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Terms of service

Last updated: November 2026

SEO and GEO consulting services.

1. Details of the parties

This agreement is entered into between Alizée Baudez, sole trader (entrepreneuse individuelle, EI), registered under SIRET number 819 593 153 00045, VAT number FR94819593153, with her principal place of business at 1 rue de Wasselonne, 67000 Strasbourg, France, hereinafter referred to as “the Service Provider” or “the Consultant”,

and

the person or organisation named in the accepted proposal, quote or signed contract, hereinafter referred to as “the Client”.

By accepting any proposal or quote, or entering into any contract with the Service Provider, the Client confirms that they have read, understood and accepted these Terms of Service.

2. Purpose

These Terms govern all services provided by the Service Provider: search engine optimisation (SEO), visibility in AI-powered search (GEO), search strategy, and analytics and reporting. The scope, duration, fees and deliverables of each engagement are set out in the accepted proposal or quote.

3. Types of engagement

Fixed-scope projects. A defined set of deliverables, with a timeline and a fee set out in the proposal.

Ongoing retainers. A monthly fee covering a reserved share of the Service Provider’s time and a defined scope. Unless the proposal states otherwise, a retainer has an initial term of 3 months, then continues month to month, with one month’s written notice from either party.

Where a proposal and these Terms differ, the proposal prevails.

4. Worksite and business trips

The Service Provider works remotely from a location of their choice, taking into consideration the confidentiality of their work. The Service Provider may travel to the Client’s premises on request and by mutual agreement.

Travel expenses (transport, accommodation, meals) will be invoiced separately, with supporting receipts. Travel time is billed in half-day increments at the current daily rate, communicated in advance.

5. Definitions

Key industry terms used in this agreement are defined below for clarity. These definitions are not exhaustive.

Term Definition
Deliverable A tangible or intangible output produced for delivery to the Client, such as a report, document, spreadsheet, presentation, or guide.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) The process of improving the visibility of a website in unpaid search engine results.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) The process of improving how a brand is represented and cited in AI-generated answers, such as Google’s AI Overviews or AI assistants.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) The promotion of websites through search engine visibility, including both paid and organic channels.
Analytics The measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data for understanding and optimising web performance.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page) The page displayed by a search engine in response to a user query.
Keyword A word or phrase typed into a search engine by a user.
Keyword Research The process of identifying and analysing search terms to guide content and SEO strategy.
Keyword Cannibalisation Multiple pages competing for the same keyword, reducing the effectiveness of each.
URL Canonicalisation Specifying a preferred URL when duplicate content exists at multiple addresses.
Hreflang Code that tells search engines which language or country version of a page to show to which users.
Core Web Vitals Google’s measures of loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability of a page.
Link Building A technique for acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve organic visibility.
On-page Content and elements on a website directly editable in the CMS.
Off-page External factors influencing SEO performance, including backlinks and brand mentions.
Conversion A desired action completed by a website visitor (e.g. purchase, sign-up, enquiry).
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) A metric used to measure progress towards a defined goal.
Confidential Information All estimates, documents, recommendations, reports, emails and communications exchanged between the parties in connection with this agreement.

6. Proposals and scope of work

All proposals and quotes are based on project estimates and may be subject to change if the scope of work expands. They are valid for 30 days from the date of issue.

Rush / urgency fee. If services are requested with a shorter turnaround than stated in the initial proposal, a rush fee of 30% of the total amount may be applied. The Service Provider will communicate this in advance.

Scope changes. Work requested beyond the original scope will be charged at the daily rate, in half-day increments, and formalised via a written amendment.

7. Payment terms

Fixed-scope projects. A 50% deposit of the total fee is due upon signing the proposal, quote or contract. The remaining 50% balance is due upon delivery of the final deliverables, or upon expiry of the acceptance period (see Section 8).

Ongoing retainers. Invoices are issued at the beginning of each month for that month’s services and must be paid within 30 days of the invoice date.

General payment terms. The base currency is the euro (€). All payments must be made in euros unless otherwise agreed, by bank transfer to the account specified on the invoice. Bank and currency conversion fees are borne by the Client. No discount for early payment will be granted.

VAT is applied according to the rules in force for the Client’s location. Services supplied to business clients established outside France may be invoiced without French VAT, as stated on the invoice.

If the Client ends an engagement early, fees for work carried out up to that date remain due. For retainers, the fees for the remainder of the initial term also remain due.

Late payment will result in penalties applied automatically, without prior notice:

  • Interest at the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation, plus 10 percentage points;
  • A flat-rate recovery indemnity of €40 per invoice (per Article L441-10 of the French Commercial Code).

8. Deliverable acceptance

Upon delivery of final deliverables, the Client has 5 business days to review the work and submit any feedback or revision requests in writing. If no feedback is received within this period, the deliverables are deemed accepted without reservation, and any outstanding balance becomes immediately due.

Revision requests must relate to elements within the original agreed scope. Requests outside the original scope will be treated as additional work and quoted separately.

9. Access and cooperation

To enable the Service Provider to carry out the services, the Client agrees to provide, at the access level the work requires:

  1. Google Search Console access, at the email address specified by the Service Provider;
  2. Access to the Client’s SEO and tracking tools, such as Semrush, SE Ranking, Ahrefs, or any company-owned rank tracking or monitoring tools;
  3. Google Analytics access, or access to existing traffic statistics on any other platform;
  4. Access to the website back-end (CMS), where the agreed work requires it;
  5. Where the work requires it, an introduction to the third parties working on the website, such as developers or agencies.

