Use to summarize this article
- The shortlist: Flowtrix, Lucky Media, MERJ, Onely, Pagepro, AND Digital, Bejamas, scandiweb, FocusReactive, and Effect Digital.
- Why it matters: Most AI bots can't read pages built with JavaScript, so a headless site can be invisible to them.
- How to choose: Pick by your problem: a new build, pages Google can't see, a site move, or many languages.
- The test: Check Render, Route and Read on your own site in about 10 minutes before you hire anyone.
- What it costs: Builds and site moves usually run $25,000 to $90,000, with SEO billed monthly on top.
The top headless CMS SEO agencies in 2026 are Flowtrix, Lucky Media, MERJ, Onely, Pagepro, AND Digital, Bejamas, scandiweb, FocusReactive, and Effect Digital. The right one depends on your problem: a new site that needs to rank, pages Google and AI tools can't read, a move to headless that can't lose traffic, or a site in many languages.
A headless CMS gives your team a lot of freedom. But it doesn't take care of SEO for you. That job goes to whoever builds your website.
So two agencies can build the same Contentful or Sanity site and get very different results on Google.
That's why this list isn't sorted by size or awards. It's sorted by the problem each agency is best at fixing.
Every agency here has real headless projects and has shared proof of its work. We checked each website and case study on 19 October 2026. Flowtrix is our agency, so it's listed first, and everything we say about it comes from our own case studies.
Headless SEO in five numbers
- 0: AI bots from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, ByteDance or Perplexity that can read pages built with JavaScript. Vercel tested this in December 2024 and found that "none of the major AI crawlers currently render JavaScript." Only Google's Gemini and Apple's bot could.
- 569 million: Times ChatGPT's bot visited sites on Vercel's network in one month. Claude's bot visited 370 million times.
- 2 billion: People using Google's AI Overviews every month, as Sundar Pichai said in July 2025.
- 8%: How often people clicked a normal Google result when an AI summary showed up. Without the summary, they clicked 15% of the time (Pew Research, 900 US adults, March 2025).
- 74%: CMS users not on headless yet who said they'll probably switch in the next two years (Storyblok survey of 1,719 people, 2024).
So more companies are moving to headless. More buyers are reading AI answers instead of clicking links. And the AI bots writing those answers can only read what's already on the page when it loads.
The Render, Route, Read test
Most headless SEO problems aren't fancy. A page Google can't read. A redirect someone forgot. A missing title. They all fall into one of three buckets, and we used these three buckets to judge every agency.
Render: Can Google and AI see your page? Many headless sites build each page inside the visitor's browser using JavaScript. Google can deal with that, but it puts those pages in a queue. Most AI bots don't deal with it at all, so they see a blank page. The fix is to build pages on the server (server-side rendering) or ahead of time (static pages), so they arrive ready to read. Even Google calls the usual shortcut "a workaround and not a recommended solution."
.png)
Route: Do people and Google land on the right page? On a headless site, your URLs are handled by a few different systems. That's where things slip. Old links stop redirecting after a move. Google gets told the wrong page is the main one. Or the German page shows up in France.
Read: Can Google and AI understand the page? Titles, descriptions, schema (hidden labels that tell Google what a page is about) and FAQ answers all need their own fields in the CMS. If those fields don't exist, AI tools have nothing clear to quote.
The best agencies get all three right. Most are best at one. The comparison table shows which.
| Agency | Based in | Works with | Strongest bucket | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flowtrix | Bangalore and Newark, DE | Sanity, Contentful, Storyblok, Next.js, Astro | All three | B2B SaaS that needs rankings and leads |
| Lucky Media | Dallas | Contentful, Next.js, Astro | Render | US teams building on Contentful |
| MERJ | London | Big JavaScript-heavy sites | Render | Big sites with pages missing from Google |
| Onely | Wrocław | JavaScript-heavy sites | Render and Read | JavaScript SEO plus AI visibility |
| Pagepro | London and Białystok | Next.js, Sanity | Route | Moves to Next.js and Sanity |
| AND Digital | London | Contentful, Next.js | Route | Merging several sites into one |
| Bejamas | Europe, remote | Next.js, Astro, Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok | Render | Rebuilds where speed is the problem |
| scandiweb | Riga | Sanity, Adobe Commerce | Route | Ecommerce in many languages |
| FocusReactive | Amsterdam, London, Warsaw | Sanity, Storyblok, Contentful, Payload, Strapi | Route | Next.js sites for many countries |
| Effect Digital | Leicester and Leeds | Storyblok | Route | UK brands launching in more than one language |
New to headless? Start with what a headless CMS is and whether it's right for your site.
Which agencies build headless sites that rank from day one?
These two think about SEO while they build, so you're not fixing it after launch.
1. Flowtrix
Based in: Bangalore, India, and Newark, Delaware. Works with: Sanity, Contentful, Storyblok, Next.js and Astro.
Flowtrix builds websites for B2B SaaS, AI and cybersecurity companies, with 120+ projects done. SEO, AEO, design and development sit in one team. So all three buckets are planned before the first page goes live.
