How to choose an ecommerce and B2B SEO consultant

In short: a good SEO consultant for ecommerce and B2B companies starts with a technical audit using read-only access, explains clearly what they will do and how they will measure it, ties the work to sales and enquiries, and never promises the top spot on Google. Today they also need to cover visibility in AI-generated answers.

Key takeaways

• Google itself suggests what to ask: past work, method, timelines, metrics, communication.
• A serious engagement produces concrete deliverables: audit, priority plan, verifiable changes, reports tied to revenue.
• Prices vary widely; comparing quotes only makes sense for the same scope.
• Guaranteed rankings, "easy" links or a special relationship with Google are red flags.
• The best time to bring one in is before a redesign, a migration or a move into new markets.

Why choosing the right consultant matters more now

For an online store, organic search brings customers without paying for every click; for a B2B company it brings enquiries from buyers who are already comparing suppliers. Meanwhile a share of searches now ends inside AI answers from Google, ChatGPT and similar tools. One technical mistake on a large catalogue, such as a migration without redirects, can cost indexed pages and sales.

The market is crowded and not very transparent, so it pays to choose with a method. If you are still working out how much AI search matters in your sector, start with how AI-powered search engines change the way companies get found.

What does an ecommerce and B2B SEO consultant actually do?

An SEO consultant makes a site's pages easy to find, understand and choose in search engines, and measures how much of that traffic turns into sales or leads. The work falls into three areas.

• Technical SEO covers crawling, indexing, URL structure, speed, structured data and redirects. On an ecommerce site that means handling filters, variants, pagination and out-of-stock products; Google has a dedicated guide.
• Content SEO covers pages that answer real searches: category pages written for buyers, complete product pages, comparison pages, technical guides for B2B buyers.
• GEO (generative engine optimization) is the work of making a site reachable, understandable and quotable by AI answer engines such as Google's AI features, ChatGPT search or Perplexity.

Take an online spare-parts store with 4,000 product pages: the consultant checks that filters don't create thousands of near-identical pages and that products carry product structured data. For a B2B maker of industrial components, the work is about technical data sheets, pages per application sector and the path to a quote request. Both are hypothetical scenarios, but they show how much priorities shift; the differences between the two sales models are covered in B2B vs B2C: how to tell the strategies apart.

In its guidance for anyone considering an SEO, Google lists the useful services a provider can offer: review of site content or structure, technical advice on hosting, redirects, error pages and JavaScript, content development, keyword research, SEO training, expertise in specific markets and geographies, and optimizing for generative AI. If you have a team that publishes content or manages the catalogue, ask for training to be part of the engagement: it is the part of the work that stays once the consultancy ends.

When should you bring in an SEO consultant?

According to Google, a great time is when you are considering a site redesign (the earlier, the better) or planning to launch a new site, so the site is search-friendly from the ground up. A good consultant can still improve an existing site.

Google adds that a small local business can probably do much of the work itself, starting from the SEO Starter Guide. An online store with thousands of product pages, filters and several languages, or a B2B site with technical catalogues, has far more URLs and technical decisions to handle. In practice, expert support matters most at these moments:

• A platform change or redesign, for example moving to Shopify or from a brochure site to a B2B portal with a customer area.
• Entering new markets with site versions in other languages.
• A drop in organic traffic with no obvious cause.
• Launching a new catalogue or many categories at once.

Migrating an online store: what the consultant must check

Migration is where a mistake costs the most. Google's guide to moving a site with URL changes sets out these steps:

1. Prepare the mapping from every old URL to its new counterpart, including images, videos and other embedded files.
2. Set up server-side permanent redirects from old URLs to new ones, avoiding long chains (ideally no more than 3 hops).
3. Update internal links, hreflang annotations and sitemaps with the new URLs.
4. Monitor traffic on both the old and the new URLs.
5. Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least one year, so Google can transfer all signals to the new URLs.

Google also warns that rankings may fluctuate during the move and that, for a medium-sized site, it can take a few weeks or more before the new URLs show up instead of the old ones; longer for large sites. A serious consultant builds these fluctuations into the plan and the sales calendar instead of discovering them after launch.

Which ecommerce technical issues should they know?

On an online store, technical problems multiply with the number of products. These are the points a consultant should be able to answer precisely, citing Google's documentation.

Situation	What to check	Google's guidance
Filters and faceted navigation	Whether colour, size, brand and price combinations generate near-infinite URLs	Block crawling of filters you don't need in search with robots.txt; if they must be indexed, keep the filter order fixed and return a 404 for combinations with no results
Product structured data	Which markup fits each page type	Merchant listings for pages where people can buy; product snippets for pages without direct purchase, typical of B2B catalogues with a quote request
Several languages or markets	How language versions are linked	Separate URLs per language with hreflang annotations; redirecting users automatically by language can stop Google from finding all versions
Migration or platform change	URL mapping and redirects	Server-side permanent redirects, generally kept for at least one year

On filters, Google explains why: faceted navigation URLs waste crawling on useless pages and slow down the discovery of new ones, such as freshly added products. Canonical and nofollow help, but Google says they are generally less effective in the long term than blocking crawling. In the hypothetical spare-parts store with 4,000 product pages, this is the first thing to check.

