SEO is one of the easiest services to sell badly. The deliverables are abstract, the timelines are long, and the reporting is almost infinitely flexible. That's why the industry is full of agencies that produce reports instead of revenue.
The good agencies share three traits: they tie keyword strategy to commercial outcomes, they invest in technical foundations rather than skirting them, and they report on revenue (or qualified leads) rather than impressions and rankings.
If your agency can't tell you which queries are converting into pipeline, the engagement is decorative.
SEOStrategy