You can keep Contentful, Sanity or Storyblok as the place your content lives. Flowtrix connects it to a front end your marketing team can edit without a developer. Schema is handled by the Flowtrix Schema App, so it stays complete as pages change.
The proof:
- Databahn: 5x traffic and a 35% conversion rate.
- Crux: 43% more organic traffic.
- Salesken: 45% more traffic and 5x more conversions.
- akirolabs: 40% more traffic.
- Amazon Signage: One site in 8 languages and regions across seven countries, each with its own SEO title and description.
Pick Flowtrix if: You want rankings, AI mentions and leads from one partner.
Look elsewhere if: You only want a one-time technical check and no build work.
2. Lucky Media
.png)
Based in: Dallas, Texas. Works with: Contentful, Next.js and Astro.
Lucky Media is an official Contentful partner. It doesn't sell SEO on its own. It builds it into the site instead: pages that load ready to read, and site moves that keep your URLs, titles and redirects in place.
The proof: It lists Next.js and Contentful work for Microsoft, and it rebuilt Chainguard's whole website in 30 days. ServiceNow and Yarn have left testimonials. It doesn't share traffic numbers.
Pick Lucky Media if: You're a US team that's sticking with Contentful and wants a quick, clean build.
Look elsewhere if: You need help with keywords and content after launch.
Who fixes pages Google and AI tools can't see?
Your site looks fine to you. But pages aren't showing up on Google, or never appear in AI answers. That's a Render problem, and these two are specialists.
3. MERJ
.png)
Based in: London. Works with: Big, JavaScript-heavy websites.
MERJ does technical SEO and AEO. It makes sure Google can find, read and list your pages, and it helps sites recover after a migration goes wrong.
The proof: MERJ worked with Vercel to study how Google reads JavaScript pages, and its managing director, Ryan Siddle, co-wrote the AI bot study we quoted above. Its clients include Expedia Group, Vercel, Warner Bros. Discovery, John Lewis, American Airlines and Zoom. It doesn't publish results numbers.
Pick MERJ if: You run a big site, traffic is dropping, and nobody can tell you why.
Look elsewhere if: You have a small marketing site. MERJ works at enterprise scale.
4. Onely
.png)
Based in: Wrocław, Poland. Works with: JavaScript-heavy sites.
Onely started in 2018. It offers JavaScript SEO as part of its technical work, plus GEO, content for AI search, and help keeping AI visibility during a site move.
The proof: Clients include eBay, Oracle, Atlassian, IKEA and G2. One client, Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy, says its organic traffic went up 129%. Onely is rated 5.0 on Clutch.
Pick Onely if: Google can't read your pages and you want AI visibility handled by the same team.
Look elsewhere if: You need developers to rebuild your site. Onely only does SEO.
Who protects your rankings when you move to headless?
Moving your site is where headless SEO goes wrong most often. It's a Route problem, and these three have shown they can move big sites. Already lost traffic? Read our guide to fixing invisible SEO rankings.
5. Pagepro
.png)
Based in: London, UK, and Białystok, Poland. Works with: Next.js, Sanity and Vercel only.
Pagepro says protecting SEO is part of every move it does, "as a default, not as an add-on." That means checking every URL, mapping redirects, keeping schema, and hitting Google's speed scores. It says it has done 100+ Sanity builds.
The proof: It rebuilt GPnotebook, a medical reference that around 80% of UK GPs use, with 100,000+ pages, on Next.js and Sanity. Pagepro says its migrations usually cost $50,000 to $90,000.
Pick Pagepro if: You're moving from WordPress or Contentful to Next.js and Sanity.
Look elsewhere if: You want a different setup. Pagepro only works with this one.
6. AND Digital
.png)
Based in: London, UK. Works with: Contentful and Next.js.
The proof: A global art gallery with spaces in New York, London, Zurich and Paris had 7 separate websites. AND Digital moved its main site and its VIP exhibition site onto one Contentful setup. That was 3,200+ pages, over 8 months.
Clicks from Google search went up 20% after the two sites were merged. The gallery also saved more than £375,000 in the first year.
Pick AND Digital if: You want to merge several websites into one.
Look elsewhere if: You need a small, quick project. Its published work is long, multi-month projects.
7. Bejamas
.png)
Based in: Europe, as a remote team. Works with: Next.js, Astro, Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and DatoCMS.
Bejamas does four things: audits, design, site moves, and looking after the site afterwards.
The proof: It moved Backlinko, Brian Dean's well-known SEO site, from WordPress to a faster Next.js front end in two months. The site got 3x faster, and the main part of each page now shows up in 1.7 seconds. For Danone's Alpro, a site with 4M+ visitors a month, pages load 127% faster.
Pick Bejamas if: A slow site is what's hurting your rankings.
Look elsewhere if: You need help with keywords and content. Bejamas doesn't sell SEO on its own.
Who handles SEO for sites in many languages?
