A monthly SEO report should answer one question on its first page: how many enquiries or sales did Google bring in this month, and is that number going up? Everything after that page explains why. The clicks, the pages that earned them, the work done and the problems found all support that first number.
Most reports we are handed by Malaysian businesses do it backwards. They open with a list of 50 keyword positions, a traffic graph with no target on it and a paragraph of "we continued to optimise". The owner reads it, learns nothing and renews anyway, because nobody can tell whether it worked.
This is the checklist we use for our own clients, and the one we would give you to judge anyone else's.
What should a monthly SEO report include?
Six sections, in this order. If the person reading only gets through the first two, they still know whether the money is working.
| Section | What it shows | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Results from search | Enquiries, calls, bookings or sales from organic search, against last month and last year | Google Analytics key events, your CRM or store |
| 2. Clicks and impressions | How many people saw and clicked your site in Google, with the trend | Google Search Console |
| 3. Pages that earned it | The ten pages that brought the most clicks and leads, plus the ones that dropped | Search Console and Analytics, by page |
| 4. Work completed | Every fix, page and article delivered, with links | The agency's task log |
| 5. Problems found | Pages Google can't index, broken links, slow templates, anything blocking growth | Search Console indexing reports, a site crawl |
| 6. Next month's plan | What gets done next and which number it should move | The agency |
Section one depends on setup. Google Analytics only counts an enquiry once someone has created the event and marked it as a key event. If your form submissions and WhatsApp clicks were never set up that way, the report has nothing to put on page one. Fix that before you argue about anything else.
Why shouldn't rankings lead the report?
Because the number is easy to misread. Search Console reports average position, which Google defines as the topmost position your link held, averaged across every query you appeared for. Google's own example: if you rank second for one search and third for another, your average is 2.5.
So one page can climb for a search nobody makes while it slips for the search that pays your bills, and the average barely moves. Impressions have a similar catch. Google counts one whenever your link sits on the results page, whether or not anyone scrolled down to see it.
Rankings still matter. They tell you where a page is close to the first page and worth more work. They belong in section three, tied to the specific pages and searches that bring in customers. A report that leads with "38 keywords in the top 10" and never mentions enquiries is telling you what was easy to measure.
How should a report page be laid out?
Read it top to bottom. Each layer explains the one above it.
Two details separate a useful report from a long one. Every number sits next to last month and the same month last year, because Malaysian search demand swings around school holidays, Raya and year-end sales, and a month-on-month dip in June can still be a good year. And every task in section four links to the page that changed, so you can click and check it.
Where do AI Overviews show up in the report?
Inside the normal numbers. Google says visits from AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted in the Search Console Performance report under the "Web" search type, mixed in with ordinary results. An AI Overview takes up a single position, and every link inside it shares that position.
That means Search Console alone can't tell you whether ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI answers mention your brand. A good report from 2026 onwards adds a short check: a fixed list of buying questions, run through the main AI tools each month, recording whether you appear and who appears instead. Our AI visibility checker runs a free version, and our guide to getting cited by ChatGPT covers what moves that number.
Which warning signs should you look for in an SEO report?
The report never mentions leads, sales or enquiries. It's the same template every month with the numbers swapped. Work done is described in verbs ("optimised", "monitored", "enhanced") with no links to anything. Traffic is reported for the whole site, including your own staff and visits to the careers page. Problems never appear, which on any real website means nobody looked.
The biggest one is a report you can't question. If you ask why clicks fell on your best page and the answer takes a week, nobody at the agency reads the report before it goes out. Our comparison of SEO consultants and agencies lists the questions worth asking before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I get an SEO report?
Monthly is right for most businesses. Weekly reports mostly show noise, since a few days of search data swing with public holidays and news. Ask for a quarterly review on top, where the agency compares the trend with the plan and changes course if needed.
Should my SEO report still show keyword rankings?
Yes, for the 10 to 20 searches that bring in customers, tracked page by page. A list of hundreds of positions is filler. Judge rankings alongside clicks and leads, never alone.
Which tools should an SEO report use?
Google Search Console and Google Analytics at minimum, because both are free and the data comes from Google. Paid tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush add competitor and backlink data. A report built only on a paid tool's estimates, with no Search Console data, is guessing at your own traffic.
How long before the report shows results?
Expect the work-done and problems sections to fill up from month one. Clicks usually move before leads do. We tell clients to judge the trend over three to six months and to judge the plan every month.
Where should you start?
Open your last SEO report and look for an enquiry or sales number on page one. If it isn't there, ask for it. If you want a report built around that number, our SEO team works this way, and you can talk to us about your site.