How To Write A SEO RFP (Request For Proposal): Template and Example

Choosing an SEO partner is one of the higher-stakes decisions a marketing team makes. Get it wrong and you burn months of budget and momentum. Get it right and you establish a foundation for compounding organic growth. The tool that separates a thoughtful selection process from a rushed one is a well-built SEO request for proposal. A strong RFP does more than collect pricing — it filters out vendors who can’t deliver, surfaces the agencies that think strategically, and gives you a fair way to compare responses side by side. Here’s what every SEO RFP should include, and why each section matters.

Why Does an SEO RFP Matter Before You Start Talking to Agencies?

Many companies skip the formal RFP and go straight to conversations with agencies they already know. The problem is that informal discussions rarely produce comparable information. One agency emphasizes technical work while another leads with content, and you end up trying to evaluate apples and shipping containers. A structured RFP creates a shared format so every vendor responds to the same questions, making evaluation far more objective.

An RFP also signals to agencies that you are a serious buyer. Vendors who receive detailed RFPs know you have done your homework. That context tends to attract responses that are more considered and specific — and it weeds out generalist shops that would otherwise submit boilerplate pitches.

“We’ve seen companies spend weeks in agency conversations before realizing they were never asking the same questions twice. A good RFP flips that process. It gives the client control over the evaluation from the start, and it tells you a lot about an agency just by how they respond to a structured document.” — Strategy Team, Emulent Marketing

What Background Information Should You Include About Your Business?

Before an agency can propose a meaningful strategy, they need context about who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish. This section sets the stage and keeps responses relevant to your actual situation rather than generic.

Include the following in your company background section:

• Company overview: A brief description of what your business does, the markets you serve, and your primary products or services.
• Current website and URL: The domain you need work on, including any subdomains or microsites that are in scope.
• Target audience: Who you’re trying to reach — demographics, decision-making roles, geographic focus, and purchase behavior if relevant.
• Current performance baseline: Share what you know — monthly organic traffic, current rankings for priority terms, top-performing pages, and any recent traffic changes. If you’ve experienced ranking drops, mention that too.
• Competitive context: Name the competitors you most frequently lose business to online. This helps agencies show how they’d approach differentiation, not just rankings.
• Prior SEO history: Any previous agency relationships, in-house efforts, or Google penalties (manual actions or algorithmic impacts) are worth disclosing. Penalty history is a fact agencies need to scope work accurately.

How Should You Define the Scope of Work in an SEO RFP?

The scope section is where most RFPs either shine or fall apart. Vague scopes attract vague proposals. If you want agencies to tell you specifically how they’ll approach your situation, you need to tell them specifically what you need.

Scope categories to define clearly:

• Technical SEO: State whether you need a full technical audit covering crawlability, site speed, Core Web Vitals, structured data, index health, and redirect architecture. If your site recently went through a redesign or migration, call that out.
• Keyword research: Describe whether you need foundational keyword research, a gap analysis against competitors, or a full topic cluster build-out. Specifying the depth here directly affects how agencies scope time and price.
• On-page optimization: Clarify whether this covers title tags and meta descriptions only, or full page-level content recommendations including header structure, internal linking, and semantic coverage.
• Content strategy and creation: Indicate whether the agency is expected to produce content or simply advise. If they’ll write, state estimated monthly volume and the content types involved (blog posts, landing pages, pillar pages).
• Link acquisition: Describe whether link building is in scope, and if so, what types of tactics you’re open to (digital PR, editorial outreach, partner content).
• Local or national focus: If you need local SEO — Google Business Profile management, local citation work, map pack targeting — specify that distinctly from broader national or global ranking goals.
• Reporting and analytics: Define what you expect in terms of reporting cadence, dashboards, and the metrics you want tracked.

What Questions Should You Ask Agencies About Their Process and Experience?

This section separates the agencies that have a real methodology from those that improvise. The questions you include here shape the qualitative side of your evaluation. You want to understand how they work, not just what they’ve worked on.

