How to read SEO agency reviews (and spot the fake ones)

The patterns that give fake reviews away

• The burst. Forty reviews in two weeks after years of silence. Real reviews trickle in over years.
• Generic praise. “Great service, highly recommend!” with no mention of what was actually done. Real customers talk about specifics — the rankings, the calls, the person they worked with.
• Empty reviewer profiles. One review ever, no photo, no history. Real customers review other businesses too.
• No responses from the owner. Agencies that don't reply to reviews — good or bad — usually aren't paying attention to clients either.

How to verify an agency beyond reviews

• Search their clients yourself. Ask for two or three clients and their target keywords, then Google them. Page one is proof; a testimonial is not.
• Check their own rankings. An SEO agency that can't rank its own site in its own city is telling you something.
• Look at longevity. We've been at this 27 years from Colorado Springs — through every Google update. Agencies that survive that long do it on results, because contracts alone don't keep clients that long.
• Read the negative reviews. Every real business has a few. How the owner responds tells you more than the complaint does.

A note on our own reviews

Don't take our word for any of this — check us the same way. Our Google Business Profile shows a 5.0 rating from 149 reviews collected over years of real client work. Then search our clients' rankings yourself. That's the verification we'd want anyone to do.

What to do next

Want an honest look at your current agency's work — or your own online presence? Request a free digital marketing audit. And if you're comparing agencies, our guide to the best SEO companies in Colorado has the full buyer's checklist.