Choose a local SEO agency that puts its scope and price in writing, leaves every account in your name, reports on calls and enquiries, works on short terms and avoids fake reviews and bulk links. Ask three agencies for a free mini-audit and compare what each one actually finds.
A written scope should say what happens each month, who does it and what it costs, including any setup fee and minimum term.
Ask for recent UK examples from businesses like yours, ideally showing enquiries or calls rather than rankings alone.
The mini-audit test works because it shows who looked at your profile and website properly. Specific findings about your categories, reviews, pages and tracking beat a generic sales deck.
Useful pages
This is one part of a bigger picture. Local SEO services in the UK: the full guide covers what local SEO includes, costs, timelines, agencies and red flags in one place.