Did Your Agency Actually Do the Work? Check Yourself
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SME Problems · 10 November 2026 · Facts checked 10 November 2026 · By Khuzayfah Redo, SingRank
In short
- To check if an agency actually did the work, ask for a dated list of changes, with a link wherever a page changed.
- Then open those links and compare the dates with your Search Console and Google Ads change history.
- An agency can keep its tools private. Changes to your website and accounts are yours to see.
The invoice comes every month, the report has charts, and you still cannot say what anyone did. Good work leaves a trace, and you should be able to see it in your own accounts. We sell SEO, so read this knowing that.
Ask for a dated list of changes
Best for: reports with charts and no tasks.
Google tells owners to ask an SEO provider: "Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site". Ask for the page, the date, what changed and why.
For the rest, see what a monthly SEO report should show.
Check: Google Search Central, checked 10 November 2026.
Open every link yourself
Best for: lists that say "pages optimised".
Click each link. Is the page there? Can you see the new section, title or photo the list claims?
Question any page change with no link. Account settings have no page to open, so check those in the account's history. A month with few changes does not prove bad work. We know of no official minimum.
Match the dates in Search Console
Best for: agencies claiming credit for a rise.
In the Performance report, set the dates around each change. Google says to confirm whether an improvement "maps closely in timing to your site changes". It also says to compare similar periods. Other events can move the chart too, so treat a match as a clue.
Check: Search Console Help, checked 10 November 2026.
Read Google Ads change history
Best for: anyone paying for ad management.
Go to Change history in the Campaigns menu. It covers "the past 2 years". Set the dates to your invoice month.
The User column shows the email of whoever made a change in the Google Ads interface. Automated changes appear under system names.
Check: Google Ads Help, checked 10 November 2026.
Give each person their own login
Best for: teams sharing one password.
Google says people with access "using their own login" can see who made certain changes. Share one login and that column can only show one email.
Keep the owner role yourself. Our guide to switching agency lists what to keep.
Check: Google Ads Help, checked 10 November 2026.
Question invoice lines for AI work
Best for: invoices mentioning GEO or AI search.
For its AI features, Google says "You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup". Nor is there "special schema.org structured data" to add.
So ask what each AI line changed on your site. We judge GEO (AI search) work by the pages it improves, so ask to see them. You can check whether ChatGPT recommends you too.
Check: Google Search Central, checked 10 November 2026.
When the agency says it's an industry secret
Best for: agencies that will not explain.
Google warns: "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."
An agency may keep its tools and research private. Ask it to name the pages and settings it changed. Then write down what your contract promised.
Check: Google Search Central, checked 10 November 2026.
Borrow IMDA's list of proof
Best for: setting a fair standard of proof.
Vendors applying for IMDA pre-approval of digital marketing packages provide "screenshots, live links, campaign period and ad spent invoice". That list covers past campaigns, but it is a fair model for what you ask.
Hold us to it too. In our own log, only 2 of 80 finished jobs old enough to judge had a written result note.
Check: IMDA vendor guide, checked 10 November 2026.
What to do next
Ask your agency for the dated list, and set a deadline to reply. Keep the invoices, reports and replies together. This is not legal advice, so see a lawyer if a dispute is coming.
If the work looks thin, run a 30-day test. Or send us your website for a free review on WhatsApp. We reply within 1 working day, and our plan says what we promise.