I have written numerous times about the many myths that surround SEO. Yet no matter how often those myths get debunked, they persist.
Part of the reason is simple: SEO still has its fair share of charlatans.
Some rely on outdated tactics dressed up as expertise. Others sell guarantees they cannot possibly control. Many depend on the fact that most business owners do not fully understand how search engines work, which makes fear and false certainty remarkably easy to sell.
Years ago, one of my readers, Kristin McGowan, reached out after receiving an automated voicemail from someone congratulating her on her “new website” and offering to register it with hundreds of search engines for a monthly fee.
That particular scam may sound dated now, but the underlying strategy has not changed. Today, instead of “search engine submission,” the pitch is more likely to be:
“We guarantee page one rankings.”
“We’ll get you featured in AI-generated answers.”
“We have a proprietary system Google doesn’t want you to know about.”
Different language, same snake oil.
The tactics evolve. The deception remains the same.
Here are five ways to spot SEO charlatans before they become expensive mistakes.
1. Be Suspicious Of Guaranteed Rankings
The first major red flag is certainty.
No legitimate SEO can guarantee rankings.
They do not control Google. They do not control competitors. They do not control whether the search landscape changes next month.
What they can control is process:
- technical improvements
- content quality
- information architecture
- authority building
- measurement and iteration
Anyone promising “Page 1 in 30 days” is selling fantasy.
The same applies to newer variations such as:
- guaranteed featured snippets
- guaranteed inclusion in Google AI Overviews
- guaranteed visibility inside ChatGPT or other AI platforms
These promises are even more questionable because the systems themselves are constantly changing.
Good SEO providers talk about probability, tradeoffs, and strategy.
Bad ones sell certainty.
2. SEO Is Not Submission, It Is Strategy
One of the oldest scams in SEO was selling “search engine submission” services.
The pitch sounded impressive: “We’ll submit your site to 250 search engines.”
In reality, there were only a few search engines that mattered, and even then, manual submission was rarely necessary. Google discovers sites through links. A single quality link pointing to your site is enough for Googlebot to find it and begin crawling it. The submission services were selling something you never needed in the first place.
Today, the equivalent is selling mechanical tasks dressed up as strategic breakthroughs. Examples include mass directory submissions, automated AI content publishing, bulk backlink packages, and vague “SEO optimization packages” with no clear business objective. These activities may produce reports. They rarely produce results.
A strong SEO strategy starts with understanding how customers search, what content deserves to exist, where authority needs to be built, and how long it actually takes to see meaningful movement. Anyone compressing that reality into a thirty-day guarantee is selling you something that does not exist.
SEO is not a checklist. It is a system.
3. Watch For Value Deliverables And Proprietary Mystery
Another red flag is when an agency cannot clearly explain what they actually do.
They hide behind phrases like:
- proprietary optimization framework
- secret ranking formula
- exclusive AI visibility system
- advanced authority syndication
Translation: they are hoping jargon will replace transparency.
A legitimate SEO provider should be able to explain:
- what they are doing
- why it matters
- how success will be measured
- what tradeoffs exist
If everything sounds impressive but nothing is specific, be careful.
SEO is complex, but it should not be intentionally mysterious.
If someone sounds more like a magician than a strategist, that is your answer.
4. Beware Of Unsolicited Outreach
As Google’s own guidance puts it directly:
“Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that email you out of the blue. Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about search engines as you do for ‘burn fat at night’ diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.”
That was written years ago. It remains entirely accurate today.
This includes:
- cold emails
- automated voicemails
- LinkedIn messages
- aggressive direct messages on social platforms
Especially if the opening line is:
“I noticed your SEO is broken…”
or
“You are missing a huge opportunity…”
A real consultant usually begins with questions, not certainty.
Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited SEO outreach that you would for miracle diet pills or suspicious financial offers.
Sometimes the pitch is simply lead generation. Sometimes it is much worse.
Either way, skepticism is healthy.
5. Know Who Is Actually Doing The Work
One of the biggest problems in SEO services is that the person who sells you the work is often not the person doing the work.
You may speak to an impressive strategist during the sales process, only to find that execution is handed to an anonymous team following templates.
Or worse, there is no real team at all.
If there is:
- no visibility into who is responsible
- no access to the strategist
- no clear reporting
- no meaningful explanation of actions taken
you should be concerned.
SEO requires judgment.
It is not something that can be fully automated or delegated to a faceless fulfillment system without consequences.
Ask:
- Who is leading the strategy?
- Who is executing the work?
- Who do I speak to when priorities change?
If those answers are vague, walk away.
Final Thoughts
For those of us in digital marketing, it is often easy to spot these scams immediately.
But most business owners are not immersed in SEO every day. They are trying to grow a company, and they are vulnerable to people selling shortcuts disguised as expertise.
That is exactly why bad actors continue to thrive.
These underhanded practices give legitimate SEO professionals a bad name, and the only real defense is education.
Good SEO is rarely flashy.
It asks difficult questions. It requires patience. It involves tradeoffs. It focuses on long-term visibility, not quick tricks.
Charlatans promise certainty.
Professionals explain complexity.
Know the difference.
