Google wrote the rules for the Google Ads consultant you are about to hire. Seven questions to ask before you sign
Ask ChatGPT or Gemini to recommend a consultant and the assistant does not choose for you: it reads the pages it finds and repeats what they say. On 25 September 2026 we read the same kind of pages ourselves, in Florence and in Cluj-Napoca, line by line. What is missing matters more than what is there.
Cittago runs this as a service — see google ads agency.
Google has a policy for anyone who buys or manages Google advertising on someone else’s behalf. It says a consultant must tell you about their fee in writing before you pay, send you costs, clicks and impressions, hand over your account ID when you ask, and never guarantee you the top spot.
We read nineteen consultant and agency pages that a search returned on 25 September 2026, ten in Florence and nine in Cluj-Napoca. Not one promises the top position. Only five say in writing that the Google Ads account stays in the client’s name.
Those missing sentences are also the ones an AI assistant would need in order to answer your questions. If a page never writes them, no assistant can repeat them to you. Seven questions close that gap before you sign, not after.
- The seven questions, each tied to the Google rule behind it
- What nineteen real consultant pages say, and what they leave out
- How to check a Google Partner badge in one click
- Three simple thresholds: sign, ask for more, or walk away
There is a rulebook for the person you are about to hire to run your Google ads. Google wrote it, it is public, and almost no business owner has read it. It covers what a consultant must tell you about fees, what they must report every month, and which promises they are not allowed to make.
We read it on 25 September 2026. Then we did something slightly obsessive: we opened the pages of consultants and agencies that a search returned in two cities we know well, Florence and Cluj-Napoca, and checked, sentence by sentence, how many of those rules you could see from the outside.
Picture the person on the other side of that search. Call her Giulia. She does not exist; we made her up for this article. She runs a small restaurant, she has tried Google Ads once on her own and could not tell where the money went, and this morning she typed reliable Google Ads consultant near me into ChatGPT. What the assistant tells her depends entirely on what those pages say.
The short answer — how to choose a Google Ads consultant
A good Google Ads consultant puts four things in writing before you sign: who owns the account, what their work costs, what report you get, and how the relationship ends.
Everything else matters too, from how quickly they answer to whether you like them. But those four have something in common: Google asks consultants for exactly those things in its policy for “third parties”, meaning anyone who buys or manages Google advertising for a client.
The rulebook nobody reads — Google’s third-party policy
The policy is short and surprisingly concrete. On fees, it says: “At a minimum, inform new customers in writing before each first purchase and disclose the fee on all customer invoices.”
On reporting, where a monthly report applies: “you must include data on costs, clicks, and impressions at the Google advertising account level”, and “report the exact amount charged by Google, exclusive of any fees that you charge.” On your account: Google requires consultants to provide customer IDs “when requested”, and to use a separate account for each advertiser they manage.
And on promises, the list of what is banned includes “Guaranteeing top placement in Google Ads or organic Google Search results” and “Offering unlimited clicks or visits”.
The Italian and Romanian versions of these help pages open with the same warning: the English version is the official one. On 25 September 2026 the updated transparency page existed only in English, even when requested in Italian or Romanian.
Nineteen pages, read line by line — our audit of Google Ads consultants in Florence and Cluj
The method was simple and deliberately boring. On 25 September 2026 we searched “consulente google ads firenze” and “consultant google ads cluj” and took the pages of the first ten different sites for each, in the order they appeared, topping up from closely related searches where the first list was short. Directory sites were left out. One Cluj result was a dead link, so the total is nineteen pages.
Cittago is in neither list and we did not add it. We sell the same service in both cities, which would make us a poor judge of ourselves.
Only 5 of 19 consultant pages say in writing that you own the account
We read the pages of ten consultants and agencies a search returned for “consulente google ads firenze” and ten for “consultant google ads cluj” on 25 September 2026. Nineteen answered; one was a dead link. Every hit was checked in the sentence it appeared in.
Source: Cittago audit of 19 consultant pages, Florence (10) and Cluj-Napoca (9), read on 25 September 2026 · cittago.com
| pages out of 19 | |
|---|---|
| Doesn’t promise the top position | 19 |
| Lets ChatGPT’s search robot in | 19 |
| Mentions a report | 13 |
| Offers a free first review | 11 |
| Has a FAQ section | 9 |
| Has an llms.txt file for AI | 9 |
| Claims to be a Google Partner | 7 |
| Publishes a price | 6 |
| Says the account stays yours | 5 |
| Has a clickable Partner badge | 4 |
| Says ad budget is paid separately | 4 |
| States a minimum commitment | 2 |
| What the page says in writing | Florence (10 pages) | Cluj-Napoca (9 pages) |
|---|---|---|
| The account stays in the client’s name | 2 | 3 |
| The ad budget is paid separately | 1 | 3 |
| A price for the service | 3 | 3 |
| A clickable Google Partner badge | 1 | 3 |
| A promise of the top position | 0 | 0 |
| ChatGPT’s search robot allowed in | 10 | 9 |
Three things stand out. No page in either city promises the top position, which is good news, because Google bans it. Cluj pages are slightly more explicit about money and ownership than Florence pages. And in both cities, almost every page lets AI assistants in, while most of them leave out the very answers an assistant would need.
