Digital Handshake Media will not buy, gate or filter reviews, create fake locations, stuff keywords into your business name, publish pages that only swap the city name, buy spam backlinks, hide your analytics, own your Google Business Profile or domain, lock you into a long contract, or promise a ranking or an AI citation. In writing you get ownership of your profile, website, domain, content and data, an exclusivity scope that names your industry and area, a 12-week roadmap that continues month to month, and a dated baseline scan in week 1. We also tell some businesses not to hire us, and this page says which.
What we refuse to do
Thirteen things we will not do
Plenty of agencies do some of these. Ask any agency you are considering, including us, whether it does.
- We will not buy, incentivise, gate or filter reviews. That covers our own profile and every client's. It breaks Google's policies and, in Canada, can mislead buyers in ways the Competition Act addresses.
- We will not create fake locations or addresses. No virtual-office pins and no extra listings scattered around your city. Google treats them as spam and suspends profiles for them.
- We will not stuff keywords into your business name. Your profile carries the name you operate under in the real world. Adding service words and a city to it is a policy violation, not a tactic.
- We will not publish pages that only swap the city name. Every page has to answer something different: another service, another neighbourhood, another customer situation. Near-identical pages do not help you.
- We will not buy spam backlinks or mass-submit you to directories. We correct the listings that matter and keep your name, address and phone consistent. Link acquisition is not part of the roadmap, and the pricing page says so.
- We will not hide your numbers. Your dashboard and rank tracker are live from day one, and you see the same heat-map history we do.
- We will not own your Google Business Profile, website or domain. You own them during the engagement and after it. On request we remove our access and hand over our reporting history and the content we produced.
- We will not lock you into a long contract. The roadmap is 12 weeks, then month to month unless you agree otherwise.
- We will not promise a ranking. Google states that no one can pay for a better local ranking. Our fees are for work performed, not for a result.
- We will not promise an AI citation or sell an AI ranking. AI answers are not a ranking and nobody controls them. We make your business easier for AI tools to verify, and we report what we observe.
- We will not fake job photos, or sell geotagging as a ranking trick. Photos have to show real jobs. We do not present geotagging as a lever on rank.
- We will not send you a monthly PDF of vanity numbers. Traffic and impressions are not jobs. We re-scan the same grid against your baseline and show you what moved and what did not.
- We will not sell a plan we do not believe will work. If your market is closed or your budget is too small, the assessment says so and tells you what we would do instead.
Who we say no to
Do not hire us if…
An agency that says everyone needs it is selling, not assessing. If any of these describes you, we will say so in the first conversation.
- You opened recently and have few customers or reviews. There is not enough real activity to build on yet.
- You want a ranking guaranteed. We will not sign that, and you should be wary of anyone who will.
- You want nationwide SEO. We work on the map around where you actually serve customers.
- You do not reliably answer the phone. Better visibility sends more calls to a line that goes unanswered.
- You have no capacity for more jobs. More visibility is a cost if you cannot take the work.
- You will not ask customers for reviews. Review recency is one of the signals we cannot build for you.
- Your service area is too wide for the budget. Spread across a whole region, a modest budget does not reach far enough to show a result.
- You want many near-identical city pages. That is the first item on the list above.
- You will not share your call and job numbers. Without them we cannot tell whether the work is paying for itself.
- You need results in days. Map changes are measured across weeks, which is why the roadmap is 12 weeks.
- A competitor already holds your area. We take one client per industry per area. If it is taken, we tell you in the first five minutes.
Who we do our best work for
You are a strong fit if…
- You already have real customers and a business that has been serving the area for a while.
- Your average job is worth enough to support paying for new customers.
- Competitors are showing up on the map where you should.
- You answer the phone, or someone on your team reliably does.
- You can collect genuine reviews from the customers you already serve.
- You complete real jobs we can document: photos, addresses, what was done.
- You want measurable local growth, not a report.
- You care about the whole territory you serve, not a single search term.
- You can take on more work if the phone rings more.
Before you sign
What is in writing
These are not marketing claims. Each links to the page or the clause that sets it out, and your written scope confirms the specifics for your business.
- Ownership. You own your Google Business Profile, website, domain, content, customer data and tracking data, during the engagement and after it. Terms of service, section 8.
- Exclusivity. We work with one client per industry, per defined area, and we do not take a second client in the same industry within 20 km, so we never compete against ourselves. Your written scope states how the industry and the area are drawn and for how long it applies. See territory status.
- Term and exit. Initial engagements are scoped as a 12-week roadmap and continue month to month unless agreed otherwise. Terms of service, section 7.
- Baseline and measurement. A dated baseline geo-grid scan in week 1, a re-scan of the same grid at week 12, and a live dashboard and rank tracker from day one. The week-by-week table.
- Price. Engagements run $1,000 to $3,500 USD a month, and the assessment produces a fixed quote before you commit. Paid ad spend is billed to you by the platform, not by us. What is included at each level.
- What we do not promise. No ranking, no position, no AI citation, no revenue figure. Fees are for work performed, not for a result. Why we do not guarantee rankings.
AI visibility
We measure AI visibility as evidence, not as a rank
An AI answer is not a ranking. The same question can return a different answer depending on how it is worded, the person’s location, which model answers, the date, whether the tool browses the web, and which sources it leans on. Anyone who quotes you an “AI rank” is giving you a number that does not exist.
What we do is make your business easier for AI tools to verify: the same name, address, phone, services and service area across your profile, website and listings, real reviews, clear service pages, and credible mentions elsewhere. Then we record what we observe: what an answer said, for which prompt, on which date, and which sources it used.
That record is evidence you can read. It is never a promise that a particular tool will name you. How our AI and answer-engine work is set out here.
Questions we get
Frequently asked questions
Do you guarantee rankings or AI citations?
No. Google states that no one can pay for a better local ranking, and AI answers vary by prompt, location, model and date. Our fees are for work performed, not for a result. What we commit to is a dated baseline, a re-scan of the same grid, and a plain diagnosis of anything that did not move.
Can I leave, and what do I keep?
Yes. The roadmap is 12 weeks and then month to month unless you agree otherwise. You own your Google Business Profile, website, domain, content, customer data and tracking data throughout and afterwards. On request we remove our access and hand over our reporting history and the content we produced.
What do I get in writing before I sign?
A written scope that sets out fees, term, and how your industry and service area are drawn for exclusivity, plus our Terms of service covering ownership, term and what we do not promise. The free market assessment comes first and produces a fixed quote before you commit.
What happens at week 12 if the map has not moved?
We re-scan the same grid, show it beside the week-1 baseline, and write down why anything did not move. Then we give you a plain recommendation: continue, change the approach, or stop. We would rather tell you to stop than keep billing.
Will you work with my direct competitor?
Not in the same industry within 20 km of you while you hold your area. We take one client per industry per area, so we never rank two plumbers, for example, in the same part of the map. Your written scope states how that area is drawn and for how long it applies.
Who should not hire you?
Businesses that want a ranking guaranteed, want nationwide SEO, do not answer the phone, cannot take more work, will not ask for reviews, or already have a competitor of ours holding their area. The assessment is free and tells you which side you are on.