Sauce · Hiring
How to compare local SEO quotes without getting fooled
Quick answer
Put every quote into one table with the same rows. The monthly work itemised. The hours. The measurement and your access to it. The term and the exit. What you keep. Exclusivity. Then compare rows, not headline prices. The cheapest quote is usually a template. The right one can show its work.
Got three quotes?Get a free 49-point scan so one row of the table is a known number.
Get the free scanThree quotes. $600, $1,400, $2,800. All say “local SEO”. None of them is comparing the same thing.
A quote is only useful next to another quote on the same terms. Most are written to look good alone. Your job is to line them up.
Here is the table to build.
The rows every quote must fill
A named list: reviews, listings, profile checks, pages, scans. Not “ongoing optimisation”. If it is one line, ask them to break it out before you compare anything.
How many hours a month, roughly, and on what. A real answer is a range. A $600 quote with the same task list as a $2,000 one is doing the tasks in name only.
A dated baseline scan, monthly re-scans, and a login you hold. “We send a report” is not access. No measurement is an automatic fail.
Minimum term, notice period, exit fee. Three months then month to month is fair. Twelve months with a penalty is a way to keep billing.
The pages, the profile access, the audit, the content. If leaving means losing all of it, you were renting, not building.
Do they take another business in your trade and city? If yes, you are paying to compete with their other client for the same searches.
Only meaningful once the rows above are filled. A higher price with a full task list and real hours beats a low price with a template.
What it looks like side by side
| Row | Quote A ($600) | Quote B ($1,400) | Quote C ($2,800) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work itemised | “Full SEO”, one line | 7 tasks listed | 9 tasks, with owners |
| Hours / month | Not stated | “15 to 20” | “30 to 40” |
| Baseline + monthly scan | No | Yes, shared login | Yes, shared login |
| Term / exit | 12 months, exit fee | 3 months, then monthly | 3 months, then monthly |
| What you keep | Not stated | Pages + audit | Everything |
| Exclusivity | No | Yes | Yes |
Quote A is not cheaper. It is less. Quote B and Quote C are the real comparison, and now the price gap means something: more hours, more scope.
Go deeper
The rest of the hiring call
Three reads before you sign.
Fill one row for free.The 49-point scan gives you the baseline every quote should be measured against.
Get the free scanThree questions to ask every quote
- “Can you break this into a task list with hours?” If not, it is a template.
- “How will I see progress, and can I log in?” If it is a PDF only, you cannot verify anything.
- “What do I keep if I leave after three months?” The answer tells you what the contract is really for.
How do I compare local SEO quotes fairly?
Put them in one table with identical rows. The monthly work itemised. The hours. The measurement and your access to it. The term and exit. What you keep on leaving. Exclusivity. Compare row by row. The headline price only matters once every other row is filled in.
Why is one local SEO quote so much cheaper than the others?
Usually because it is a template run across many clients with light edits, or because the task list is the same words but far fewer hours behind them. Ask each provider to break the work into tasks with an hours estimate. A cheap quote with no hours attached is doing the tasks in name only.
What should a local SEO proposal include?
An itemised monthly scope. An hours estimate. A measurement plan with a dated baseline and monthly re-scans you can access. The minimum term and exit terms. A statement of what you keep on leaving. And whether they work with a competing business in your area. Price should be the last line, not the headline.
Is a bid different from an estimate for local SEO?
Local SEO is normally a monthly retainer, so most quotes are estimates of ongoing scope rather than fixed bids. A fixed-price bid usually means a one-time project, like an audit or a batch of pages. Make sure you know which you are comparing before you weigh the numbers.
How many quotes should I get?
Two or three is enough to see the range and the patterns. More than that and you are spending time you could put into the work. Once you have a couple that fill every row of the table honestly, compare those closely.
Sources
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?: questions to ask an SEO before hiring, and the warning that no one can guarantee a number one ranking.
- Google Business Profile Help, Improve your local ranking on Google: local results are based on relevance, distance and prominence, so scope and measurement, not a promised position, are what a quote should describe.
- Ahrefs, How Much Does SEO Cost? survey of 439 providers (2023, updated 2026): local SEO retainers commonly $1,000–$3,000/mo; hourly $75–$200+, which is the yardstick for judging whether a quote's price matches its hours.
- DataForSEO, Keyword Data and SERP datasets (2026): ranking outcomes vary by location and query and shift over time, so a quote built around scope and measurement is more comparable than one built around a promised rank.
- Peer-reviewed: Dulleck, U., & Kerschbamer, R. (2006). “On Doctors, Mechanics, and Computer Specialists: The Economics of Credence Goods.” Journal of Economic Literature 44(1), 5–42. When a buyer cannot verify what work was done, quotes vary widely and the comparable unit is the described scope, not the price.
Figures are quoted from the sources above and are directional. The right quote depends on your market and how competitive your area is.
Next step
Compare quotes from a fixed point
The free scan checks your business against 49 points and maps your coverage today. It fills one row of the table for you, and every quote can be measured against it.