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What is an SEO company?
An SEO company improves how your website ranks and gets cited. Here is what they do, what they should not do, and how to choose one.
Written by Nikhil Narasipura Doddamane, Founder & Head of SEO/GEO · Published 15 Mar 2026 · Updated 12 Oct 2026 · 3 min read
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What is an SEO company?
An SEO company is a business that improves clients' visibility in search engines and AI answers through technical fixes, content, on-page optimization, link building and reporting. SEO companies range from small specialist teams to large agencies.
What does an SEO company do day to day?
Audits sites, researches keywords and prompts, fixes technical issues, writes and optimizes content, builds links and mentions, and reports on rankings, traffic and conversions. Good ones also explain priorities clearly.
What do the numbers say about SEO and AI search?
Research presented at KDD 2024 (Aggarwal et al., Princeton University and IIT Delhi) found that adding citations, quotations and statistics can boost a source's visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40%, while classic keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing. Google's Core Web Vitals define a good experience as Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less and Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads (web.dev). Toffyjar SEO retainers cost $499 a month for Starter and $999 a month for Growth, with Enterprise priced on scope, and every plan includes GEO for AI search. Put simply, rankings now depend on fast pages and answers that cite real sources, and the same work also earns citations in AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity.
What services do SEO companies offer?
Most offer technical SEO, on-page SEO, content, link building, local SEO and reporting. Newer offers include AEO and GEO for AI search visibility. Ask exactly which of these are included in the monthly fee.
SEO company vs freelancer vs in-house: how do they compare?
Each fits a different situation.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | Narrow tasks | Capacity |
| In-house | Steady roadmap | Hiring and skills mix |
| SEO company | Full programs | Account layers at large firms |
What should an SEO company never do?
Guarantee rankings, buy bulk links, hide what they change, or report only vanity metrics. These tactics can harm your site and waste budget. Ask for a list of every change made each month.
How do you choose an SEO company?
Ask for results in your industry, a sample report, who does the work and how they handle technical fixes. Read what SEO is first so you can judge proposals.
What does Toffyjar offer as an SEO company?
SEO and GEO retainers from $499 a month, with in-house developers who ship fixes. See SEO services or request a free website audit. Every retainer includes GEO for AI search visibility.
What are the key takeaways on what is an seo company?
In short: Audits sites, researches keywords and prompts, fixes technical issues, writes and optimizes content, builds links and mentions, and reports on rankings, traffic and conversions. Most offer technical SEO, on-page SEO, content, link building, local SEO and reporting. Each fits a different situation. Guarantee rankings, buy bulk links, hide what they change, or report only vanity metrics. Ask for results in your industry, a sample report, who does the work and how they handle technical fixes. SEO and GEO retainers from $499 a month, with in-house developers who ship fixes.
WORK WITH TOFFYJAR
Want this done for you?
We build WordPress and modern websites and make them rank in Google and get cited in AI answers. Fixed quotes, senior review, you own everything. We measured these results on 16 October 2026 using OpenSEO, which draws on DataForSEO ranking and backlink data. For example, in one case study an enterprise digital engineering company whose site Toffyjar built has 65 non-brand page-one rankings, 37 at #1, with 2,717 referring domains. In another, an AI insurance process automation platform has 13 non-brand top-10 rankings including #1 for underwriting software, with 2,578 referring domains. These are current figures, not before-and-after claims, and client names stay private under NDA. Every site was planned from a requirement sheet, built on staging, reviewed by senior people and handed over with the client owning the code, content and logins. Projects are priced at about $199 per page, and SEO and GEO retainers start at $499 a month. Ask for a reference on a discovery call and we will connect you with a client where they agree.
CASE STUDY · ENTERPRISE DIGITAL ENGINEERING COMPANY65 non-brand page-one rankings, 37 at #1 →
Frequently asked questions
How much do SEO companies charge?
Varies widely; Toffyjar retainers start at $499/month.
Can an SEO company guarantee page one?
No honest one can.
How long should I work with one?
At least 6 months to judge results.
Do SEO companies write content?
Most do, as part of retainers.
KEEP READING
SEO services → SEO services in India → SEO services in the USA → SEO services in the UK → Local SEO → What is SEO? → What SEO means for a business → How to do SEO for a website, step by step → Google SEO: how ranking on Google works → On-page SEO: guide and checklist → Types of SEO → Blog →NEXT STEP
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*Save up to 70%: based on a $1,733/mo dedicated developer vs a $5,900/mo published US agency development plan (Oct 2026).