A twelve-month visibility contract commits a full year of budget. For a small business, that sits in the same category as hiring a junior employee or leasing a van. Yet plenty of owners sign after a single meeting, on the strength of a polished pitch and a few verbal assurances, and only read the terms properly when something goes wrong.
Asking the right questions before signing takes an hour. Discovering the answers afterwards can take a year. Here are the questions worth putting on the table, with the answers that should reassure you and the ones that should make you pause.
Questions about what you will actually get
"What exactly do you deliver each month?"
You should be able to understand the answer without a glossary. A reassuring answer describes regular, dated work you will be able to see for yourself. A worrying one stays vague ("we handle everything", "we keep improving things in the background") or hides behind technical language.
"What happens if you don't deliver?"
This is the question that separates serious providers from the rest. A commitment without a consequence is not much of a commitment. A good answer names a clear remedy in writing, such as the following month free if the work in the plan is not live on time. If the provider bristles at the question, take note.
"Can you guarantee where we will appear on Google?"
Ask it even though you know the answer. An honest provider will say no: nobody controls how Google ranks pages or what AI assistants recommend. They will then tell you what they do guarantee. A provider who says yes has just given you the best reason not to sign.
Questions about measurement
"Where will I see the results?"
The answer you want: in accounts your company owns, not only in the provider's slide deck. Your own Search Console shows how often your business appears in Google and how many people click through. If you ever change provider, that history stays with you.
"How often will I hear from you?"
A dated report every week means you never have to chase, and you can watch progress build over the months. A quarterly summary, or reporting "on request", leaves you in the dark for far too long on a year-long contract.
"When is the first measured review?"
On a twelve-month contract, a review at three months is a sensible milestone. It shows the trajectory, confirms the work is being delivered and gives room to adjust positioning. A contract with no interim review is asking for blind faith. Our guide on why visibility work runs on 12 months explains what a provider should guarantee in exchange for that commitment.
Questions about your competitors
"How many businesses in my sector do you work with in my area?"
For any search, only a few positions really count. If the same agency represents four clinics in your borough or five accountancy practices in your town, it cannot push for all of them in good faith. A reassuring answer is a small, fixed number that appears in the contract.
"Can I lock out my competitors?"
Some providers offer sector exclusivity. It costs more, and it only makes sense while your sector is still open in your area. Ask what exclusivity covers, for how long, and how the price compares with a standard plan.
Questions about money
"What is the total cost of year one?"
Never compare monthly fees on their own. Add any setup fee to twelve monthly payments. As an illustration, Traffic Engine on the Momentum plan comes to €1,500 + 12 × €1,900, so €24,300 for the first year. That is the figure to weigh against what a new client is worth to you.
"How many new clients would it take to pay for itself?"
A good provider welcomes this conversation rather than dodging it. Start from the value of one client over a year and work backwards: the answer is often a surprisingly small number. Our guide on working out the payback of a visibility investment walks through the reasoning, and the calculator on the offer page runs it with your own figures.
"What is paid upfront, and what is not?"
A healthy structure separates a one-time setup from a monthly fee tied to work delivered. Be wary of contracts that demand the whole year in advance with nothing in writing in return.
Answers that should end the conversation
Some answers should stop you there and then: a guaranteed top position, a refusal to give you access to your own measurement accounts, no clear statement of monthly deliverables, no limit on competing clients in your sector, or pressure to sign by Friday for no good reason. No discount makes up for any of these. If you are weighing several proposals side by side, our decision grid for choosing a visibility partner helps you rank them.
How Traffic Engine answers these questions
Traffic Engine, Kolonell's service for making your business visible on Google and in AI assistant answers, puts these answers in writing. What your plan includes goes live on schedule, or the following month is free. Results are tracked in your own Search Console, with a dated report every week and a measured review at three months. Each sector is capped at 3 standard seats per area, and the Momentum Exclusive (€3,900 a month) and Flood Exclusive (€5,900 a month) plans reserve the whole vertical while it is still open.
The first step is the Visibility Audit at €690, delivered within 48 working hours and deducted from the setup if you start within 30 days. It gives you hard facts about your own position to bring to any of these conversations. See the full offer and plans, or try the payback calculator with the value of your own clients.