How to Choose a Cannabis Marketing Agency - Verify Results, State Ad Rules and Who Owns Search Console Before You Sign - A Buyer Checklist for Dispensary Owners - Bud Authority
How to choose a cannabis marketing agency: check dated results, state ad-rule fluency and who owns Search Console. Copy the scoring grid, then run a free audit.
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Choose a cannabis marketing agency by testing three things you can check yourself: reproducible results tied to a named data source, fluency in your state's advertising rules and the Google and Microsoft ad bans, and contract terms that leave you owning Search Console, your Business Profile, analytics and the site. Disclosure: Bud Authority is a cannabis SEO agency writing from the seller's side of the table. For named options, see our side-by-side list of cannabis SEO agencies.
Mark Wallace, co-founder of Bud Authority, wrote this guide. His bio states more than 11 years of experience in cannabis, and that figure is self-reported. Bud Authority LLC was founded in 2025.
Before you open a proposal, write down the one or two outcomes you would pay for, phrased so someone could check them in six months. "More clicks from Search Console to our menu pages" can be checked, while "better brand awareness" cannot.
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What a cannabis-literate agency has to understand before it touches your ads or content
Compliance knowledge is not an add-on in this industry. Two states show how directly the rules are written.
In Massachusetts, a May 21, 2024 Cannabis Control Commission bulletin states that licensees must ensure that advertising done on their behalf by a third party complies with 935 CMR 500.105(4). An agency's mistake in a Massachusetts deal post is, in the regulator's framing, the licensee's mistake.
In Illinois, Section 55-20 of the state's cannabis act bars advertising that makes any health, medicinal, or therapeutic claims about cannabis. Copy an agency writes for an Illinois store has to clear that line before it is published.
Paid search is the second test. Google's advertising policy does not allow ads for substances that cause recreational highs and names marijuana as an example. Microsoft Advertising prohibits marijuana ads, including medicinal marijuana. An agency that offers to "run your Google Ads" for dispensary products is either describing something narrow that it should explain in detail, or something the platform does not allow.
Ask this:
"Which of my state's advertising rules would change what you publish for us, and who reviews each post before it goes live?"
Look for this:
an answer that names your state's rule set and a review step with a named person attached to it.
Red flag:
"We handle compliance" with no rule named, or a plan to run search ads for THC products with no explanation of which platform policy allows it.
Evidence to request before you sign
Work through these three criteria in order.
- 1Results with a named data source and a date range.
Applied to Bud Authority: the combined click and impression figures on our portfolio page carry their source and month beside each number, and they are an aggregate across many stores, not a forecast for yours. Any agency should be able to give you a figure with the same source, window and caveat.
- 1A benchmark you could rerun without them.
One test you can run yourself: request your own menu page with a crawler user agent such as GPTBot, then count the readable words in the raw HTML.
- 1Case files you are allowed to verify.
The Bud Authority portfolio holds 28 consented client case files.
Questions to ask on the first call, and what a solid answer sounds like
"What will you change in the first month, and how will I see it?"
A solid answer names specific pages, settings or listings and offers a change log you can read. A weak answer is "we'll start optimizing."
"What ranking will we reach, and by when?"
A solid answer describes what will change and how you will measure it, not a guaranteed position. Google's Business Profile help states: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." A promised map-pack spot is a red flag for that reason.
"How does my menu platform affect search, and what would you do about it?"
Bud Authority is a Dutchie Certified Partner, so read this answer with that relationship in mind. For a Dutchie store, a solid answer starts from Dutchie's own documentation. Dutchie documents four SEO-supporting menu setups. The embedded menu is an iframe launched with one line of code, which Dutchie describes as partially indexed. For the subdomain storefront menu, Dutchie states Google treats subdomains as separate sites. A good agency names which setup you run and the tradeoff that comes with it. A weak answer is a one-line verdict that the platform is either fine or broken.
"Who writes our content, who reviews it for compliance, and who do I call when something goes wrong?"
Listen for names and roles, not a department.
"What result would make you tell me to stop paying you?"
An agency confident in its work can name a measurable condition.
How to check the reporting and ownership terms
If the agency relationship ends, the accounts that hold your search history and your map listing need to stay with the business. Use this checklist before signing:
- Search Console: your business is the verified owner, and the agency gets user access.
- Business Profile: you keep the owner role and add the agency as a manager.
- Analytics: the GA4 property sits under your organization's account.
- Website, domain and hosting: registered to the business, with code and content handed over if you leave.
- Ad and social accounts: opened in your name.
Reports should be checkable against data you can open yourself. Bud Authority reports through Sentinel, its internal search intelligence platform. Whatever tool an agency uses, check that its report matches your own Search Console property for the same dates. Then ask, in writing, what happens to each account on cancellation, and get the answer into the contract.
How to run a fair side-by-side comparison
Send every agency the same written brief, ask each one the same questions, and score the answers the same day. Score each row 0, 1 or 2, then add the columns. When two agencies finish close together, ask both for the evidence behind the row you care about most. Compare scope line by line before you compare monthly fees, and use our cannabis SEO pricing breakdown for the cost side.
Copy this grid:
| Test | Scores 2 | Scores 0 | Agency A | Agency B | Agency C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results evidence | Dated figures from a named source, with an export | Gains with no baseline or dates | |||
| Rerunnable benchmark | A test you can repeat without them | Proprietary results only | |||
| State advertising rules | Names your state's rules and a reviewer | "We handle compliance" | |||
| Paid media plan | Explains platform limits on cannabis ads | Promises THC ads on Google or Microsoft, or a policy exception it cannot show you | |||
| Menu platform plan | Names your menu setup and its tradeoff | One-line verdict on the platform | |||
| Account ownership | You own every account, in writing | Agency-owned accounts | |||
| Reporting | Matches your own Search Console | Dashboard only | |||
| Exit terms | Written handover of every asset | Silent on cancellation |
Next step: audit your site first, then decide
A neutral baseline makes every proposal easier to read. The free Bud Authority site audit runs an automated scan of more than 40 signals and shows you a report card on screen. Save it and bring it to each first call and ask every agency, us included, which three items it would fix first and why.
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