You can't name a single thing that changed on your site recently
A genuine SEO retainer should produce visible, describable work: a new page published, a technical fix made, a Google Business Profile update. If you've been paying for months and can't point to anything concrete that's actually changed, that's worth questioning directly.
Reports are full of metrics but no explanation
A monthly report showing rankings and traffic numbers is easy to produce automatically. What it should also include is context: why did this metric move, what caused that dip, what's the plan for next month based on what happened this month. Reports that are all numbers and no explanation often reflect work that's equally hollow.
You've never spoken to the person actually doing the work
At many agencies, the person who sold you the contract and the person managing your account are different from whoever is actually doing the day-to-day SEO work, which is often a junior team member you've never met. This isn't automatically a problem, but it does mean strategy, execution, and communication with you happen across three different people, and each handoff between them is a chance for something to get diluted or lost.
The keyword targets don't actually match your business
If the keywords you're supposedly being optimised for don't reflect what your actual customers search for, either because they're too generic, too competitive for a business your size to realistically rank for, or simply mismatched to your trade or area, that's a sign the initial strategy wasn't built around your specific business.
Nothing has changed in how you're asked to be involved
Good SEO work occasionally needs input from you: approving content, providing photos of real jobs, confirming details about services or areas. If your agency operates entirely without ever needing anything from you, it can mean the work being produced is generic enough that it doesn't require any real knowledge of your business, which usually shows in how well it actually performs.
What to do if some of this sounds familiar
None of these signs alone proves an agency is doing nothing, and it's worth having a direct conversation before assuming the worst. Ask specifically: what was done this month, why, and what's the plan for next month. A legitimate agency should be able to answer clearly and specifically. Vague answers to specific questions are usually the clearest sign of all.
If you want an honest second opinion on where your site currently stands, independent of whoever is currently managing it, we offer a free visibility audit with no obligation attached.