iGaming SEO RFP: which agencies to invite and how to score them

The short answer

• Invite four to six agencies, not fifteen. Past six, you spend more time reading pitches than the extra choice is worth.
• Mix the types: one full-service iGaming SEO agency, one link-building specialist, one content or affiliate-side team and one that covers AI search answers.
• Put the hard facts in the brief: licensed markets, target pages, a Search Console export and your rules on paid links.
• Score on a sheet you fix in advance. Link sourcing and market fit should weigh more than the deck.

The rest of this page gives you the invite list logic, the brief, the questions and the scoring sheet.

Which agencies to invite to an iGaming SEO RFP

Pick by type first, then by name. Each type answers a different part of the job, and comparing them side by side shows you what each one leaves out.

When we checked results for iGaming SEO agency searches on 28 October 2026, the agencies with real service pages included Ink Digital, AWISEE, Click Intelligence and Seoprofy, alongside ICODA and Loopex on the AI search side. That is a starting list from search results, not an endorsement. Add one or two smaller specialists you find through peers or conference speaker lists.

Disclosure: 3betmedia sells iGaming SEO and link building, so we have an interest here. Judge us with the same sheet.

What to put in the brief

Agencies quote what you show them. A thin brief gets you five quotes for five different jobs.

• Licences and markets: every country you can legally take players from, and the ones you must avoid. This decides which link sources are usable.
• Target pages: the 10 to 30 URLs that matter, such as casino, sportsbook, bonus and payment pages, with the keyword each one should own.
• Current data: a 3 to 12 month Search Console export of queries and pages, plus any past penalties or traffic drops.
• Link policy: whether you accept paid placements, who approves each domain, and banned site types.
• Budget split: a range for links, content and technical work, so quotes stay comparable.
• Reporting: the numbers you want monthly, and that Search Console is the source of truth.
• Timeline: deadline for questions, deadline for pitches, decision date.

If you have run creator or affiliate RFPs before, our iGaming influencer agency RFP uses the same structure for creator campaigns.

Ten questions that separate the pitches

1. Where do your gambling links come from, and can we see ten recent sample domains with their traffic?
2. How do you handle Google's link spam policy when a placement is paid?
3. Do you use private blog networks, expired-domain redirects or pages on other sites' subfolders? Google's site reputation abuse policy targets that last one.
4. Which of our markets can you not serve, and why?
5. Who owns the links and content if we end the contract? What happens to links that drop?
6. Who writes the content, and who checks bonus terms and safer gambling copy?
7. What is the first 90 days, page by page?
8. Which three numbers will you report monthly, and from which tool?
9. What would make you advise us not to hire you?
10. Can we speak to a current gambling client?

Questions three and five catch most problems. An agency that cannot name its link sources, or keeps the links after you leave, is selling you rented rankings.

A scoring sheet you can copy

Score each agency from 1 to 5 per line, multiply by the weight and add up. Agree the weights with your team before any pitch arrives.

A pitch that scores high on price and low on link sourcing is the most expensive one over twelve months. Cheap links in gambling often mean networks Google can devalue in one update.

Red flags

• Guaranteed positions or traffic numbers before they have seen your data.
• A fixed number of links per month with no named domains.
• Casino pages placed on unrelated news or university sites.
• No question about your licences or restricted markets.
• Reporting from their own dashboard only, with no Search Console access.

If AI answers matter to you, ask the same ownership and measurement questions of any iGaming GEO agency on the list. For the link line itself, compare the pitches with our iGaming link building services page, which states our own sourcing rules.