Strong questions to include in your RFP:

• Audit methodology: Walk us through how you conduct an initial technical SEO audit. What tools do you use, what do you prioritize, and how do you determine what gets fixed first?
• Keyword and entity strategy: How do you approach keyword research in the context of modern search — meaning, how do you account for topic clusters, semantic relationships, and entity associations beyond simple search volume?
• Content approach: How do you decide what content to create versus what to improve? What signals tell you that optimization of an existing page will outperform a new piece?
• Measurement philosophy: What does success look like at 90 days, 6 months, and 12 months? How do you track progress toward business outcomes rather than just rankings?
• Communication structure: How often will we meet? Who is our primary contact? What does the reporting cadence look like and who prepares it?
• Team composition: Who specifically would work on our account — and what are their roles? Understanding whether work is done in-house or outsourced is a fair and necessary question.
• AI search readiness: How are you preparing clients for visibility in AI-powered search results, including platforms like AI search and ChatGPT? This is an area many vendors haven’t developed a clear answer for yet, and the response tells you a lot.

“The question about AI search readiness filters agencies quickly. Most still default to classic ranking metrics, and there’s nothing wrong with that foundation. But the companies that are thinking two years ahead are asking how their content will be surfaced in AI-generated answers, not just the ten blue links. That question belongs in every RFP right now.” — Strategy Team, Emulent Marketing

What Deliverables and Reporting Standards Should the RFP Specify?

One of the fastest ways to create friction in an agency relationship is to leave reporting expectations undefined. Both parties assume they’re aligned, then one side produces a two-page summary each month while the other expected a full analytics package. Define this upfront.

Reporting elements to specify in the RFP:

• Monthly reporting format: PDF summary, live dashboard, or both? What platform (Google Looker Studio, Ahrefs, SEMrush, custom)?
• Metrics to be tracked: Organic sessions, keyword position changes, conversion rate from organic traffic, domain authority trends, and page-level performance at minimum.
• Deliverable schedule: When will the technical audit be delivered? When will initial keyword research be complete? What is the timeline for the first optimization wave?
• Meeting cadence: Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly strategy calls? What is the expected agenda structure?
• Access to tools: Will the agency provide access to the platforms they use, or will reporting be mediated entirely through their own exports?

Sample deliverable timeline table for an RFP response: Standard SEO Deliverable Milestones by Phase

Phase	Deliverable	Expected Timeframe
Onboarding	Technical SEO audit, access setup, baseline reporting	Weeks 1–3
Discovery	Keyword research, competitor gap analysis, content audit	Weeks 2–5
Strategy	12-month roadmap, prioritized fix list, content calendar draft	Weeks 4–6
Execution	On-page updates, content production, link outreach begins	Month 2 onward
Reporting	Monthly performance report, quarterly strategy review	Ongoing

How Should You Structure the Budget and Pricing Section?

Many RFPs avoid talking about budget directly because buyers fear anchoring the conversation. That instinct usually backfires. When agencies have no budget context, they either under-scope to look affordable or over-scope to look comprehensive. Neither gives you an accurate picture of what your money gets you.

Provide a budget range and ask agencies to show you what they’d include at that level. This produces useful, comparable proposals rather than pricing gymnastics. If you’re genuinely unsure what SEO services cost, resources like how much SEO actually costs can help you establish realistic expectations before you send the RFP.

Budget and pricing questions to include:

• Monthly retainer structure: What is the monthly fee, and what does it include? What falls outside the retainer and would be billed additionally?
• One-time project fees: Are audits, initial strategy work, or keyword research billed separately from the ongoing retainer?
• Contract length and exit terms: What is the minimum commitment, and what are the terms for ending the relationship early?
• Performance incentives: Does the agency offer any performance-based components, and if so, how are those structured?

