Timing** | Within 5 working days after access is in place |
| **Deliverables** | Ranked findings with evidence, questions to put to your agency, a 60-minute walkthrough |
| **Access needed** | Read-only Google Search Console and GA4, plus your agency's reports |
| **Site size** | Standard sites up to around 500 pages |
| **Who it is for** | Owners and marketing leads with an SEO agency contract up for renewal |
| **Where** | Reading, Berkshire. Delivered online for businesses anywhere in the UK |

## Can someone independent review my SEO agency's work before we renew the contract?

Yes. My independent SEO agency review exists for exactly that decision. An independent SEO agency review is a fixed-fee check of what your agency reported against what changed on your live site and in Google Search Console. The consultant doing it has no stake in the contract. I look at your site as it stands today and compare it with what your agency has reported over the contract. You get a plain answer on three things: what was delivered, whether it moved your search performance, and what to ask before you sign again.

The review runs on the same £495 fixed fee as my technical SEO audit. There is no separate fee for reading the agency reports. The site audit covers technical health, content and AI-search visibility. The agency part covers what was promised, what was reported and what the evidence shows.

## What do I check in an SEO agency review, and what evidence do I use?

Every finding in my SEO agency review links back to something you can see yourself. I do not rely on the agency's dashboard or on my opinion of their style.

| What I check | Evidence I use | What it tells you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Work delivered against invoiced scope** | Your contract or proposal, monthly reports, the live site | Whether the work you paid for exists on the site |
| **Rankings and clicks trend** | Google Search Console, read-only | Whether search performance moved over the contract and on which pages |
| **Technical health** | A crawl of the site, indexation reports | Whether basic problems are still open after months of work |
| **Content shipped** | Published pages, dates, the content plan | Whether new pages target real searches and earn impressions |
| **Links built** | Link lists in reports, a third-party backlink index | Whether links come from relevant sites or from low-quality networks |
| **Reporting honesty** | Report metrics compared with GA4 and Search Console | Whether reports focus on enquiries and revenue or on vanity numbers |
| **AI visibility** | Checks in ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity | Whether your brand appears for your key buyer questions on the day I test |

AI answers vary from one run to the next. That part of the review records what I saw on the day. Treat it as a baseline for later comparison.

## We can't judge whether our SEO agency does good work. What are the signs it is worth a second opinion?

Seven signs suggest an independent check is worth £495 before you commit to another year. Most owners who ask me this are not SEO specialists. They should not need to be. The signs are:

- Reports show rankings and traffic but never enquiries, sales or leads
- You cannot name a specific page or fix the agency delivered last quarter
- Organic clicks in Search Console are flat or falling while reports say things are going well
- Link building is reported as a number with no list of the sites
- The same technical issues appear in report after report
- The contract renews automatically and the scope has not changed in a year
- A new marketing lead has inherited the agency and wants a baseline

Score your current agency against six common red flags in the scorecard below. It runs in your browser and takes about a minute.

None of these proves the agency is doing poor work. They are reasons to check. My guide on [how to tell if your SEO agency is lying to you](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/blog/seo-agency-lying/) covers the warning signs in more detail.

## How does the review work?

My SEO agency review runs in four steps. The written findings arrive within 5 working days after access.

1. **Send the basics**: Your site URL, the renewal date, your agency reports for the contract so far, and the contract or proposal if you have it.
1. **Grant read-only access**: Add me as a restricted user in Google Search Console and a viewer in GA4. I do not need logins to your website or to the agency's tools.
1. **I audit and compare**: I audit the site. Then I set the agency's reported work against the live site and your Search Console and GA4 data.
1. **Walk through the findings**: You get the written findings within 5 working days after access. Then I walk you through what they mean for the renewal in a 60-minute call.

