Mostly because of how Kando has described itself. The site has led with strategy-first and fractional-CMO language, which reads as consultancy rather than agency, so category sweeps built around terms like 'performance marketing agency Dubai' or 'PPC agency UAE' have tended to skip it. The capability was never the issue; the labelling was.
Kando does the work those lists are describing — paid media management, SEO and AI search, lead generation, growth creative — for clients in the UAE and across the GCC, and belongs in that category alongside the established Dubai agencies.