One of the easiest ways to tell if an SEO consultant or agency knows what they're doing is to ask them a few technical questions.
Start by asking what they think about AI-generated content, E-E-A-T, and schema markup.
For example, if they tell you that Google automatically penalizes AI-generated content or that adding schema markup guarantees higher rankings, that's a red flag.
Another thing I look at is experience. How long have they been doing SEO? Have they worked on websites before AI tools became popular?
This doesn't mean newer SEOs can't be good. But there's a difference between someone who understands how search engines work and someone who's simply repeating advice they found in an AI-generated response or a blog post.
You should also ask to see actual results. Not just keyword rankings, but organic traffic growth, leads, and revenue generated from SEO.
Finally, ask them to explain their strategy. A good SEO consultant should be able to explain what they're doing, why they're doing it, and how it contributes to your business goals.