October 26, 2026 · 5 min · Accountant SEO Company editorial team

Before You Hire Search Help: Questions That Protect Your License

Under the AICPA Code, an agency's claims for your firm count as yours. Questions to ask about guarantees, links, copy, reviews, contracts and ownership.

Free firm review SEO for accountants

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Before you sign with any search agency, ask how it will describe your firm, where your links will come from, how it handles reviews and what you keep if you leave. Those questions carry more weight for an accounting firm than for most businesses. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct says a member who benefits from a third party's promotional efforts should make sure those efforts comply, because "members must not do through others what they are prohibited from doing themselves" (1.600.010 .01). Once an agency writes your page copy, requests your reviews and places your links, its claims are your claims.

What the rule asks of you

The short version, from the AICPA Code: a member in public practice may not seek clients through advertising or solicitation that is false, misleading or deceptive (1.600.001). Promotion falls into that category if it creates false or unjustified expectations of favorable results, implies an ability to influence a court, tribunal, regulatory agency or similar body, quotes a fee or fee range when it was likely the fee would rise substantially and the prospective client wasn't told, or makes other representations likely to mislead a reasonable person (1.600.010 .02).

If you practice before the IRS, Circular 230 (31 CFR 10.30) adds a parallel rule against false, fraudulent, coercive, misleading or deceptive public communications, and enrolled agents may not describe their designation with the word "certified". State boards have rules of their own on top. Read the sources, and ask your own counsel where a question is close.

Questions about results

"Can you guarantee a ranking?"

The answer you want is no. Google's own guidance on whether you need an SEO says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google and warns against SEOs that claim they can. The license point follows directly: an agency comfortable promising you outcomes may be just as comfortable writing outcome promises into your copy, which is the "unjustified expectations" problem above.

"What have you done, for what kind of business, and when?"

Ask for results with their scope, duration and the type of client. Our accounting campaign records describe a small CPA firm and a tax preparation practice, each with a four-month, ten-keyword campaign. The first reported 12 new business clients and the second 14 new clients. Compare the scope with the search support your practice needs, without treating historical results as a forecast.

Questions about the work

"Which links will you build, and will I see every one?"

Ask for a monthly list of every live link: the URL it sits on, the page on your site it points to and the anchor text. Without that list you can't check whether your firm's name sits on a site you'd never choose to be associated with. Our own monthly report lists exactly those three things, so hold us to the same standard. If the answer is "a private network" or "proprietary placements" with no URLs, you've learned what you needed to.

"Who writes the copy, and do I approve it first?"

Page text, profile descriptions, blog posts and ads all count as your promotion. Insist on approving anything that mentions results, fees, credentials or the IRS before it goes live. Lines worth striking on sight, with the rule each one runs into:

"Maximum refund, guaranteed": an unjustified expectation of a favorable result.
"We make IRS problems go away": implies influence over a regulatory agency.
"Certified tax expert" on an enrolled agent's page: Circular 230 bars "certified" for enrolled agents.
"Returns from $99" when most of your returns cost far more: a stated fee likely to rise substantially without the client being told.

The acceptable versions are plainer: "enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service", a fee range with what moves it, a description of the work instead of the outcome.

"How will you handle reviews?"

The answer you want: the same request goes to every client, with a link to your profile and nothing offered in return. Google's review policy prohibits incentives for reviews, discouraging negative reviews, selectively asking only the clients you expect to be happy (review gating) and fake reviews. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) bans fake or false reviews and testimonials, suppressing reviews through unfounded legal threats or intimidation, and presenting a company-controlled site as an independent review site. Ask directly whether anything in the agency's process filters who receives the review link.

"Will you need my client list?"

If the agency would send review requests or newsletters on your behalf, find out exactly what it needs from you. For tax return preparers, the Section 7216 rules say that, unless the rules specifically allow it, return information can't be disclosed or used without the taxpayer's written consent, and a use and a disclosure need separate consent documents. If anything you'd hand over came from a return, check the IRS's Section 7216 information center and your counsel before sending it.

Questions about the contract and what you own

"How long is the contract, and what happens when I cancel?"

Know the term, the notice period and what stops on the day you cancel. Ask whether the links built for you stay live after you leave, and whether anything on your site (pages, scripts, tracking code) belongs to the agency. Our packages run month to month; whatever an agency offers, get it in writing.

"Whose name is on the domain, the website and the profile?"

The domain should be registered to the firm, in an account the firm controls. You should be able to reach the website files and hosting without the agency's permission. The Google Business Profile should be owned by the firm, with the agency added as a manager you can remove. If the agency builds on its own platform, ask what you'd take with you if you left: the content, the design, or nothing.

"Do you work with other firms near me?"

Ask, because the answer is often yes. Ours is yes: we may work with more than one firm in the same area. The follow-up question matters more: how is one client's data and plan kept from another? Ours are never shared, and any agency's answer to this belongs in the contract.

Answers that should end the conversation

A guarantee of rankings, traffic or new clients
No list of link URLs, or a "network" you aren't allowed to see
Review requests sent only to satisfied clients, or rewards for reviews
Copy you can't approve before it goes live
Your domain or profile owned by the agency
A long contract with no reporting and no exit

If you'd like to put these questions to us, request a meeting and ask them in any order. Every answer you get should be one we're willing to put in writing.