Creartful AIInsightsChoosing an agency
Questions to ask before you hire an AI marketing agency.
Almost every agency now says it uses AI. That tells you little. These eight questions tell you how they use it, who checks the work and what you keep.
1. Who reviews the work before it goes out?
Ask to see the approval steps, not just hear “human in the loop”. Who checks facts, claims and tone, and what happens when a draft is wrong?
2. What do we own at the end?
Your data, accounts, prompts, skills, automations and documentation should be yours. Ask what happens to each if you stop working together.
3. How will you measure results?
Expect a baseline set before work starts, and reporting on the pages and campaigns they changed. Be cautious of a single “AI visibility score” with no method behind it.
4. What do you promise?
No one controls what search engines or AI assistants show. An agency that guarantees rankings or citations is promising something it cannot deliver. Look for promises about the work and the reporting instead.
5. What will we pay, and to whom?
Ask how AI usage and third-party tools are billed. Seeing them listed separately tells you what you are paying for and avoids surprises later.
6. What access do you need?
Good partners ask for the least access the job needs, read-only where possible, through accounts you control and can revoke.
7. Is the scope written down?
Fixed-scope work should have what is in, what is out and what “done” means agreed in writing, with changes quoted before they happen.
8. What happens if we leave?
Ask for the handover in writing: files, prompts, skills, logins and a note on what they would do next. If the answer is vague, so is your exit.
Is it a bad sign if an agency uses AI?
No. The question is how. AI that drafts and a person who checks is a sound model. AI output published without review is not.
Should an agency guarantee AI citations?
No. AI assistants decide what they cite and change how they work. Treat guarantees as a warning sign.
What should a first engagement look like?
Something small with a clear end, such as an audit or a fixed-scope package, so you can judge the work before committing to a retainer.
Ready to work together?
Start at the Origin Point.
The Origin Point is the discovery call: one conversation about your site, your tools and what you want automated.