The one-page field guide
The whole course on one page: the questions to ask, the numbers to check, and the claims that cannot be true. Print it, or keep the tab open for your next agency call.
No email required, and nothing to download.
Ask this of every number
- Compared to what: which period, which baseline, which competitor.
- Is this a leading indicator or an outcome.
- How many times did you measure it, and how much did it vary.
- What would this look like if the work were not working.
Ask this of every agency
- What exactly will you do in the first ninety days.
- What will you show me at the end of it.
- What would tell us, in three months, that this is not working.
- Who does the work, and who do I call when something is wrong.
- What do you need from us, and what stalls if we do not provide it.
Claims worth pausing on
- A guaranteed position for a specific term: nobody controls the ranking.
- Meaningful organic results in days: the mechanism is slower than that.
- A promised number of AI citations: the surface is not stable enough to promise.
- A single screenshot as proof of AI visibility: that is one sample.
Do these before buying more traffic
- Be correct and consistent for your own name, place, hours and phone.
- Write down the honest answer to the questions customers actually ask.
- Submit your own enquiry form and time the reply.
- Only then compete for terms you do not already own.
If you remember one thing: ask what would have to be true for a claim to be wrong. Anyone doing real work will have an answer ready.