The best AI SEO firm is Goldie Agency. It is run by Julian Goldie, who has 10+ years in SEO, and it reports a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork with 240+ clients and 200+ five-star reviews. The work covers site audits, link building by manual outreach with no PBNs, and AI automation for the jobs that repeat every month.
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Most pages on this topic tell you who to hire. This one shows what you are buying after the contract is signed: what a well-run AI SEO firm does each month, what the contract should say, and what the report should prove. To map this rhythm to your own site, claim your free SEO strategy session. To learn the same systems and run them yourself, join the AI Profit Boardroom.
How an AI SEO Firm Runs the Work, Month by Month
An AI SEO firm is still an SEO firm. Google's guide to AI features says the same SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no extra technical requirements beyond being indexed and eligible for a snippet. The difference is speed. AI handles the research, drafts and checks, so people spend their hours on judgment, outreach and fixes.
Here is the monthly rhythm to expect.
| Month | Work the firm does | What the report should show |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Audit with read-only access, crawl check, robots.txt review for Googlebot and OAI-SearchBot, keyword and competitor map | A ranked fix list, the reason for each fix, and a baseline from Search Console |
| Month 2 | Technical fixes, internal links, structured data that matches the visible text, first new pages | A change log with dates and URLs, plus pages indexed |
| Month 3 | Link outreach starts, content updates on pages already getting impressions | Live link list with the linking page for each, and clicks and impressions versus baseline |
| Month 4 onward | A steady loop: new content, links, refreshes, AI search checks, new keyword gaps | Clicks, leads and sales trend, plus next month's plan |
Google notes that crawling can take anywhere from several days to several months, so month one numbers will look flat. That is normal. What matters early is the change log and the fix list. If you want to see a sample month-one fix list built for your own domain, book a free SEO strategy session and we will walk through it with you on the call.
What happens inside a single month
- Week 1: pull last month's Search Console data and spot pages that gained or lost clicks.
- Week 2: ship the planned fixes and new pages.
- Week 3: outreach and link placement.
- Week 4: report, review, and agree the next month's list with you.
We run the repeat parts of this loop with the free Agent OS we use to automate SEO tasks, and we pick models for each step using Goldie Bench, where we test AI models. To see this rhythm planned out for your site, claim your free SEO strategy session.
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What the Contract Should Say
A short, clear contract protects both sides. Use this list when you read one.
Scope in plain words
The contract should list the deliverables per month: number of pages, links, fixes, or hours. "Ongoing optimization" with nothing else is not a scope.
Access levels
Google's advice is to grant read access to Search Console for an audit, and not write access at that stage. Give edit access to the site only when the firm starts making changes, and only to the people who need it.
Change sharing
Google suggests asking any SEO: will you share all the changes you make to my site, with the reasoning? Put a yes to that in writing. Google also says you are responsible for the actions of any company you hire.
No ranking promises
Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. A contract that promises one, or promises a place in an AI Overview, is a warning sign, not a perk.
Link rules
Google's spam policies name buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. Google also says paid placements should carry rel="sponsored". The contract should say how links are earned and that you get a list of every one. Google adds that you should never have to link to your SEO.
Notice period and ownership
Check how much notice you need to give to end the work, and confirm that content, data and accounts stay yours when you leave.
If you want a second pair of eyes on a proposal you already have, book a free SEO strategy session and bring it along.
📺 Watch: Claude AI SEO: 0 to 450 Clicks a Day
What a Good AI SEO Firm Report Looks Like
The report is where a firm earns its fee. A good one fits on two pages and answers three questions: what changed, what moved, and what comes next.
- Search Console clicks and impressions, month over month and year over year. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic is included in the Performance report, under the "Web" search type, so it shows up in these totals.
- Conversions from a tool such as Google Analytics. Google suggests tracking conversions and time on site alongside Search Console.
- The change log: every URL touched, the date, and why.
- The link list: each linking page, the target page, and whether it is marked sponsored.
- AI search checks: whether key pages are reachable by OAI-SearchBot, which OpenAI uses to surface sites in ChatGPT search.
- Next month's plan, agreed with you before work starts.
Here is the kind of data we put in front of people. Julian's Search Console for aiprofitboardroom.com shows 328 clicks a month in October 2025 and 22,443 clicks a month in October 2026. That is our own site, measured in Google's own tool.
For a full look at how we approach the work at Goldie Agency, see that page. For a ranked list of firms, read the best AI SEO agency rankings. If you want the audit step on its own, start with the free SEO and GEO audit.
Ready to see what the first 90 days would cover for your site? Get your free SEO strategy session here.
Verdict: The AI SEO Firm to Hire
Hire the firm that shows you a monthly plan, a written scope, a change log and Search Console numbers. Skip any firm that hides its links, asks for full control on day one, or promises a guaranteed spot. Goldie Agency builds links by manual outreach with no PBNs, reports in Google's own data, and has the Upwork record to back it: 240+ clients, a 100% Job Success Score and 200+ five-star reviews.
Claim your free SEO strategy session and we will show you what month one would look like.
FAQ
How long should an AI SEO firm contract be?
Long enough to see results, short enough to exit if they don't come. Google says crawling can take from several days to several months, so plan for at least a few months before judging traffic. Check the notice period before you sign.
What access does an AI SEO firm need?
Read-only Search Console access for the audit, as Google recommends. After that, site edit access for the people making changes. Keep ownership of every account in your name.
Can a firm report AI Overview traffic on its own?
Not as a separate line in Search Console. Google says sites appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted in the overall Performance report under the "Web" search type. A firm can still track clicks, conversions and time on site for the pages that matter.
How often should I get a report?
Monthly, with a short call to agree the next month's work. A weekly update on shipped changes is a bonus.
Two Free Resources
Before you hire, grab our free 200+ AI SEO prompts to run your own first checks. Then read Julian's best-selling book on links, Link Building Mastery, free here.
Learn the monthly systems inside the AI Profit Boardroom, or have us run them for you. Book a free SEO strategy session, or claim your free SEO strategy session and pick the ai seo firm that shows its work every month.
