Use this to separate slide-heavy agencies from execution-heavy partners.
1. Strategy quality
- Do they map prompts by ICP, intent, and funnel stage?
- Do they explain why those prompts matter to pipeline, not just visibility?
2. Implementation capability
- Can they ship schema, content structure, and technical updates, or only advise?
- Do they provide a 30-day deliverables list with owners?
3. Measurement rigor
- Do they define baseline + target metrics before work begins?
- Can they show how citation lift relates to qualified demand?
4. Commercial clarity
- Are scope boundaries explicit (pages, prompts, markets, models)?
- Do they explain what is included vs excluded in monthly fees?
Scoring template
| Category | Weight | Score (1-5) |
|---|---|---|
| Execution depth | 35% | |
| Measurement model | 25% | |
| Domain understanding | 20% | |
| Communication & governance | 10% | |
| Commercial clarity | 10% |