Almost every difference in outcome between content agencies comes down to two things that are easy to ask about and rarely asked. Who physically writes the words, and what access do they get to the people in your business who know things nobody outside can invent. An agency that answers both well will produce material worth reading at any reasonable price. One that cannot is going to produce competent summaries of what your competitors already published.
Ask to meet the writer, not the account team
The person who wrote the samples in the pitch is often not the person who will write your work, and in larger agencies is frequently not an employee. Ask who writes, what else they write about, and whether you can speak to them directly. This one question separates agencies that can produce expert material from those running a freelance marketplace with a project manager in front of it.
The plan must name whose time it needs from you
Material worth reading in any specialized field depends on knowledge inside your business. A credible engagement therefore says who it needs to interview, how often and for how long, and what happens when those people are unavailable. Plans that ask nothing of you are describing content written from search results, which is the output that no longer performs and never distinguished anybody.
Volume commitments are the wrong shape for most buyers
Four articles a month is a production quota, not a strategy, and it guarantees that in a thin month something will be written anyway. Better to commission fewer, more substantial pieces with a reason, and to keep a standing agreement to update what exists. Agencies price by volume because it is easy to sell; the buyers who do well usually negotiate away from it.
Maintenance is worth more than new production after year one
Most sites reach a point where updating, consolidating and correcting what already exists produces more than adding to it, and almost no agency proposes that because it is harder to sell than new work. Ask explicitly what proportion of the effort will go to existing pages. A supplier who has thought about it will have a view; one who has not will offer a calendar.
Decide the AI question explicitly, in writing
Some agencies now draft with these tools and some do not, and both can be fine. What is not fine is not knowing. Ask what is used, at which stage, who reviews it, and what happens with anything factual. Then decide what you are comfortable with and write it into the agreement, because the answer affects both quality and, in regulated fields, your liability.
Questions people ask about content agency
What separates a good content agency from a bad one?
Who writes, and whether they get access to people in your business who know things. Everything else, process, tools, reporting, matters far less, and both questions can be asked in the first meeting.
Should we commit to a monthly article quota?
Usually not. A quota guarantees something gets written in months when there is nothing to say. Fewer substantial pieces with a reason, plus a standing agreement to update what exists, produce more for the same money.
How much should content cost?
It depends almost entirely on who writes it. A subject-matter specialist interviewing your engineers costs several times what a generalist working from search results costs, and produces something different in kind rather than in degree.
Should we allow AI-drafted content?
That is your decision, and the important part is making it explicitly. Ask what is used, at which stage, who reviews it and what happens with anything factual, then write the answer into the agreement.