SEO Reports in Singapore: Check Your Agency's Work

A monthly SEO report should show you the pages your agency changed or added, as links you can open; the searches it is targeting, each with its starting and current position from your own Google Search Console; the clicks each page got; and what it plans to do next month. If a report cannot show those, you have no way of checking whether any work was done.

In a post on r/smeSingapore on 19 March 2026, a Singapore business owner wrote that a sales call had promised "top 3 positions in Google within 3 months". Three months later, they wrote, the reports were "1 slide maybe 2 - 3 numbers that i can already see on my own account", and a request for proof of work was refused as an "industry secret". In their words: "i just want to check if there was actually work done, but they keep telling me to wait and wait."

The owner wrote that the agency had also promised a money-back guarantee, and that when they asked for it, the refund was refused because "the keywords(that i did not choose) is in top 3". In September another owner added to the same thread: "We were already in the top 10 for some of our main keywords before hiring them." Their guarantee, they were told, covered only "a single, hyper-specific search term being ranked at #1 (within 2km radius)". We read the thread on 3 October 2026.

Google's page on hiring an SEO, Do you need an SEO? (last updated 5 June 2026), lists questions to ask, including: "Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?" It also warns: "If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed entirely from Google's index. Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire".

What should a monthly SEO report show?

The pages changed or added, as links. Each link should come with one line on what changed, for example a rewritten title or a new section on delivery areas, so you can open the page and find the change yourself. A slide that says "on-page optimisation" or "4 articles published" cannot be checked.

The searches being targeted, with a starting and a current position. Each search should be one you agreed on at the start, tied to the page meant to win it. The starting position is where that page stood when the work began, and both numbers should come from your own Search Console. Search Console reports an average position for each search, and lower is better: 1 is the top of the results. A figure from the agency's own tracking tool, or a screenshot of one search, is much harder for you to check.

This is that section of a report filled in with real numbers from our first client's Search Console (lullaflex.com, all countries, pulled on 3 October 2026). Each row is one search and the page Google showed for it, with that page's average position in each month.

Of the 10 searches where Google showed one of the site's pages at least 20 times in both months, 7 moved up and 3 moved down. The table shows the two with the most impressions in September and the one that fell furthest. The site is new, with Search Console data from 30 May 2026, so we would not credit any single change for these moves. Our first client's SEO case study has the wider picture.

Clicks and enquiries. A page can move up and still bring no clicks: none of the three searches in that table brought a click in September. So the report should list the clicks each page got from Google, which Search Console shows. Search Console cannot see what happens after the click, so count enquiries yourself from your contact form, your call log and one question to every new customer: how did you find us?

Pages Google has indexed. Search Console's Pages report shows how many of your pages Google has indexed, and a sudden jump or drop belongs in the report with a reason.

Next month's plan. The report should name the pages that will be changed or written next, and the searches they are for. Next month's report should then show those pages as done.

How do I check my SEO agency is actually doing the work?

You need access to your own Search Console, Google's free report of the searches your site shows up for. If the agency set it up and you cannot log in, read the ownership section below first. Then four checks cover the report.

1. Open every link in the report. Then paste each one into the URL Inspection bar at the top of Search Console and find the "Last crawl" date. A change made after that date has not been seen by Google yet. If the tool says "URL is not on Google", the page "can't appear in Search results" at all.
2. Look up each target search. In the Performance report, add a filter for the search and one for its page, then use Compare to set the month the work began against last month. Google adds a Difference column to each row. Searching on your own phone may not match, because "Search results are specific to the time, place, device, and recent history of the person searching".
3. Check who owns the property. Open Settings, then Users and permissions. Google makes that page "visible only if you're a property owner", so if you cannot open it, you are not an owner.
4. Check that Google can see each change. In the same URL Inspection result, click Test live URL, then View tested page. Google says this shows "a screenshot of how the Google-InspectionTool sees the page". Our free SEO visibility checker also shows whether the text is in the page's HTML before any JavaScript runs, and whether the title and description fit Google's limits.

Who should own my Search Console and Google Business Profile?

You should, with the agency added as a user. Only an owner can add or remove users, so an agency that is the only owner can remove your access or never grant it. Google's Search Console help says "You can grant permissions to other users only if you are a property owner".

If nobody has added your site to Search Console yet, add it today. Google collects data for a property "as soon as anyone adds it in Search Console, even before verification occurs", and it takes a few days for data to appear. If the agency added it when the work began, ask to be made an owner of that same property, because the starting positions are in it.