What should you ask an SEO consultant before signing?

Google recommends interviewing the provider, checking references with past clients and looking carefully at what any proposed audit involves. These questions start from its guidance, adapted to ecommerce and B2B.

1. Can you show me previous work and cases like mine? Ideally a catalogue or B2B site of similar size.
2. Do you follow Google Search Essentials? The answer should be yes, with examples of practices they refuse.
3. What results do you expect, and in what timeframe? Be wary of exact ranking dates; ask for timelines per task instead.
4. How do you measure success? For ecommerce: revenue and orders from organic traffic; for B2B: qualified enquiries, not just visits.
5. What experience do you have in my industry and with international sites? If you sell abroad you need hreflang and language-version expertise.
6. How will we communicate, and will you share every change made to my site? Each change should be logged with a date and a reason.
7. How long have you been in business, and which clients can I contact? Google suggests asking past clients whether the service was useful, whether the provider was easy to work with and whether it produced positive results.
8. Have you worked on my platform before? Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or a custom B2B portal each handle URLs, filters and variants differently.
9. What do you base your recommendations on? Google advises checking that advice cites official documentation and that AI-related advice ("AEO" or "GEO" services) is aligned with its guidance on generative AI features.

What the consultant asks you matters too. According to Google, a good SEO takes an interest in your business: what makes it unique, who your competitors are, how customers find you and how search can help. If they offer a standard package without asking these questions, find someone else.

Google adds a practical detail: for the initial audit, grant Search Console access as read-only, not write access. The audit should give you realistic estimates of improvement and an estimate of the work involved.

What deliverables and timelines should you expect?

A well-written engagement lists what you get, in what form and when.

Deliverable	What it contains	How to check it
Technical audit	Indexing, duplicates, redirects, speed, structured data, AI crawler access	Every issue has sample URLs, estimated impact and a fix
Keyword research	Searches by category, product and buying stage, with search intent	Mapped to existing or new pages, not a generic list
Priority plan	Tasks ranked by impact and effort, with an owner	Your developer or in-house team knows what to do first
On-page changes	Titles, category copy, product pages, internal links, image alt text	List of changed pages, with before and after
Regular report	Search Console and GA4 data, organic revenue or leads, visibility in AI answers	Month-on-month comparable numbers, with commentary and next steps

On timing, Google's starter guide is clear: some changes take effect within hours, others take several months, and it is usually worth waiting a few weeks before judging a change. Details matter too: alt text for product images is a small fix that a good audit never forgets.

How much does an SEO consultant cost?

Cost depends on the engagement model and its scope. A useful public reference is Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers, last updated in August 2024: global figures in US dollars, best read as an order of magnitude rather than a price list for your market.

Model	When it fits	Ahrefs benchmark
Monthly retainer	Large catalogues or sites that change often	Used by 78.2%; average about $2,900 a month, most common band $501-$1,000
Project	Audit, migration, new site	Used by 48.9%; most common band $2,501-$5,000
Hourly consulting	In-house team that does the work and wants oversight	Used by 34.8%; average about $111 an hour

The same survey found that agencies charge 138% more than freelancers on average, and that providers who work as consultants average about $3,250 a month. Before comparing two quotes, check that they cover the same things: number of pages analysed, who implements the changes, reporting frequency, content work. A very low offer often leaves out implementation itself.

SEO or Google Ads: do I need SEO if I already advertise?

Yes, because they are separate channels. Google states that advertising with Google has no effect on a site's presence in its search results, that it never accepts money to include or rank sites in organic results, and that appearing there costs nothing. Campaigns bring visits while the budget lasts; work on categories, product pages and guides stays on the site when campaigns stop.

The two channels do help each other, though. Search terms that convert in your campaigns show which categories and product pages to improve first, and a clear, complete page also works better as an ad landing page. If your SEO consultant and your ads manager are different people, ask them to share at least keywords and conversion data.

How do you assess a site's visibility in AI answers?

You check three things: whether AI crawlers can reach your pages, whether your content holds information worth citing, and whether citations are being measured. Google's guide to generative AI features says they rely on the same ranking systems as classic search and that files like llms.txt or special markup are not needed.

• Crawler access. OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search results and GPTBot for model training, and the two robots.txt settings are independent.
• Quotable content. Direct answers, definitions, tables, sourced figures and information only you have: supply terms, specifications, use cases.
• Measurement. Google points to the generative AI performance report in Search Console; for other engines you need regular checks on the key questions in your sector.

Be wary of anyone selling "GEO hacks" such as forced content chunking or manufactured mentions: Google lists them among the tactics you can ignore as far as its own search is concerned. If your site runs on WordPress, it is also worth understanding how AI fits into your CMS without mass-producing pages.