Every new country means more pages, more translated titles, and more tags telling Google which version to show where. Miss one and Google sends French visitors to your German page. Our Amazon Signage case study shows how one site handles 8 languages and regions.
8. scandiweb
.png)
Based in: Riga, Latvia. Works with: Sanity, Adobe Commerce and headless ecommerce.
scandiweb has 600+ people across 45 countries and offers SEO and AEO alongside development.
The proof: For camera brand OM System, it runs 70 storefronts in 20 languages from one Sanity setup. Editors can change titles, descriptions, language tags and social share tags themselves. If they leave a field empty, a default fills in. The whole build took 5 months.
Pick scandiweb if: You sell online in lots of countries and use Sanity.
Look elsewhere if: You have a B2B SaaS marketing site. Its strength is ecommerce.
9. FocusReactive
.png)
Based in: Amsterdam, London and Warsaw. Works with: Next.js with Sanity, Storyblok, Contentful, Payload and Strapi.
FocusReactive is an official Vercel partner and offers a Next.js SEO audit.
The proof: For parking app EasyPark, it built a site for 14 countries in 35 languages. In its Univé audit, it found repeated titles, missing descriptions, broken pages in the sitemap, and too many pages built in the browser. After the fixes, Univé scored 100 for SEO and 97 for performance on Google's PageSpeed test.
Pick FocusReactive if: You need a site for several countries on Next.js, or a check-up on the one you have.
Look elsewhere if: Your site isn't on Next.js.
10. Effect Digital
.png)
Based in: Leicester and Leeds, UK. Works with: Storyblok and other headless CMSs.
Effect Digital builds headless websites and runs search work it calls "hybrid engine optimisation", covering both Google and AI search.
The proof: It built chemicals company Scott Bader's new global site on Storyblok in two languages, with SEO planned from the start. Other clients include London City Airport, Serpentine Galleries and The Savoy, and it won Gold and Silver at the Performance Marketing Awards 2026. It doesn't share SEO numbers for the Scott Bader site.
Pick Effect Digital if: You're a UK brand on Storyblok launching in more than one language.
Look elsewhere if: You want traffic results in writing before you sign.
We also compared Storyblok agencies in our list of the top Storyblok SEO agencies.
How do you run the Render, Route, Read test yourself?
You don't need an agency to find out what's broken. These six checks take about 10 minutes.
The 10-minute Render, Route, Read test
- Render, page source: Right-click any page and choose View page source. Search for a sentence from the page. If you can't find it, most AI bots can't either.
- Render, JavaScript off: Turn off JavaScript in your browser settings and reload. Anything that disappears is invisible to most AI tools.
- Route, sitemap: Open yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. New pages should show up on their own, and there shouldn't be any broken or redirected links in it.
- Route, languages: On a translated page, search the page source for "hreflang". You should see one line for every language you have.
- Read, schema: Paste a page into Google's Rich Results Test. Make sure what it finds matches what's on the page.
- Read, titles: Check that the page title and description are in the page source, not added later.
Free website audit
Which bucket is your site failing?
Get a scored breakdown of your positioning, proof, conversion paths and technical health, before you talk to an agency. Results in about a minute.
85/100
Overall score
Red flags when an agency pitches you
- Vague on rendering: They talk about tools, but can't tell you how Google will read your pages.
- No redirect plan: They want to move pages before listing where every old URL will go.
- Guaranteed AI mentions: Nobody can promise ChatGPT or Gemini will quote you.
- SEO "later": SEO fields aren't in the CMS from the start.
- Pretty case studies, no numbers: Nice screenshots, but nothing about traffic or rankings.
What does headless SEO cost in 2026?
Not many agencies share prices, so use these as a starting point.
- Flowtrix: Website builds usually cost $25,000 to $75,000+. SEO retainers start at $3,000 a month.
- Pagepro: Site moves usually cost $50,000 to $90,000.
- The other eight: They don't publish prices, so you'll get a quote after a call.
Ongoing SEO is usually a separate monthly cost from the build. Ask for both before you compare quotes.
The short version
Building a new site? Pick a partner that gets all three buckets right before launch, like Flowtrix or Lucky Media.
Pages not showing up on Google or in AI answers? Start with a specialist like MERJ or Onely.
Moving your site? Go with a team that has moved thousands of pages before, like Pagepro, AND Digital or Bejamas.
Selling in lots of languages? Look at scandiweb, FocusReactive or Effect Digital.
And before you talk to anyone, run the Render, Route, Read test. It'll tell you which kind of agency you actually need.
Want more options? See our lists of the best B2B SaaS GEO and AEO agencies and SEO agencies for B2B SaaS.
Headless site not ranking or showing up in AI answers? Talk to Flowtrix. Our SEO and AEO team will find what's holding it back.
Flowtrix has delivered 120+ revamps for B2B SaaS, AI and cybersecurity teams, with SEO and AEO built into every build.
FAQ's
Quick answers to what teams ask before they hire an agency for SEO on a headless site.
.svg)
.svg)
%201.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
