For SEO and marketing agencies
Your leads sound like everyone else's pitches.
Most spam filters learn that a message about rankings, backlinks or ads is junk. For a plumber, it is. For you, it's the pipeline, and a filter that blocks it is worse than none.
Ascue doesn't filter on keywords. It reads one sentence about your agency with every message and asks what the writer wants: to hire you, or to sell to you. The restaurant owner asking about Google Maps gets through. The white-label shop offering to do your fulfillment waits for Monday.
Free for 50 messages a month. No CAPTCHA, no code, and it works with the form you already have.
Same words, opposite wants.
The business description
Local SEO and Google Ads management for restaurants and bars in Chicago
Sample messages, each run through Ascue's free checker with the description above on October 16, 2026. The stamps are what it answered.
- From
- Luis Ortega
- Subject
- Google Maps help
“Hi, I own two taquerias in Pilsen and we barely show up on Google Maps even though our reviews are great. What would it cost to get us into the top three results? Happy to jump on a call this week.”
Lead 97%Delivered to your inbox right away.
It's about rankings, which would make it a pitch almost anywhere else. Here the writer wants to buy, so it's delivered right away.
- From
- Amir Hassan
- Subject
- Wholesale SEO for agencies
“Hey there! We're a white-label SEO team. Agencies like yours resell our link building, local citations and monthly reports under their own brand at 60% margins. Want our wholesale price list?”
Pitch 99%Held in the Pitch folder and listed in your weekly digest.
The same vocabulary as your clients, going the other way: they want to sell you their service. Held for the weekly digest.
- From
- Kelly Grant
- Subject
- Guest posts on DA 50+ sites
“Hi, I can get you 10 guest posts on DA 50+ food and lifestyle blogs for $70 each, dofollow links, permanent. Let me know if you want the site list.”
Pitch 100%Held in the Pitch folder and listed in your weekly digest.
Link selling, aimed at the people most likely to buy links. Held as a pitch, not deleted, in case you ever want the list.
- From
- Nora Feld
- Subject
- Referral partnership?
“Hi, we're a small branding agency in Denver and we keep getting asked about SEO, which we don't do. Would you be open to a referral partnership? Could be a good fit both ways.”
Pitch 98%Held in the Pitch folder and listed in your weekly digest.
A gray area. Ascue read it as someone wanting something from you, so it was held. It's in Monday's digest, and if partnerships matter to you, have pitches delivered tagged instead of held.
Why spam filters work against you.
- 01
Keyword rules fire on your own service.
Block “SEO”, “rank” or “backlinks” and you’ve blocked your customers. Allow them and you’ve allowed every link seller on the internet.
- 02
Your vendors write like your clients.
White-label shops, lead-list sellers and outsourcing teams use the same words a business owner uses to ask for help. The difference is direction: who wants to pay whom.
- 03
One missed client costs more than a year of junk.
A retainer is worth thousands. So most agencies skim every message by hand, which is the job a filter was supposed to do.
It asks who's buying.
- Your description sets the context. One sentence, such as “Local SEO and Google Ads for restaurants in Chicago”, tells Ascue what a customer looks like. It reads that sentence with every message.
- It asks what the writer wants. To buy, book or hire; to sell something; help with an order; a job; or something else. A restaurant asking about links wants to buy. A vendor offering links wants to sell.
- Gray areas reach you. When Ascue isn't sure, the message arrives marked Ask me, with one-click buttons to confirm or correct it.
- You can still see the pitches. Set pitches to be delivered tagged “Pitch” and they reach your inbox clearly marked, instead of waiting for the weekly digest. Useful if you keep an eye on vendors and partners.
- Corrections stick. Mark a held message as a lead and Ascue adjusts your site, within the strictness you picked.
Paste one from your own form.
Put your own business in the description box and see what Ascue makes of a message that annoyed you this week. Or load one of the samples above.
Ascue's answer shows up here: lead, pitch, spam or Ask me, how sure it is, and why.
Questions marketing agencies ask.
Where most start
Solo $9/mo
1 site, 2,000 checks a month. Managing clients' forms as well? The Agency plan covers unlimited sites.
Compare plansWill Ascue block messages that mention SEO or ads?
No. It doesn't filter on keywords. It asks what the writer wants from your business, with your description in mind, so a business owner asking about rankings is a lead for you.
What about partnership and referral offers?
Ascue often reads them as pitches, because the writer wants something from you. They're held, not deleted: they're listed in your weekly digest, and you can have pitches delivered tagged instead of held.
We also run our clients' websites. Can Ascue cover their forms?
Yes. Each client site gets its own description, settings and lead inbox, and the Agency plan covers unlimited sites for $79 a month. Ascue for web agencies.
Does Ascue reply to anyone?
No. It sorts and delivers. Nobody who writes to you hears from Ascue, and your form's thank-you page doesn't change.
Try it on your own form.
Sign up, point your form's notification email at Ascue, and see what it makes of a week of real messages. Free for your first 50 messages a month, no card needed.