Short answer
Check the licence first — seo agencies are not licensed in Australia, so check qualifications and public liability insurance instead. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 37 Australian seo agencies in this directory, only 29.7% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 0% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
SEO Agencies handle search engine optimisation and, increasingly, visibility in AI answers: technical fixes, content, links, local listings and the reporting that shows whether any of it moved leads. This is what to check before you let one into your house, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
There is no SEO agency licence — so check something else
Nobody licenses SEO, and nobody can promise a ranking or a place in an AI answer; a guarantee is the clearest warning sign in this category. What can be checked is the agency's own footprint — the case studies with real numbers, the clients who will take a call, and whether your Search Console and analytics will be in your name.
There is no national licence register in Australia — each state and territory runs its own. The regulator for your state is listed at the bottom of this guide, and checking a number takes about a minute.
What 37 Australian seo agencies actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For seo agencies:
| What we checked | SEO Agencies | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 29.7% | 21.5% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 0% | 59.2% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 0% | 7.7% |
| Website responded when we checked | 100% | 81% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 100% | 81.1% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 28 | 39 |
What goes wrong with seo agencies
- Guaranteed rankings or guaranteed AI mentions, which no honest agency can offer
- Links bought from networks the agency controls, which Google penalises later
- Reports that show rankings and traffic but never enquiries or sales
What to ask before the work starts
- Which three clients in my industry can I speak to, and what changed for them?
- Will Search Console, analytics and any content be in my name from day one?
- What would you expect to see in 90 days, in numbers, and what if it does not happen?
A SEO agency who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.
The median matters more than the average
The median SEO agency in this directory has 28 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.
It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.
Where to check a licence, by state
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Common questions
- Do seo agencies need a licence in Australia?
- No. Nobody licenses SEO, and nobody can promise a ranking or a place in an AI answer; a guarantee is the clearest warning sign in this category. What can be checked is the agency's own footprint — the case studies with real numbers, the clients who will take a call, and whether your Search Console and analytics will be in your name.
- How do I check an SEO agency's licence?
- There is no national register. Each state and territory has its own regulator — NSW Fair Trading, the Building and Plumbing Commission and Energy Safe Victoria in Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, Building and Energy in WA, Consumer and Business Services in SA, CBOS in Tasmania, Access Canberra in the ACT, and the NT Government. Search the licence number the business gives you on the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- What percentage of Australian seo agencies have a verifiable ABN?
- 29.7% of the 37 seo agencies in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 21.5% across all trades.
- How many reviews should an SEO agency have?
- The median SEO agency here has 28. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Read next
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- When a tradie's phone number doesn't match their own website10,300 Australian trade businesses list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website. Sometimes it is a …