What Questions Should I Ask Before Hiring a Rehab SEO Agency

Ask 14 questions before hiring a rehab SEO agency. Cover treatment center experience, ranking proof, link methods, content authorship, and medical claim review. Add patient privacy, LegitScript knowledge, competitor conflicts, account ownership, deliverables, reporting, fees, and exit terms. Strong agencies answer each question with documents, screenshots, and live data.

Addiction treatment websites fall under Google YMYL rules for health and money topics. A wrong agency costs rankings, exposes patient data, or locks your Google Business Profile. A drug rehab SEO company with treatment center clients on record answers every question below without hesitation. Research each agency on your own first, then bring the questions into the call. Our checklist on what to check before hiring an SEO agency covers the research stage.

1. Have you worked with addiction treatment centers before
2. Can you show ranking results with dates and data sources?
3. Which keywords will you target first, and why
4. How will you build links to my website?
5. Who writes my treatment pages?
6. Who reviews medical claims before publishing
7. How do you protect patient privacy in analytics and tracking
8. What do you know about LegitScript certification?
9. Do you work with other rehab centers in my city?
10. Will my center own the website, Google Business Profile, and all accounts
11. What will you complete in the first 90 days?
12. How will you report calls, forms, and admissions each month?
13. What does the monthly fee include
14. What are your contract terms and notice period?

14 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Rehab SEO Company

The order follows a sales call: experience first, methods second, money and contract last.

1. Have You Worked With Addiction Treatment Centers Before

Admissions searches separate treatment center SEO from every other healthcare category. Families compare programs, insurance acceptance, and facility proof before anyone picks up a phone. An agency without rehab history misreads that behavior and targets the wrong keywords.

A strong answer names program types such as detox, residential, and IOP, along with campaign date ranges. A weak answer claims work in every industry and shows zero rehab proof.

Request three items before moving on:

• Treatment center clients named with permission
• Dated ranking screenshots from rehab campaigns
• Treatment types covered in past campaigns

2. Can You Show Ranking Results With Dates and Data Sources

Undated screenshots let an agency show only its best months and hide the rest. Ask for a live screen share inside Google Search Console during the call. A trustworthy keyword ranking report lists each query, including its URL, date range, and position change. Named tools, such as Semrush, add trust, private dashboards without downloadable data remove it.

Our Los Angeles case study shows the format every buyer should expect. Positions moved from 21.4 to 3.8 with dated Search Console screenshots. Hold every agency and its rehab SEO results to the same proof standard.

3. Which Keywords Will You Target First and Why

Many agencies chase broad research topics and waste months on visitors who never call. High intent rehab keywords come first, like drug detox near me or alcohol rehab with a city. Insurance and admissions terms come next, since search intent on those queries leads straight to contact. A weak answer targets research questions like what addiction is. Our breakdown of rehab SEO keywords that produce qualified calls lists the priority order.

4. How Will You Build Links to My Website

One bad link campaign can damage a link profile and push a treatment site down for months. Recovery work costs more than the original SEO fee.

Acceptable answers:

• Healthcare resources, local listings, and partner mentions
• Manual outreach with monthly link reports listing every URL
• Citations matching the facility name, address, and phone records

Walk away answers:

• Confidential link sources
• Guaranteed domain authority increases.
• Bulk packages promising 50 links each month.

Google has anti-spam rules against paid link schemes, and rehab sites are subject to extra checks. Safe link building survives every algorithm update because each link comes from a trusted source.

5. Who Writes My Treatment Pages

Anonymous outsourced content fails E-E-A-T review on health topics. Google evaluates experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust on every addiction treatment page. Ask for the writer’s name, a health writing background, and two recent samples. A rehab content writer with a byline builds trust with Google. Refuse any agency that offers AI-generated bulk pages without human review.

6. Who Reviews Medical Claims Before Publishing

Writing and approval remain two separate jobs on any treatment website. Someone on your side must approve every medical claim before it goes live.

