I used to do SEO (long time ago) and half of potential customers would perceive any SEO service as almost fraud and the other half would perceive it as hype. S

I used to do SEO (long time ago) and half of potential customers would perceive any SEO service as almost fraud and the other half would perceive it as hype. So i'd describe business value (generate sales, leads) vs. specific method you use to achieve business value.