A practical buyer tool

Provider Scope Card

Compare a software subscription, freelancer, or agency on the same terms. Ask each provider to answer the questions below in writing before you compare the price.

Two-page PDF

Email me a copy of the Provider Scope Card

A transactional delivery only. No marketing subscription is created from this request.

Preview PDF

1. What is included

Ask the provider to write each answer down.

Which question, which customer, which platform? “AI visibility” for which buyer question, for which type of customer, on which platform?
What do I receive, by when and in what form? Pages, fixes, reports, calls. Which parts are done by software, which by a person, and who checks them?
What does the price cover, and what costs extra? Ad spend, tools, content, changes, extra markets. What is the minimum term and how do I leave?
Who signs off before anything goes live? A named person, or no one?
What is out of scope? Strategy, implementation, measurement and sales follow-up are separate jobs. Which of them are included?

2. What is your responsibility

Good scopes name the buyer's side too.

Access. Your website, analytics, Search Console and any ad accounts, plus one named decision-maker.
Facts and claims. Approving what is said about your business, and supplying proof you are free to publish.
Changes that need your team. Developer time, platform limits, legal or compliance review.
Sales follow-up. Leads still need a fast, good reply. Outcomes depend on your offer, price and sales process as well as the marketing.
Your definition of success. Qualified leads or pipeline in your own terms, not traffic or “mentions” alone.

3. What evidence to ask for

Reasonable requests, whoever the provider is.

A sample deliverable from a comparable scope (anonymized is fine).
How success is measured: the metric, the source, the time window, the baseline, and whether you can see the raw data.
How accuracy is checked: what AI assistants and search results say about your business, and who corrects it when it is wrong.
What is claimed and what is measured. Any promise should state what happens if it is not met. A guaranteed number-one position cannot be verified; Google's own guidance says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking.
Case studies with their scope and dates, and what the client did on their side.
What you own at the end: content, accounts, data and reports.

Closing thought: A tool can do part of this very well. The card helps you see which part, and what is left for you or for someone else.

Use the score as a readiness baseline, not a scope

The Free AI Visibility Score is a reading of your own website. It does not count AI citations and it is not a repair plan. Use it to decide what to ask for next.

Get my Free AI Visibility Score →

Free, no credit card. If the reading is worth a conversation, you can book a 30-minute call afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

What is a scope card?

A scope card is a one-page checklist for buying marketing or AEO from any provider. It sets out what is included, what stays your responsibility and what evidence to ask for, so you can compare a software subscription, a freelancer and an agency on the same terms.

Can I use it with any provider?

Yes. It is deliberately provider-neutral: use it with a software subscription, a freelancer or an agency, including us. It asks for written answers, so the comparison rests on what each provider will put in writing.

Does the Free AI Visibility Score replace a scope?

No. The score is a free readiness baseline of your own website. It is a reading, not a repair plan, and it does not count AI citations. It can help you decide what to ask for next.

Written by Modi Elnadi, Integrated.Social. We hold ourselves to the same questions. Source: Google Search Central, “Do you need an SEO?”.