What are the red flags?

The clearest red flags are promises nobody can keep and a lack of transparency, as Google's guidance points out.

• A guaranteed number one ranking. Nobody can guarantee it; Google says so explicitly.
• A "special relationship" with Google or "priority submission". Google names both as claims to be wary of.
• Links bought or exchanged for rankings. They fall under Google's spam policies, and a site that breaks them can rank lower or drop out of results entirely.
• "Internal Google metrics" from third-party tools. Google states that no external tool has access to its ranking data.
• Secrecy about method. If the consultant won't explain what they'll do, or asks for full access before the audit, stop there.
• Unsolicited emails. Google advises being wary of SEO firms and agencies that email out of the blue claiming your site "is not listed" in search engines.
• Submission to thousands of search engines or link popularity schemes. Google calls these typically useless exercises, and you should never have to link to your SEO's site.
• Deceptive content created on your behalf. Google warns that it can get a site removed from its index entirely, and reminds you that you are responsible for the actions of any company you hire.

What should an SEO consultant's contract include?

A clear contract heads off most later disputes. Beyond price, put these points in writing:

• Scope and deliverables: which pages, which markets and which documents, using the deliverables table as a base.
• Who implements changes: the consultant, your developer or your in-house team, and on what timeline.
• Access: Search Console, GA4 and platform accounts owned by your company, with the consultant added as a user; read-only during the audit.
• Change log: Google suggests asking for all changes to be shared, with recommendations and the reasoning behind them; anyone with server access should explain every change.
• Excluded practices: a commitment to follow Google Search Essentials and spam policies, since responsibility stays with your company.
• Ownership of the work: content, reports, mappings and analyses remain yours when the engagement ends.
• KPIs, reviews and exit terms: agreed metrics, a review after the first few months and conditions for ending the contract.

How to apply this in your company: first steps

1. Collect your baseline. Export organic traffic, top pages and revenue or leads for the last 12 months from Search Console and GA4.
2. Write a one-page brief. Business goals, markets, number of pages, platform (Shopify, WordPress, custom build) and who will implement the changes.
3. Interview at least two professionals with the questions above and ask both for a preliminary review with read-only access.
4. Compare quotes on the same scope using the deliverables table as a checklist.
5. Put KPIs in the contract: organic revenue or enquiries, indexed pages, citations in AI answers, with a review after the first few months.

If you sell in several markets, add languages and site versions to the brief: running a multilingual site with AI has its own SEO rules. For B2B ecommerce, it also helps to read how business-to-business ecommerce is changing. More articles are in the websites and ecommerce section; services are under solutions.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does an ecommerce SEO consultant do?

They analyse how Google and AI answer engines find, understand and display an online store's pages: categories, product pages, filters, structured data, speed and content. Then they set priorities and oversee implementation with whoever runs the site, measuring the effect on organic traffic, revenue and enquiries.

How much does an SEO consultant cost?

It depends on the model: a one-off audit, a project or a monthly retainer. In Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers (last updated August 2024) the average retainer is about $2,900 a month, rising to about $3,250 for consultants, but these are global figures, so compare quotes that cover the same scope of work.

How long does SEO take to show results?

Google says some changes take effect within hours while others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging a change. A serious consultant gives a timeline for each task and the metric used to measure it, instead of promising ranking dates.

What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO works on visibility in classic search results; GEO on the chance that a site is used and cited in AI-generated answers. The foundations are the same, meaning indexable pages and useful, verifiable content; GEO adds control over AI crawlers and tracking of citations.

Should I hire an SEO consultant or an agency?

It depends on how many people need to work in parallel. A consultant fits when you need experienced direction working alongside your in-house team or developer; an agency when you need several people on content, development and campaigns at the same time. The same questions about method, access and measurement apply to both.

Can I do SEO myself without a consultant?

Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself, starting from the SEO Starter Guide, and that knowing these techniques also helps you spot a consultant proposing practices it discourages. For an online store with many products, filters and languages, or for a migration, expert support reduces the risk of costly technical mistakes.

Does advertising on Google Ads improve organic rankings?

No. Google states that advertising has no effect on a site's presence in organic results and that it never accepts money to include or rank sites. The two channels are managed separately, but campaign data helps you choose which pages to improve first.

Sources

• Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?
• Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide
• Google Search Central, Guide to optimizing for generative AI features on Google Search
• Google Search Central, Guidance on third-party SEO tools and advice
• Google Search Central, SEO best practices for ecommerce sites
• Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search
• OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers
• Ahrefs, SEO pricing: how much does SEO cost? (survey of 439 providers, updated August 2024)
• Google Search Central, Managing crawling of faceted navigation URLs
• Google Search Central, Site moves with URL changes
• Google Search Central, Product structured data
• Google Search Central, Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites

If you want to know where your site stands before talking to any consultant, book a free assessment.