Google Just Told You How to Spot a Bad SEO Company

If you own a small business, you've probably gotten the cold call. The one where an SEO "expert" tells you their tool is approved by Google. Or that they can guarantee you the #1 spot. Or that their AI optimization service is what every business needs in 2026.

Google just published a doc that calls all of that out by name. The official "Do you need an SEO?" help page got rewritten on June 6, 2026. It's now about 30% shorter than the old version (you can compare it to the archived version from May). And it added two sections that small business owners should read before signing another SEO contract.

The full breakdown was covered by Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Roundtable on June 8. Glenn Gabe spotted the changes first and posted screenshot highlights on X.

Change #1: Google does not approve any SEO tool. Period.

Google added a new section about third-party SEO tools, and they highlighted the last sentence in red. Direct quote from the doc:

"If your SEO uses a third-party tool, keep in mind that Google doesn't evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and these tools don't have access to Google's internal ranking data. Be wary of tools that claim to be 'acceptable' or 'approved' by Google Search."

Read that again. No SEO tool has access to Google's ranking data. Not Ahrefs. Not SEMrush. Not Moz. Not whatever AI-powered platform your prospective vendor is pitching. They are all making educated guesses based on crawl data, click data, and reverse-engineering what works. Some of those guesses are good. None of them are blessed by Google.

If a sales rep tells you their tool is "Google approved" or "Google certified," they are either lying or they don't know what they're talking about. Both are reasons to hang up.

Change #2: Don't give your SEO write access to Search Console

This one is tactical and worth the price of admission alone. Google now explicitly says:

"If your SEO offers to do an SEO audit for you, be sure to carefully consider what's involved and only grant read access to Search Console (at this stage, don't grant them write access)."

Why does this matter? Write access lets an outside party submit URLs, request indexing, change settings, and verify site ownership. A sloppy or shady SEO with write access can damage your search visibility in ways that take months to undo. Read access lets them see everything they need to audit your site without touching anything.

If your current SEO has write access and they have not earned a year of trust, downgrade them to read access today. You can do it in two clicks from Settings → Users and permissions.

Change #3: "AEO" and "GEO" services are now on Google's radar

In the last six months, a new category of SEO pitch has shown up: AI Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The promise is that they can rank your business inside ChatGPT answers, inside Google's AI Overviews, and inside Perplexity results.

Google's new doc tells you to ask one specific question:

"If they have advice on optimizing for AI experiences (also known as 'AEO' / 'GEO' services), is their advice aligned with Google Search's official guidance on optimizing for generative AI features?"

That sentence links to a separate Google doc on optimizing for generative AI. Spoiler: Google's official guidance is that there is no special trick. Write content that people actually want to read, make it findable, make it credible. That's it. Anybody selling you a "GEO package" with secret AI ranking factors is selling you nothing.

Glenn Gabe summed it up in his X post: "I still believe we will see a spam update that wipes out sites gaming AI Search… We might also see new manual actions." Translation: businesses paying for "AI search optimization" tricks may get penalized when Google's next spam update hits.

Bonus: Google published a second new doc

Alongside the rewrite, Google added a brand new page called "Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice". This is the first time Google has had a dedicated page for vetting outside SEO vendors. It covers tools, audits, content services, link building, and AEO/GEO services in one place. If you're shopping for SEO right now, bookmark it.

What this means if you're a small business owner

Three things, in plain English:

1. If your SEO guarantees rankings, fire them. Google explicitly says: "If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else." That language has been in the doc for years. It's still there. People still ignore it.
2. If your SEO is pitching AEO/GEO packages, ask them to show their work. Specifically: which part of Google's published AI optimization guidance does their tactic line up with? If they can't answer that, walk.
3. If you gave anybody write access to your Search Console, revoke it. Read-only is enough for 99% of audits. Write access is only earned, not given.

How we approach SEO at 72 Hour Web Design

We do small business SEO three ways: Essentials at $359/mo, Plus at $649/mo, Pro at $895/mo. We don't guarantee rankings (nobody can). We don't claim Google approves any tool (Google doesn't). We don't pitch GEO or AEO packages (they're a marketing label, not a service).

What we do: monthly deliverables you can verify, content that's AI-assisted but human-edited, and reporting that ties to actual business impact (calls, form fills, bookings) instead of vanity keyword positions. Read-only Search Console access is standard. If you want to see what we actually deliver before paying a dollar, run our free 180-point SEO audit.

Sources cited in this article

• Google Updates Its Hiring An SEO Doc Warning On SEO Tools & AI Optimization — Search Engine Roundtable, June 8, 2026
• Do you need an SEO? — Google Search Central (updated June 6, 2026)
• Archived May 2026 version for side-by-side comparison — Wayback Machine
• Google's new guidance on third-party SEO tools, services, and advice — Search Engine Roundtable
• Glenn Gabe's X post with annotated screenshots, June 6, 2026
• Background: Google's mythbusting on generative AI optimization

Published June 8, 2026 by the 72 Hour Web Design team. We track Google's published guidance and tell small business owners what actually changed and what to do about it. We are a service of Sympler.com, based in Castle Rock, Colorado.