The SEO Tool Trust Test: What to Check First
You are about to hand an SEO tool access to your Google Search Console, your analytics, and potentially months of conversation about your business strategy. Before you do, take five minutes to evaluate how the tool handles your data.
This is not paranoia. It is due diligence. The same way you would check a contractor's references before giving them your house keys, you should check an SEO tool's privacy practices before giving it your Google access.
Here is a framework you can use for any SEO tool — including Brass-SEO.
Quick Navigation
- The Trust Checklist
- Check 1: Permission Scope
- Check 2: Data Visibility
- Check 3: AI Data Handling
- Check 4: Data Retention and Deletion
- Check 5: Third-Party Verification
- Red Flags to Watch For
- How Brass-SEO Scores on This Test
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Trust Checklist
Before subscribing to any SEO tool, evaluate these five areas:
| Check | What to Look For | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Permission scope | Read-only vs read-write access | Limits what the tool can do with your data |
| Data visibility | Who at the company can see your data | Determines your actual privacy, not just the policy |
| AI data handling | Whether the AI stores or trains on your data | Protects your business intelligence |
| Data retention | What happens to your data when you cancel | Ensures you can leave cleanly |
| Third-party verification | Whether the tool has been externally reviewed | Adds accountability beyond self-reporting |
Check 1: Permission Scope
What to look for: When you connect your Google account, read the consent screen carefully. Google lists every permission the tool is requesting.
Good: The tool requests read-only access. The consent screen says "View" your data.
Acceptable: The tool requests write access but clearly explains why and offers an opt-out for features you do not need.
Concerning: The tool requests broad permissions without explanation, or the permissions seem excessive for what the tool does.
How to verify later: Visit myaccount.google.com/permissions to review what you have already granted to any app.
Check 2: Data Visibility
What to look for: Find out whether the company's team can access your data — not just what their policy says, but what their system allows.
Good: The tool enforces privacy at the database level. Employee access is technically restricted, not just policy-restricted. The company's admin interfaces show usage metrics but not your actual data.
Acceptable: The company has a clear privacy policy and limited access, even if enforcement is policy-based rather than technical.
Concerning: The tool's support team can view your reports, conversations, or analytics data when helping you with issues.
Where to check: The tool's privacy policy, data security page, or terms of service. Look for specific language about internal access controls, not just general promises about privacy.
Check 3: AI Data Handling
What to look for: If the tool uses AI, find out what happens to your conversations and the data the AI processes.
Good: The tool explicitly states that your data is not used for AI training, and the AI provider's API terms prohibit training on API usage data. Your conversations are processed, a response is generated, and the data is discarded.
Acceptable: The AI provider's general terms state that API usage is not used for training, and the tool has a clear privacy policy addressing AI data handling.
Concerning: The tool uses AI but does not address data handling. No mention of training opt-outs or data retention by the AI provider.
Why this matters: Your SEO conversations contain competitive intelligence — your keywords, traffic patterns, content strategy, and business goals. If that data trains an AI model, it could influence responses given to competitors using the same tool.
Check 4: Data Retention and Deletion
What to look for: What happens to your data when you stop paying — and how quickly you can remove it if you want to.
Good: Short automatic retention (30 days or less) with the option to delete everything immediately. The deletion is comprehensive — not just your account, but conversations, stored tokens, and all associated data.
Acceptable: Data is deleted within 90 days of cancellation, with a self-service deletion option.
Concerning: No clear retention policy. No self-service deletion. You have to email support and hope they follow through.
What to verify: Check whether "delete" means the account is deactivated (data still exists) or truly removed. Some tools keep data indefinitely in backups or analytics aggregations even after deleting the user-facing account.
Check 5: Third-Party Verification
What to look for: Has anyone outside the company verified its data practices?
Good: The tool has external verification of some kind — Google OAuth verification for the requested scopes, a SOC 2 certification, an independent security audit, or similar third-party review. Multiple forms of verification are even better.
Acceptable: The tool's OAuth application has been verified by Google for the requested scopes, meaning Google has reviewed the scope justification and privacy policy.
Concerning: No external verification. All claims about data practices are self-reported with no independent review.
Red Flags to Watch For
These are signs that a tool's data practices may not be as strong as advertised:
- "This app isn't verified" warning on the Google consent screen
- No privacy page or data security documentation on the tool's website
- Vague language like "we take your privacy seriously" without specific technical details
- No self-service deletion — you have to email to delete your account
- The AI can reference previous sessions without you explicitly providing context
- Support agents can quote your specific data in conversations
How Brass-SEO Scores on This Test
| Check | Brass-SEO | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Permission scope | Read-only | webmasters.readonly + analytics.readonly — cannot modify your Google data |
| Data visibility | Database-enforced privacy | Row-level security. Our team cannot see your conversations or data. |
| AI data handling | No AI training | We do not use your data to train models. AI provider API terms prohibit training on API usage. |
| Data retention | 30-day auto-delete + instant full deletion | Chat auto-cleans. Account deletion removes everything immediately. |
| Third-party verification | Google-verified | OAuth application approved by Google for requested scopes |
Every item in that table has a detailed technical explanation behind it. See our Data Privacy Guide for the full breakdown.
Not sure if Brass-SEO is the right fit? Start with a free 3-day trial and see for yourself. You can ask the AI about your data, run a 15-minute SEO audit, and check your striking-distance keywords — all on read-only access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use this checklist for tools I have already connected?
Yes. Go to myaccount.google.com/permissions to see every tool connected to your Google account and what permissions each one has. Review them against this checklist and revoke access for any tool you no longer use or trust.
Do enterprise SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs pass this test?
Large platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs have established security practices and privacy policies. However, they request different permission scopes depending on which features you use, and their AI features may have different data handling policies. Apply the same checklist to evaluate them based on your specific needs.
What if a tool fails one of these checks but is otherwise great?
Weigh the risk against the benefit. A tool with write access that you genuinely need for sitemap management may be worth the trade-off. A tool with unclear AI data handling that you use for competitive analysis is a bigger concern. The checklist helps you make an informed decision, not a binary one.
How do I know if my data has actually been deleted?
After deleting your account with any tool, check myaccount.google.com/permissions to verify the tool no longer has Google access. For the tool's own stored data, you are largely relying on their deletion policy. Tools with database-level enforcement and short retention periods are more trustworthy than those relying on manual processes.
Is this checklist overkill for a $25/month tool?
The price does not determine the risk. A $25/month tool that has read-write access to your Google Search Console and trains its AI on your data is a bigger concern than a $200/month tool with proper safeguards. The cost of the tool is not the issue — the access you are granting is.