Should you handle AI visibility in-house or hire an agency?
Choose who can do the work, and keep someone inside the business responsible for the result.
Steen Stones · Reviewed
Choose who can do the website work you need, with someone inside the company responsible for it. Google’s core SEO practices apply to its AI features, and hiring help does not transfer responsibility for your site.
What work does your company need?
Start with the website and content work your team already knows. Google says the same core SEO practices apply to its AI features.
Google must have your page in its search index and be able to show a short extract. Those are requirements for appearing as a supporting link in its AI features.
Keep important information available as text, with useful images and videos alongside it. Google recommends these basics, which help you decide who should review and improve the site.
What should stay inside the company?
Keep someone inside the company responsible for the work, even when an agency carries it out. Google says responsibility for hired companies stays with you.
Bring your own knowledge into the work. Conductor encourages companies to draw on what their people know and the experience behind it.
Your team can supply that knowledge and check the content while an agency helps with delivery. Build the brief around what the business knows.
Start with the knowledge inside your organization.
When does outside help make sense?
Use outside help for work your team cannot cover. Google lists content reviews, website structure reviews and technical advice among the services SEO providers offer.
Compare those services with what your team can do, then name who will approve and make changes. Your company stays responsible even when a specialist reviews the site.
Swipe across to read all columns.
| Source | Part of the work | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Conductor: in-house expertise | Company knowledge | Bring internal experience into the brief |
| Google: hiring an SEO provider | Content, site structure and technical review | Use external help for gaps your team cannot cover |
| Google: hiring an SEO provider | Approval and oversight | Your company remains responsible for its website |
What should you ask an agency?
Ask what results the agency expects, when it expects them and how it will measure success. Google also recommends asking previous clients about the service and results.
Expect questions about your company too. Google says a provider should ask what makes you different, who your competitors are and how customers find you.
Give read access to Search Console for the initial review, as Google recommends. The provider can inspect the information without permission to change settings at that stage.
What results do you expect, and when?
How will we measure success?
What do previous clients say about the service and results?
Which recommendations follow official guidance?
How do you judge the recommendations?
Check major recommendations against official guidance before anyone changes the site. Google recommends doing this when a third-party tool identifies work to do.
Ask how work proposed for Google’s AI features meets its published requirements. The same core SEO practices apply, giving you a concrete basis for checking a proposal.