DalanovumDo SEO, web and advertising agencies pass the basics they sell?
Agencies sell visibility in Google and in AI answers. On their own home pages, 13% pass all 11 technical basics we measure. Among SEO agencies it is 9 of 59.
By Fawzi Aiboud Nygren, Dalanovum · Published · Updated – with the full measurement of 500 agencies, 20 October–4 November 2026
Short answerRarely. 67 of 499 agencies pass all the basics; among SEO agencies, 9 of 59.
We measured the home pages of 500 Swedish web, SEO and advertising agencies between 20 October and 4 November 2026. The basics are what an SEO agency would itself flag on a client's site, such as the title, the description and structured data.
An automated test finds the faults in seconds. Our own home page passes 11 of 11. Want to know how your own website does? The quick check tests whether AI services can find, read and understand it. It is free.
How we went about it
This started in October with a simpler question: do SEO agencies do what they sell? We measured 178 agency websites then. The answer was so clear that we widened the review to 500 agencies and more areas. We chose basics that can be checked automatically and that every agency selling SEO knows.
Our responsibility and theirs
An agency should get right on its own site what it sells to others. The home page is the only piece of work a buyer can check before signing. So we measured our own site with the same test and report it here. We name no one, not even those that pass everything. It isn't our job to judge individual agencies, but it is our responsibility to show how things stand.
Frequently asked questions
What is a technical SEO basic?
A check that can be run automatically on the home page, for example that the page has a title and a description of the right length.
What is llms.txt?
A text file that summarises the site for AI services. It isn't a standard, and in 2025 SE Ranking found no noticeable effect on how often ChatGPT cites a site.