What an AI assistant reads when you ask it for a consultant — ChatGPT, Gemini and the page itself
When ChatGPT searches the web, it sends a program to read pages: a robot. A site can let it in or keep it out with a small instruction file called robots.txt. The assistant then summarises what it read, in its own words.
All nineteen pages let in OAI-SearchBot, the robot behind ChatGPT search, and all nineteen show their text without anything that hides it from programs. Nine have an llms.txt file, a kind of index written for AI assistants. One Florence page even has a visible “cite this page” block, with its name and address ready to be quoted.
The information that protects a buyer and the information an AI assistant can cite are the same sentences. A consultant who writes down how they work is easier to find and easier to judge.
Question 1: will you guarantee the top position? — the promise Google bans
Start with the easy one, because the right answer is no. Google’s advertiser guide puts it plainly: “It’s not possible to guarantee a specific ad position on Google.com search results pages. Ad position is determined by an auction and changes dynamically with every new search.”
Every page we read passes this test. If someone makes that promise on the phone, you already have your answer. The same guide adds one more line worth remembering: “Advertising on Google has no impact on your organic or natural ranking in the search results; the two are completely separate.”
Question 2: is the account in my name? — Google Ads account ownership and customer ID
The account is where your campaigns, your history and your data live. If it sits in the consultant’s name, changing consultant can mean starting from zero, with months of learning thrown away.
Only five of the nineteen pages say it in writing. The clearest ones say the account is opened in the client’s name, with the client’s email and payment details, and that it leaves with the client, full history included. Ask for your customer ID, the ten-digit number of your account. Google requires consultants to hand it over when asked. We wrote up what stays and what goes when you change Google Ads agency.
Question 3: what does your work cost, on top of the ad budget? — management fees
With Google Ads you pay two different things. The ad budget goes to Google, click by click. The fee goes to the consultant, for setting up and running the campaigns. They are two numbers and they should stay two numbers.
Six of the nineteen pages publish a price. In Florence the figures run from “190 € a month” to a minimum of €350 a month plus a one-off setup of €1,000 to €2,000, and one package of £1,497 every three months. In Cluj the published prices read “from 269€”, “350-500 €/month” for small campaigns and “from 500 EUR/month”. Only four pages say in plain words that the budget is paid to Google separately.
Not publishing a price is fine; a lot of good consultants quote per project. An all-in quote that hides how much goes to Google is not. For a sense of what the clicks themselves cost, we collected the numbers on how much Google Ads costs.
Question 4: what will you send me every month? — the report on costs, clicks and impressions
The report is where you find out where the money went. Google’s minimum is costs, clicks and impressions at account level, with the exact amount Google charged, fees excluded. Alternatively, the consultant can give you direct access to the account.
Thirteen of the nineteen pages mention a report. Few say what is in it. Ask to see a real one with the names covered; a minute is enough to tell whether it was written for you or for show.
Question 5: can I click your badge? — how to verify a Google Partner
The Google Partner badge needs three things, according to Google: an optimisation score of at least 70%, $10,000 of ad spend over 90 days across managed accounts, and at least half of the account strategists certified. Premier Partner means the top 3% of participating companies in a country, decided every year.
Google also tells you how to check it: “To confirm that a company is certified within our Partner Programs, click the badge on its website. If the company is certified, you’ll be taken to its profile page on Google.” Seven of the nineteen pages call themselves Partners; four carry the official clickable badge. That gap is not proof of anything, since the badge may live elsewhere on the site, but it is a click you can ask for.
A consultant without a badge is not automatically worse: the spend threshold rules out many good people who work with small businesses. We looked at what the Google Partner badge actually certifies.
Question 6: how do we part ways? — contract length and notice
Nobody signs thinking about the end, and that is exactly where seriousness shows. What is the minimum commitment? How much notice? What do you get back when you leave? Google’s guide has a one-line tip under deceptive pricing: “Make sure that you get an official copy of your agreement in writing.” Only two of the nineteen pages state anything about commitment length.
We are a Google Ads agency too, and our own page says how things end with us: short notice, because “We’d rather re-earn your trust every month than hold you in a contract.” We mention it for transparency, not as a ranking; the question applies to us as much as to anyone.
Who does not need a consultant: someone with a small budget, some time and the patience to learn two or three simple campaigns. A consultant makes sense when time or skills are missing, not as a rule.
Question 7: what does an AI say about you? — the cross-check with ChatGPT and Gemini
The last question is not for the consultant. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity to summarise how that consultant works, and look at which pages it cites. Then open those pages. If the assistant says “the account stays with the client”, find the sentence. If it is not there, the assistant inferred it, and an inference is not a commitment.
It works the other way round too. If you run the business, the answers written on your own site are the ones an AI assistant can quote when someone asks about you.
Consultant, agency, specialist: what people search for — Google search volumes
In the United Kingdom, “google ads agency” gets about 1,300 searches a month and “google ads consultant” about 210, according to Keyword Planner, Google’s own estimation tool. In Italy it flips: “consulente google ads” 390, “agenzia google ads” 320. In Romania, “agentie google ads” 320 and “consultant google ads” 10.