SEO Pricing Model Comparison Common SEO engagement structures and what each typically includes

Pricing Model	Typical Monthly Range	Best For	What to Watch For
Monthly retainer	$1,500–$10,000+	Ongoing strategy and execution	Confirm deliverables are defined, not just hours
Project-based	$2,500–$30,000 per project	One-time audits, migrations, launches	Clarify what happens after the project ends
Hourly consulting	$100–$300/hour	Advisory support for in-house teams	Budget can escalate without scope guardrails
Performance-based	Variable, tied to ranking or traffic goals	Companies comfortable with variable spend	Confirm metrics are tied to business outcomes, not just rankings

What Case Studies and References Should You Request?

Any agency can claim results. Your RFP should require them to demonstrate results with specifics. Generic before-and-after traffic screenshots without context are not sufficient. You want to understand the strategic thinking behind the outcome, not just the number.

What to ask for in the case study and reference section:

• Industry-relevant examples: Request two to three case studies from clients in a similar industry or with a similar business model. An agency that has worked on B2B marketing accounts handles strategy differently than one whose work is primarily local service businesses.
• Problem-strategy-result format: Ask them to structure each case study around what the problem was, what approach they took, and what measurable outcome resulted. This tests whether they can articulate the “why” behind their work.
• References available on request: Ask whether they can provide direct client references. A confident agency should be comfortable connecting you with past or current clients.
• Transparency on timeline: Ask how long it took to see meaningful results in each example. This sets realistic expectations and surfaces agencies that overpromise.

“We always tell prospective clients to pay as much attention to how an agency talks about a project that didn’t go perfectly as they do to the success stories. Every agency has had campaigns that underperformed. The ones worth hiring can explain what happened, what they adjusted, and what they learned. That’s the conversation that tells you how they’ll handle your account when something doesn’t go according to plan.” — Strategy Team, Emulent Marketing

What Evaluation Criteria Should You Define Before Reviewing Proposals?

Before you send the RFP, decide how you’ll score the responses. Building your evaluation criteria after you’ve already received proposals creates bias toward whoever impressed you first. Setting your scoring structure upfront keeps the process objective.

A practical RFP scoring structure: Suggested RFP Evaluation Scoring Criteria

Evaluation Category	Weight	What to Look For
Strategic approach and methodology	30%	Is their process specific to your situation, or generic?
Relevant experience and case studies	25%	Do they have proof of results in your space?
Scope clarity and deliverables	20%	Are deliverables specific, scheduled, and measurable?
Pricing and contract terms	15%	Is pricing transparent and aligned to scope?
Communication and team fit	10%	Will this team be a consistent, communicative partner?

Keep in mind that the lowest bid rarely represents the best value in SEO. Organic search is a long-cycle investment where the quality of strategy compounds over time. An agency that charges less but produces generic work will cost far more in wasted time than one that charges more and delivers a specific, well-executed plan. Resources like understanding the ROI of SEO can help frame the investment conversation internally before you finalize your budget range.

Also, be cautious of vendors who promise specific ranking positions as part of their pitch. A well-built RFP process should surface these red flags naturally — and if you want to understand why those guarantees are a warning sign, this is worth reading before you finalize your agency list.

“The RFP process is really a window into how an agency operates. How quickly do they respond? How specific are their questions back to you? Do they push back thoughtfully when something in the brief is unclear? These signals matter just as much as the proposal document itself. The best agency relationships start with mutual respect and honesty — and a good RFP process tends to surface that early.” — Strategy Team, Emulent Marketing

How the Emulent Team Helps with SEO Strategy and Agency Selection

At Emulent, we work with companies at every stage of the SEO process, from building a strategy from scratch to auditing existing efforts that aren’t producing results. If you’re putting together an SEO RFP and want a second set of eyes on your criteria, or if you’re trying to decide whether your current agency is the right long-term partner, we can help you think through the right questions to ask and the right benchmarks to hold vendors to.

If your business needs a digital marketing agency that approaches SEO with both technical rigor and strategic clarity, we’d be glad to talk through your situation. Reach out to the Emulent team to start a conversation about your SEO goals.