Agencies 9 min read
White-Label SEO: How Agencies Resell SEO Services Under Their Own Brand
White-label SEO lets an agency sell SEO under its own name while a partner or tool does part of the work. It works when you keep the client relationship and the quality control, and outsource the parts that scale.
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Builds SEO·AEO·GEO and writes the crawler, schema, and citation research published here.
Key takeaways
- White-label SEO means a provider does SEO work that you sell to your clients under your own brand. The client sees only you.
- There are two kinds: white-label services (people do the work) and white-label tools (software produces branded audits and reports).
- Outsource what's repeatable: audits, reporting, technical fixes, citations, content production. Keep strategy, client communication and final review in-house.
- Your margin is the gap between your retainer and the partner's wholesale price, minus your time managing it. Price on the value of the result, not the partner's cost.
- Vet a partner the way Google says to vet any SEO: examples of past work, adherence to Google Search Essentials, clear methods, and no guaranteed rankings.
White-label SEO is when one company does SEO work and another sells it to clients under its own brand. A web design agency, for example, can offer monthly SEO without hiring an SEO team: a partner does the work, and the reports go out with the agency's logo.
It's sometimes called SEO reselling or private-label SEO. Done well, it lets a small agency offer more without the fixed cost. Done badly, it puts your name on work you can't vouch for.
Two kinds of white-label SEO
| White-label services | White-label tools | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | People who do the work: audits, fixes, content, outreach | Software that produces branded audits, reports and dashboards |
| You still do | Sell, manage, review, talk to the client | Interpret results, do or delegate the fixes |
| Pricing | Wholesale per client or per task | Monthly subscription |
| Best for | Agencies without SEO staff | Agencies with some SEO skill that need to scale reporting and audits |
What to outsource and what to keep
| Outsource (repeatable) | Keep in-house (relationship and judgement) |
|---|---|
| Technical audits and monthly reporting | Strategy and priorities for each client |
| Technical fixes to a written spec | Client calls and expectations |
| Local citations and listings updates | Final review of anything published under your name |
| Content drafts from approved briefs | Approving briefs and editing for the client's voice |
| Rank and visibility tracking | Explaining what the numbers mean |
White-label local SEO
Local SEO is the most common white-label service because much of it is repeatable: Google Business Profile updates, citations, review monitoring and location pages. Keep the client's Business Profile in the client's name with you added as a manager; never let a partner own it. The local SEO guide covers what the work should include.
Pricing and margins
Agencies usually mark up wholesale prices rather than pass them through. Work out your price from three numbers: what comparable SEO sells for in your market, the partner's cost per client, and the hours you'll spend managing and reporting. In Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers, the most common monthly retainer was $501 to $1,000, with large differences by country and experience; see SEO pricing for the full figures.
How to vet a white-label partner
- Ask for examples of past work and a sample report, with the client details removed.
- Ask whether they follow Google Search Essentials, and how they build links. Bought links or private blog networks put your clients at risk under Google's spam policies.
- Ask what they'll change on a client site and how you'll see every change.
- Run the partner's own website through a free audit such as the SEO checker. Problems on their own site are a warning.
- Agree on turnaround times, who owns the content and accounts, and how you can leave.
- Start with one client and review everything before you scale.
White-label audits for AI search
Clients increasingly ask whether ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI features can see them. A branded audit is a simple way to answer that and open the conversation about fixes. Our Agency plan (₹4,999 a month in India) puts your name, logo and colours on every report and export, adds an embeddable audit widget that captures leads, and drafts an editable client proposal from any audit. The audit itself is free for anyone to try first.
For writing the proposal that goes with it, see what goes in an SEO proposal. For selling AI-search work specifically, see how agencies sell GEO services.
FAQ
What is white-label SEO?+
A wholesale arrangement where one company does SEO work and another sells it to clients under its own brand. The reseller owns the client relationship; the provider stays invisible.
Is white-label SEO the same as SEO outsourcing?+
They overlap. Outsourcing means someone else does work for you; white-label adds that it's delivered under your brand, with branded reports and no contact between the provider and your client.
Is reselling SEO services legal and ethical?+
Yes, as long as you're honest with clients about what you deliver and the work itself follows search engine guidelines. Many agencies use subcontractors; what matters is that you stand behind the results and the methods.
How do I price white-label SEO?+
Start from what the client gets and what similar services sell for in your market, then check the partner's wholesale cost leaves a margin after your management time. Survey data on typical SEO prices is in our SEO pricing guide.
Sources
- Do you need an SEO? — Google Search Central (2026-06-05)
- Spam policies for Google web search — Google Search Central
- How Much Does SEO Cost? (survey of 439 SEO service providers) — Ahrefs (2024-08-15)
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