Access is granted to the Service Provider personally and is removed at the end of the engagement.

10. Disclaimer

The Client acknowledges the following with respect to SEO, GEO and digital marketing services:

  1. The Service Provider has no control over the policies and algorithms of search engines (such as Google or Bing) or of AI platforms and features (such as Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT or Perplexity). Rankings, visibility, indexing, citations in AI-generated answers and penalties are at the discretion of each platform. The Service Provider does not guarantee specific positions, traffic levels or appearances in AI-generated answers.
  2. Search and AI visibility can fluctuate at any time due to algorithm updates, changes to search features, competitor activity or seasonality. Such fluctuations are not covered by this agreement.
  3. Third-party SEO and AI visibility tools rely on their own data and methods, and their figures may differ from each other and from the Client’s own data. Wherever possible, reporting relies on the Client’s first-party data, such as Google Search Console and analytics.
  4. The Service Provider is subject to a best-efforts obligation only (obligation de moyens) and does not guarantee results. Results depend on recommendations being implemented correctly and within a reasonable time. Changes made to the website without consulting the Service Provider may affect results, and any work needed to correct them may be charged as additional work. This includes, but is not limited to: changing file, folder or URL structures of existing pages; migrating to a new platform, theme or domain; editing, removing or deleting page content, HTML tags, structured data or analytics tracking; changing robots.txt, sitemaps, redirects or server configuration; relaunching the website or substantially restructuring its architecture.
  5. The Service Provider makes no guarantee regarding project timelines or additional expenses if: the Client provides content or assets that infringe third-party rights; the Client fails to provide required access or information in a timely manner; there are server outages or security issues on the Client’s website.

11. Client’s responsibilities

The Client acknowledges the following:

  1. The Client is responsible for the content of their website, including compliance with applicable laws and regulations (intellectual property, data protection, content standards, etc.).
  2. The Client will provide the Service Provider with all information, access and support necessary for the good execution of services, in a timely manner.
  3. The Client undertakes to have all necessary rights to the content and assets they provide for use in the services.
  4. The Client agrees to notify the Service Provider of any significant change to their website, platform, tracking setup or team within 8 days of the change.
  5. In the event of non-compliance with any of the above obligations, the Service Provider may terminate the agreement subject to one month’s notice, without liability for any reimbursement of sums already paid.

12. Intellectual property

The Service Provider retains ownership of all deliverables until full payment has been received. Upon receipt of full payment, the Client is granted the exploitation rights to the deliverables within the scope defined in the proposal, quote or contract.

Any use of deliverables outside the agreed scope requires prior written consent from the Service Provider. The Service Provider’s methodologies, tools and proprietary frameworks remain their exclusive property in all circumstances.

Training materials (slides, documents) remain the sole property of the Service Provider and must not be distributed to any person or entity that did not attend the session.

13. Confidentiality

Both parties agree to treat as strictly confidential all information exchanged in connection with this agreement, including estimates, reports, recommendations, emails, and all communications related to the services. This obligation applies throughout the term of the agreement and for 1 year after its end or termination.

14. Data protection

Both parties agree to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, EU 2016/679) and, where applicable, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, in connection with the performance of this agreement.

Service Provider’s obligations. The Service Provider undertakes to: process personal data only for the purposes set out in this agreement; implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures; respect the rights of data subjects (access, rectification, erasure, portability); notify the Client immediately in the event of a personal data breach.

Client’s obligations. The Client undertakes to: provide only the personal data necessary for service delivery; obtain any required consents from relevant data subjects; notify the Service Provider of any data subject requests or complaints.

Retention. The Service Provider retains personal data for the duration of the contractual relationship and disposes of it upon request or at contract end, except where required by law.

15. Use of AI tools

The Service Provider may use software tools, including AI-assisted tools, to support research and analysis. Confidential Information is only processed in tools that do not use it to train their models. All recommendations are reviewed by the Service Provider, who remains responsible for them.

16. Limitation of liability

Except in cases of gross negligence or wilful misconduct, the Service Provider’s total liability under any engagement is limited to the fees paid by the Client in the 3 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. The Service Provider is not liable for indirect losses, such as loss of revenue, profit or business opportunity.

17. Advertising and promotion

The Service Provider may, during events, in professional publications, on their website and in commercial materials, refer to the services provided to the Client as a commercial reference, unless otherwise expressly agreed by the parties.

18. Contract modification

Any modification to the scope of services will require a written amendment, signed by both parties under the same conditions as the original agreement, proposal or quote.

19. End of contract or cancellation

This agreement can be ended by mutual agreement, at the end of its term, or cancelled for serious breach of contract. Fixed-scope engagements may be cancelled if work has not yet begun, or in cases of force majeure preventing either party from fulfilling their obligations.

For retainers: either party may terminate after the initial term with one month’s written notice, unless the proposal states otherwise.

Upon termination for any reason, all fees for work already performed remain due. Amounts already received by the Service Provider are non-refundable.

20. Governing law and jurisdiction

The Service Provider works from France, so French law governs this agreement. In the event of a dispute that cannot be resolved amicably, the courts of Strasbourg shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

By agreeing to any proposal, quote or contract with the Service Provider, the Client confirms that they have read and fully understood this agreement, and that they are legally authorised to enter into it.

Alizée Baudez EI · 1 rue de Wasselonne, 67000 Strasbourg, France
SIRET 819 593 153 00045 · VAT FR94819593153 · legal@alizeebaudez.com · alizeebaudez.com