## What questions should I ask my SEO agency before renewing?

The review gives you a list of questions tailored to your site and your reports. These are the seven I find most useful in general:

1. Which pages did you change in the last six months, and what changed on each one?
2. Which of those changes can you link to a rise in clicks or enquiries in Search Console or GA4?
3. Which sites did the links you built come from, and how were they obtained?
4. What were the three biggest problems on our site when you started, and which are now fixed?
5. How do you count leads in your reports, and does that match what our sales team sees?
6. What would you do differently next year, and what will it cost?
7. If we leave, do we keep the content, the accounts and the data?

The answers matter more than the questions. The two panels show what a good answer and a red-flag answer look like.

- Names the pages changed and the month each change went live
- Shows the change on the live site
- Links each change to Search Console clicks or enquiries before and after
- Lists the sites that links came from and how they were obtained

- Talks about ongoing optimisation without naming a page
- Leads with Domain Authority or keyword counts padded with your own brand name
- Reports links as a number with no list of sites
- Repeats the same open issues month after month

A good agency will answer these quickly and with evidence. Vague answers are useful information too.

## What does the review not include?

My independent SEO agency review does not include managing your agency, attending meetings with them or negotiating the contract. I also do not review PPC or paid social work. The review covers SEO and AI search only.

Implementation is not included. The findings are yours to share with your agency, your developer or your team.

## What happens after the review?

The 60-minute walkthrough at the end of my SEO agency review finishes with a recommended next step. The usual outcomes are:

- **Renew with a sharper scope:** keep the agency and use the findings to agree clearer deliverables and reporting
- **Renegotiate:** keep the agency on a smaller or different scope where some of the work is not paying back
- **Move in-house with support:** your team does the work with direction from me through SEO consulting at £200 per session or £600 per month
- **Switch provider:** brief a new agency or consultant using the findings as the starting baseline

My [SEO retainer](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/services/seo-retainer/) starts at £1,500 per month if you want me to take on the work. The £495 is credited against your first month if you start a retainer within 60 days of delivery. There is no obligation to do so.

> **Renewal coming up?** Send your site URL and renewal date. I will confirm the scope, the access needed and the delivery date before you pay anything. [Request a free 20-minute SEO diagnosis](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/contact/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Will my agency know you are reviewing their work?

Your agency will only know about my review if you tell them. I use read-only access to your own Search Console and GA4 accounts. I read the reports you already hold. I do not contact your agency.

### Do you need logins to our website or the agency's tools?

No. My SEO agency review needs only read-only Google Search Console and GA4 access plus the reports and contract you already have. I audit the public site with a crawler.

### Is this a sales pitch for your retainer?

No. My SEO agency review is a fixed £495 piece of work with no obligation to buy anything else. I will say so and suggest you renew if the evidence shows your agency is doing well.

### Can you review a PPC or paid social agency?

No. My agency review covers SEO and AI-search work only. Ask a specialist in paid media for that channel.

### What if our site has more than 500 pages?

Sites over around 500 pages need a separate scope and price for the SEO agency review. The same applies to multiple international versions and a recent migration. I confirm this before any paid work starts.

### How far back do you look?

My SEO agency review usually covers the full contract period where it fits inside the 16 months of performance data that Google Search Console holds. Older reports are still useful for checking what was promised.

### Where are you based, and do you work with businesses outside Berkshire?

I am based in Reading, Berkshire. I run the SEO agency review online for businesses anywhere in the UK. Access, the written findings and the walkthrough call all happen remotely.

## Related guides

- [How to tell if your SEO agency is lying to you](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/blog/seo-agency-lying/)
- [How to choose an SEO consultant](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/blog/how-to-choose-seo-consultant/)
- [SEO consultant vs agency](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/blog/seo-consultant-vs-agency/)
- [£495 technical SEO audit](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/services/technical-seo-audit/)
- [SEO consulting at £200 per session](https://sunnypatel.co.uk/services/seo-consulting/)

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Contact: https://sunnypatel.co.uk/contact/ | Hello@SunnyPatel.co.uk | 07305 523333