A full user is enough for most agency work. In Google's permissions table a full user can submit sitemaps and inspect URLs, while only an owner can add other users. If the agency has already verified the site under its own account, you can verify it under yours too, since Google sets no maximum on verified owners. When you leave an agency, remove it under Users and permissions, then click Unused ownership tokens on the same page. Each token listed is usually a file, tag or DNS record on your site that lets the agency back in, and your web developer can delete it. Google warns: "As long as a user's verification token remains for a property, a deleted owner can re-verify ownership of the property."

Your Google Business Profile, the listing that appears on Google Maps, works the same way. Stay the primary owner and add the agency as a manager. Google says managers "have mostly the same access to the profile as owners. The only exception is they can't add or remove users or remove the profile." If the agency set up the profile, ask it to add you as an owner and then transfer primary ownership to you. Google only allows that transfer to someone who is already an owner or manager of the profile. If the agency will not, Google says a business owner whose profile is "owned by someone else" can request ownership from the current profile owner. The Performance tab in your profile shows calls, website clicks, direction requests and "the search terms people used to find your business". Those figures include "both organic search results and Google Ads", so if you also run Google Ads, part of what you see there came from the ads.

What are the warning signs of a bad SEO agency?

A promised position. Google says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google". For local results on Maps and Search it says "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." Local results also depend on distance, which Google defines as "how far each business is from the customer who's searching", so a promise of #1 within 2 km says nothing about customers searching from further away.

Searches you never agreed to. One reply in the Reddit thread, from someone who said they had done SEO for a few years, suggested the agency "may have chosen nonsense keywords that rank easily but don't give you any results". Agree the list of searches at the start, and ask for your positions before the work began. If your contract has a money-back guarantee, check that it names those searches, the position that counts and the area the search is made from.

Numbers you can already see. Totals copied from your own account, or tool scores such as Domain Rating, Ahrefs' 100-point score for the strength of a site's backlinks, say nothing about what the agency did that month. Read what Domain Rating measures before you treat a rising score as progress.

"Industry secret". Google's advice: "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."

Accounts in the agency's name. If the agency is the only owner of your Search Console or Business Profile, it decides what you see. The ownership section above covers how to take both back.

How long should I wait before judging the work?

You can judge whether work was done from the first monthly report, because the list of pages an agency changed exists from month one. Ask for it with the first invoice. Results take longer. Google's SEO starter guide says "Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months", and suggests waiting "a few weeks to assess whether your work had beneficial effects". Our guide to how long SEO results take in Singapore covers the stages a page goes through before it brings enquiries.

What should I ask my SEO agency before renewing?

Ask these before you pay for the next month:

1. Which searches did we agree on, and what was my position for each when you started?
2. Which pages did you change or add, as links?
3. Am I an owner of my Search Console property and my Business Profile?
4. Google's own question: "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?"
5. How much notice do I need to give, and how much of any minimum term is left?

Our guide to SEO pricing in Singapore lists the minimum terms seven agencies publish and what each entry tier costs before you can leave. If you need enquiries this month, check whether Google Ads or SEO suits your budget first. If you decide to switch, our guide on how to choose an AI SEO agency in Singapore covers the questions to ask before you sign.

What does rankr's monthly SEO report include?

If you work with us, you get a monthly report of what we completed, and you approve every page before it goes live. We also audit your site regularly, fix what the audits find and list those fixes in the report. The searches come from our keyword research, which starts from what your buyers type and where you already rank.

Frequently asked questions

What should be in an SEO report?

A list of the pages changed or added that month, as links you can open; each target search with its starting and current position from your own Google Search Console; clicks for each page; and the plan for next month. Search Console cannot count enquiries, so track those yourself from your contact form, your call log and by asking new customers how they found you.

How do I know if my SEO agency is doing anything?

Ask for the list of pages it changed, open each one, and check the "Last crawl" date in Search Console's URL Inspection tool. Then compare each target search's position in the month the work began with last month in the Performance report. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO is to ask whether it will share all the changes it makes to your site.

Should my SEO agency own my Google Search Console?

No. Set up Search Console in your company's name, stay an owner, and add the agency as a full user. Google lets only property owners grant access to other users, so an agency that is the only owner controls what you see.

Can an SEO agency guarantee a top 3 position on Google?

No. Google says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google", and for local results on Maps and Search, "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."