What international SEO services should cover
International SEO is the work that makes the right version of your site appear for the right country and language. Three decisions drive most of it, and a good provider should make each one explicit before touching content.
| Decision | Options | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| URL structure | Country domains (.de), subdirectories (/de/), subdomains (de.) | Subdirectories are the easiest to run and share domain authority. Country domains give the strongest local signal but cost more to maintain. |
| Language and region signals | hreflang annotations, localized titles and copy | Each version must link back to the others, codes must be valid (language, optionally region), and an x-default should exist. hreflang tells Google which version to serve; it is not a ranking boost. |
| Localization | Translation vs. local keyword research and local proof | Machine translation of product pages rarely matches how local buyers search. Ask for local keyword research and local examples, currencies and shipping facts. |
The layer most SEO packages miss: AI answers
Buyers abroad increasingly ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini before they open Google. Those assistants draw on English reviews, Reddit threads and comparison pages. A flawless hreflang setup does not put your brand into those sources.
That is the part MaxGrowth covers: a buyer-question baseline in each target market, a map of the sources the assistants cite, community word of mouth where those buyers talk, and answer pages on your own site. For brands selling from China, start at AI visibility for Chinese brands going global; our October 2026 benchmark ran 24 buyer questions across 12 categories through ChatGPT, and a Chinese brand was the first pick in 21 of them.
Deliverables
| Workstream | What you receive | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Market and language selection | Priority countries and languages with the buyer questions to test in each | MaxGrowth with your team |
| Technical review | hreflang, canonical and crawlability findings for the language versions, including whether AI crawlers can reach them | MaxGrowth reports; your developers implement unless GEO scope includes it |
| AI visibility baseline | Original ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Qwen, Doubao and DeepSeek answers per market question | MaxGrowth |
| Community word of mouth | Disclosed Reddit and forum participation in the target language, logged link by link | MaxGrowth |
| Local-language answer pages | Product, comparison and FAQ pages written for local buyers, approved by you before publishing | MaxGrowth with your team |
| Weekly retest | Same questions re-run; comparison report by email | MaxGrowth |
How we scope it
- Run the free AI visibility test for a first read on how six engines describe you.
- Request a free growth audit naming the markets and languages you care about.
- We return a gap list: where the assistants name competitors, which sources they cite, and what is missing on your site for each market.
- Choose monitoring only (from $99/month) or a scoped project; implementation is quoted after the audit.
Checklist before you hire any international SEO provider
- Which URL structure do you recommend for us, and why?
- Do you do local keyword research or translate our keywords?
- Will you audit hreflang reciprocity and x-default?
- Do you check whether AI crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) can reach every language version? You can test this yourself with our AI crawler checker.
- How will you measure results in each market: rankings, AI answers, or both?
- Who writes the local content, and who approves it?
FAQ
What are international SEO services?
Work that helps the right language and country version of your site appear in search: URL structure, hreflang, localized content, and local links. Today it should also cover whether AI assistants name your brand in each market.
Do you handle hreflang and site structure?
We audit it and report findings. Implementation is done by your developers unless it is included in an agreed GEO scope.
Which markets do you cover?
English-speaking markets first (US, UK, Canada, Australia), plus major European languages on request.
How much does it cost?
AI visibility monitoring has public prices of $99, $199 and $399 per month (pricing). Technical and content implementation is scoped after a free audit.
We are a Chinese brand. Where do we start?
Read AI visibility for Chinese brands going global, then run the free test.
See what six AI engines say about you first with the free AI visibility test.
Request a free growth audit