A discovery call with an SEO agency is usually a sales conversation dressed up as a consultation. That is not automatically a problem, every agency needs to pitch itself, but it does mean the burden is on you to steer the call toward specifics rather than letting it run on rehearsed talking points. The questions below are written as a script you can bring to the call, in the order that tends to work best, along with what a genuinely strong answer sounds like and what should make you pause.
None of these questions are designed to catch an agency out. They are the questions a competent SEO agency in Dubai should be able to answer clearly, specifically and without defensiveness. If most of the calls on your shortlist cannot get through this list without vague answers, that tells you something real about how the relationship would go after you sign.
1. What did you find when you looked at my site before this call?
Ask this first. An agency that has actually opened your site before the call will mention something specific: a slow page, missing metadata, a content gap versus a named competitor. An agency that has not looked will answer in generalities, something like "we will do a full audit once we get started." That is a fine second step, but if nothing specific comes up on a call they booked to discuss your business, it is a sign the call is templated rather than tailored.
2. Who specifically will be working on my account?
Ask for names and roles, not just team size. A common pattern at weaker agencies is a senior person running the sales call and a junior team, sometimes outsourced, doing the actual work with minimal oversight. A strong answer names the person or people who will handle strategy, on-page work and any technical or development tasks, and explains how much involvement the person you are speaking to will personally have going forward.
3. What does the first 30 days actually look like?
The answer should be concrete: a technical audit, a competitor review, a prioritized list of fixes and content targets. Be wary of any answer that jumps straight to "we'll start publishing content" without mentioning a diagnostic phase first. Content published on top of an unfixed technical problem, like poor site speed or broken indexing, tends to underperform regardless of how well it is written.
4. How do you decide which keywords to target first?
Listen for a process, not a promise. A strong answer references search volume, realistic competition, and how closely a term matches what your actual customers search, rather than commercial ambition alone. A weak answer jumps straight to a handful of broad, impressive-sounding terms without explaining why those specific terms, or how competitive they actually are for a business at your current stage.
5. Can you show me results for a business in a similar position to mine?
Not every agency will have worked in your exact industry, and that is fine. What matters is whether they can point to real, verifiable work: a site they improved technically, a ranking movement they can show in a tool, a client you could speak to. Be cautious of screenshots without context or client names that cannot be verified in any way.
6. How will you report on progress, and how often?
A strong answer names a cadence, typically monthly, and describes what the report actually covers: rankings, organic traffic, and ideally leads or conversions tied to search, not rankings alone. Rankings on fifty keywords mean little if none of them are terms your customers search. If the answer only mentions position tracking, ask directly whether traffic and lead data will be included.
7. What happens if a target keyword turns out to be unrealistic?
This question tests honesty more than competence. Every agency occasionally targets a term that turns out to be harder to rank for than expected. A trustworthy agency says so when it happens and adjusts the plan. Be skeptical of anyone who claims this never happens to them, since it suggests either very limited ambition in the targets they set or a reluctance to admit when something is not working.
8. What is the contract length, and how do I exit if it is not working?
Ask this directly rather than waiting to read the fine print later. A reasonable answer involves a defined initial term, often three to six months to allow enough time for early work to show results, with a clear and not overly punitive exit process after that. Long lock-in periods with heavy cancellation penalties are worth questioning, since agencies confident in their results rarely need to trap clients to keep them.
9. How do you handle work that needs my developer or my time?
Some technical fixes require access to your site's code or CMS, and some content needs input only you can provide, like product details or service specifics. A strong answer explains how the agency handles this: do they need developer access, will they brief your existing developer, how much of your time will realistically be needed each month. A vague answer here often turns into friction three months into the relationship.
10. What would you prioritize for my site specifically in month one?
Save this for last and ask it of every agency on your shortlist using the same wording. The specificity of the answer, more than any other question on this list, tends to reveal whether the agency has actually engaged with your business or is giving a rehearsed answer that would apply to almost any client. Write down each agency's answer and compare them directly once all your calls are done.
Reading the answers together, not in isolation
Any single vague answer on a call is not automatically disqualifying, people sometimes explain things badly even when the underlying work is sound. What matters more is the pattern across all ten questions. An agency that is specific, honest about limitations, and clear about who does the work and how it is reported is a fundamentally different proposition from one that stays vague throughout and relies on confidence rather than detail to carry the call.
It is also worth paying attention to tone, not just content. Does the agency push back when you mention a keyword that would not actually help your business, or do they agree with everything you suggest? Agencies that only tell you what you want to hear on a sales call tend to keep doing that once you are a paying client, which is not what you want from a service meant to give you an honest read on your search performance.
What to do after the call
Run the same ten questions against every agency on your shortlist before deciding, even if one call went particularly well. Write the answers down rather than relying on memory, since specific differences tend to blur together after several calls in the same week. If you want a broader framework for the decision beyond the call itself, our guide on how to choose the best SEO agency in Dubai and Abu Dhabi covers the evaluation criteria that matter once you are comparing proposals side by side, not just the live conversation.
Where Digital Worms fits
We get asked most of these questions on our own discovery calls, and we would rather you ask them than skip straight to a proposal. If you want to put them to us directly, see our SEO agency services in Dubai or book a call and bring this list with you.