“Agency” is searched six times more than “consultant”
Average monthly Google searches in the United Kingdom, estimated by Keyword Planner and pulled on 25 September 2026. The tool rounds values into bands.
Source: Google Keyword Planner, United Kingdom, Google Search network, pulled 25 September 2026 · cittago.com
| searches per month | |
|---|---|
| google ads agency | 1,300 |
| ppc consultant | 320 |
| google ads specialist | 320 |
| google ads consultant | 210 |
| google ads freelancer | 140 |
The word tells you nothing about how the work is organised. A consultant can be one person or the trading name of a small team; an agency can be one person and two freelancers. The useful question is who touches your account every week, and who picks up the phone.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Google Ads account | Where campaigns, spend and history live. Ideally in your name. |
| Customer ID | Your account’s ten-digit number. Google requires consultants to give it to you on request. |
| Management fee | What you pay the consultant, separate from what you pay Google. |
| Ad budget | What you pay Google for clicks or views. |
| Optimisation score | Google’s estimate of how closely an account follows its suggestions. Partners need at least 70%. |
| Premier Partner | The top 3% of participating companies in a country, decided yearly. |
What you need before the first call with a Google Ads consultant
- The seven questions, printed or on your phone.
- Your goal in one sentence: more bookings, more calls, more online sales.
- A monthly figure for ad spend, kept separate from what you can pay a consultant.
- If you already have an account, its customer ID, shown at the top right when you sign in to Google Ads.
- Five minutes to click the Partner badge, if there is one.
What these numbers do not say
- Nineteen pages, read on one day, from a handful of searches. Another day or another search engine would give a slightly different list.
- We counted what is written on the page, not what happens in the contract. A consultant can do something well and never write it down.
- We did not open the Partner profiles on Google; we only checked whether the page carried the clickable badge.
- None of these figures measures skill. They measure how clearly a consultant presents the way they work.
Three thresholds — sign, ask for more, or walk away
- Sign if you have the first three answers in writing: account in your name, fee separate from budget, a report with costs, clicks and impressions.
- Ask for more if the answers only come by phone. A confirming email takes two minutes for anyone who works transparently.
- Walk away if someone guarantees the top position, offers unlimited clicks or will not tell you your account ID. Those are exactly the things Google bans.
Giulia ends the morning with three names and seven questions. She has not chosen yet. She knows what to get in writing, which is more than most people know before they sign.
We’ll talk about this again in 3 to 6 months 😉
Questions with answers we think are useful
Short answers to the questions people ask before signing, with the source where there is one.
What does a Google Ads consultant do?
They set up and run Google advertising for a business: which searches to appear on, what the ads say, how much to bid per click, and how results are measured. Google calls them “third parties” and has a specific policy on how they must treat clients.
How much does a Google Ads consultant cost?
It depends on the work. On 25 September 2026, six of nineteen consultant pages in Florence and Cluj published a price. Monthly starting prices ran from €190 to €500, and one Florence page added a one-off setup of €1,000 to €2,000. The ad budget paid to Google always comes on top.
Should the Google Ads account be in my name?
Yes, ideally. Google requires a separate account for each advertiser and requires consultants to provide the customer ID when asked. An account in your name keeps the history and data with you if you change consultant.
How do I check whether a consultant is really a Google Partner?
Click the badge on their website. If the company is certified, it opens their profile page on Google. That is the method Google itself gives in its advertiser guide.
Can a consultant guarantee first position on Google?
No. Google’s policy bans guaranteeing top placement, in ads or in organic results, and bans offering unlimited clicks. Ad position is decided by an auction on every search.
What should a monthly Google Ads report include?
Where a monthly report applies, Google requires at least costs, clicks and impressions at account level, with the exact amount Google charged and the consultant’s fees excluded.
Is a freelancer or an agency better?
The label says little. Ask who works on the account every week, who answers you, what the contract says about notice, and whether the account is in your name.
Does advertising on Google improve organic rankings?
No. Google’s advertiser guide says advertising has no impact on organic or natural ranking; the two are completely separate.
Can I ask ChatGPT to recommend a Google Ads consultant?
Yes, but treat the answer as a summary, not a guarantee. Open the pages it cites and check that the seven answers are really written there.
Why does the search volume differ so much between countries?
People use different words for the same service. In the UK “agency” dominates, in Italy “consulente” is searched slightly more than “agenzia”, and in Romania almost everyone searches for an “agentie”. The questions to ask stay the same.
Last updated: 25 September 2026. The nineteen consultant pages in Florence and Cluj-Napoca were read on 25 September 2026; Google’s third-party policy, advertiser guide and Partner requirements were read the same day in English, Italian and Romanian. Search volumes come from Keyword Planner, pulled on 25 September 2026. We update this page when the sources change.
Sources: Google, Transparency requirements for third-party advertisers · Google, Third-party policies · Google, False, misleading, or unrealistic claims · Google, Advertiser guide: Working with third parties · Google, How to become a Partner or Premier Partner · Google Keyword Planner, UK, Italy and Romania, pulled 25 September 2026
