What should you verify before the first call?
Do three checks yourself. First, search their claimed results: if they cite placements, find the articles; if they cite launches, check what happened after listing week. Second, ask ChatGPT and Perplexity 'who is [agency name]' and 'best web3 marketing agencies' — an agency selling visibility that has none of its own is telling you something. Third, look at their own content: is it ranking, is it cited, is it any good?
This pre-work takes thirty minutes and disqualifies half the market before you spend an hour on a discovery call. The agencies that survive it are the ones whose claims exist outside their own deck — which is the entire game in an industry that runs on borrowed logos and inflated case studies.
What are the 12 questions to ask on the call?
Ask them in this order and note where answers get vague. The first six establish substance: who exactly works my account day to day; which of your case-study results did those specific people deliver; how many placements are guaranteed monthly and in which outlets; how do you vet KOLs for fake reach; what happened to your last client whose launch underperformed; what do you report monthly and can I see a real (redacted) report.
The second six establish fit: what is your own AI-search visibility strategy; which regulations affect my marketing in my target jurisdictions; what would you cut from my budget if it were halved; what is the contract minimum and exit terms; which clients have you turned down and why; what will not work for my project.
- Who exactly works my account — names, not roles?
- Which results did those specific people deliver?
- What is guaranteed monthly, in which outlets?
- How do you vet KOLs for fraud?
- Show me a real monthly report (redacted is fine)
- What is your own AI-search visibility?
- What would you cut if my budget halved?
- What will NOT work for my project?
What are the red flags that should end the conversation?
Guaranteed outcomes on things agencies cannot control — token price, 'x10 community' — are the loudest red flag, because they reveal either dishonesty or ignorance. Close behind: refusal to name who works your account, case studies with logos but no describable work, six-month minimum lock-ins before any milestone, and community-growth promises measured in raw member counts (bots are cheap; engagement is not).
Subtler flags: reports built on impressions without sources, KOL 'networks' that are really broker spreadsheets with markups, and pricing that shifts dramatically once they hear your raise size. An agency pricing your budget rather than your scope is planning to spend your money, not their effort.
How do you compare finalists fairly?
Get identical written scopes from your final two or three: deliverables per month, named team members, guarantee structures, reporting samples, and exit terms. Price differences are only meaningful once scope is identical — a $5k retainer with a senior operator doing the work often beats an $8k retainer where juniors execute under a famous logo.
Then run one paid test if you can: a two-to-four-week trial project — one placement, one campaign, one content sprint — reveals more than any deck. Judge responsiveness, quality of thinking, and whether they push back on bad ideas. An agency that never disagrees with you is a vendor; the ones worth keeping act like partners with opinions.
How does Chalk Labs answer these questions?
Since we published the checklist, here are our answers. Your account is worked by Shilika Jain (PR: 500+ placements, 5B+ impressions, 50+ launches) and Rahil Jain (growth engineering and product) — there is no bench to hand you to. Pricing starts around $3,000 per month, published, against a market that starts conversations at 'it depends'. Reporting covers placements, rankings, AI-engine citations, and pipeline.
On AI-search visibility: this page is the strategy, working. You likely found it through a search engine or an AI answer — which is precisely the capability we sell. And on what will not work: if your product or tokenomics cannot survive scrutiny, we will tell you before taking your money.
Questions we hear about this
Boutiques win when senior attention matters — launches, narrative, high-stakes PR. Large agencies win on sheer volume across many channels. Ask who does the actual work; a boutique's founders beat a big agency's juniors for most startups.
Three months maximum for a first engagement, with defined deliverables and a clean exit clause. Six-to-twelve-month lock-ins before any proof of results shift all risk onto you.
Not necessarily — recognizable logos often mean small subcontracted roles. Verifiable results on projects of your size beat name-drops. Ask exactly what they did for each claimed client and check it.
Because it is the product demo. Agencies selling SEO, AEO, or GEO who are invisible when you ask ChatGPT about their category are selling a capability they have not demonstrated on the easiest client they have: themselves.