1. The writer drafts from approved program details, never from competitor pages.
2. Every medical statement is sourced from SAMHSA or NIDA.
3. Your clinical team reviews the wording of outcomes and program descriptions.
4. You approve each final page and retain edit access.

An agency that publishes without your sign-off fails health content standards.

7. How Do You Protect Patient Privacy in Analytics and Tracking

Pixels, URL parameters, form events, and call tracking can expose protected health information. The HHS bulletin on online tracking technologies documents that risk. Federal rules under 42 CFR Part 2 add stricter confidentiality for substance use records.

A qualified agency checks each tracking tag, then lets your compliance team make the final call. HIPAA-aware SEO treats analytics as a privacy risk, never a default install. Agencies installing pixels everywhere without a privacy review deserve a no.

8. What Do You Know About LegitScript Certification

The correct answer: LegitScript certification governs paid addiction treatment ads on Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Nextdoor. Organic rankings work without it, and SEO work supports a cleaner site for the review.

The wrong answer: SEO will get your center LegitScript approved, or rankings require the certification.

The certification page spells out what it covers.

9. Do You Work With Other Rehab Centers in My City

An agency serving two centers in one market competes against itself with your money. Two clients in the same city split the same map pack. Fair agencies offer written market exclusivity or name every client in your market. Refusal to disclose ends the conversation right there.

10. Will My Center Own the Website, Google Business Profile, and All Accounts

Agencies registering profiles under their own email addresses are locked out at contract end. Reviews, map rankings, and years of history are lost when the account is deleted. Your Google Business Profile, domain, and analytics belong to the facility from day one.

Account ownership belongs in the contract, never in a verbal promise.

11. What Will You Complete in the First 90 Days

An honest rehab SEO timeline moves in phases, each one producing work you can check.

Month one. The agency completes a drug rehab SEO audit, technical fixes, and a record of your starting rankings.

Months two and three. Treatment page rewrites begin, alongside Google profile corrections and citation cleanup. Early movement appears on longer search phrases once Google reindexes the updated pages.

Month four. Compare current positions against the starting record from month one. Flat numbers with reports full of excuses signal an agency billing without working.

Any promise of page one within 30 days for drug rehab near me deserves an immediate no.

12. How Will You Report Calls, Forms, and Admissions Each Month

Traffic graphs without lead data hide failure for months. Strong rehab SEO reporting connects Search Console queries, profile calls, form submissions, and insurance page clicks. One line from a useful monthly report reads like the sample below.

drug detox near me, position 9 to 3, 14 profile calls, 6 forms

Sessions and impressions alone tell you nothing about admissions. Our answer on how SEO produces admissions calls covers the full process.

13. What Does the Monthly Fee Include

A fee without a list of deliverables hides weak work behind a monthly bill. Ask for a monthly work list naming pages, links, citations, reports, and hours. Rehab SEO pricing depends on market competition, the number of locations, and website condition. Numbers and package details appear in our post on the cost of drug rehab SEO services.

14. What Are Your Contract Terms and Notice Period

Exit terms decide who holds the power after month one.

How long is the initial term? Month-to-month or a short first term protects the center.

What notice period applies? Thirty days’ written notice is the fair standard.

How does asset transfer work? Written transfer of every account within seven days of cancellation.

A 12-month lock with cancellation fees protects the agency, never the client. Read every line of the rehab SEO contract before you sign anything.

Red Flag Answers That Should End the Call

Seven agency statements should end your search immediately.

1. We guarantee first position. Nobody controls Google rankings.
2. Our link sources remain confidential. Hidden links equal risky links.
3. We manage the profile under our account. Ownership belongs with the facility.
4. Reports arrive as PDF only. Live data access proves honesty.
5. All client work remains secret. Experience requires proof.
6. Content is published without your review. Health pages require approval.
7. Results arrive within two weeks. Indexing alone takes longer.

Frequently Asked Questions