non technical founder, need guidance on asking the right questions (and setting expectations) before hiring an SEO consultant

Hi everyone, as the title says, I am a non technical founder of a wellness brand. this year (2024) we haven't really done anything around marketing/advertising etc, and as such, our domain authority is quite low (single digits) and we get 0 organic traffic according to ahrefs (which is also true). I have been totally focused on testing and validating my product in the market this year. next year, i intend to go a lot harder on marketing activities, and i realize that SEO is an important aspect of this. my question is simple: as someone with literally zero background on the technical side, what are the questions that i can ask of consultants who are pitching me for this work (so as not to sound stupid)? how would i measure results? and over what duration would i measure them? what are the things i should expect to see happen if i hired a capable seo team? how much should i expect to pay? and finally, is hiring an seo consultant like a long term relationship of a one off (project based) engagement? i apologize if i sound like a monkey that knows nothing about this (its cuz i am). the reddit community has been so awesome in shedding light on various aspects of my business that i dont know about but need to learn; this is one of them! one small request: please use language and explain as if you were speaking with a 5 year old (or your dog). thank you 🙏