How much does AI search optimization cost?
Last updated 20 August 2026
AI search optimization (also called AEO or GEO) is typically priced between $2,000 and $10,000 per month by agencies serving mid-market clients, with enterprise programs running higher. Freelance and productized options for local businesses are far cheaper — one-time audits and implementations generally range from about $150 to $2,000, with ongoing monthly work from a few hundred dollars. The spread reflects scope, not quality. A one-time engagement lays a foundation; it does not hold a position. Answer coverage has to keep growing as treatments and patient questions change, citations have to keep being placed, and profile data drifts out of sync on its own. Businesses that treat AI visibility as a single project typically find their position eroding within a few months as competitors publish the answers they skipped.
What the market actually charges
| Tier | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Freelance / single project | $150 – $2,000 one-time |
| Productized packages | $500 – $2,500 / month |
| Mid-market agency retainers | $2,000 – $8,000 / month |
| Enterprise programs | $10,000 – $30,000+ / month |
Most credible mid-market retainers land in the $2,000–$10,000 per month range. That pricing is built around multi-location brands, competitive national categories, digital PR and executive reporting — none of which a single-location med spa needs.
Why local businesses shouldn't pay retainer prices for the foundation
For one location, the core work is finite: structured data written and installed, a handful of answer pages, the Google Business Profile rebuilt properly, listings claimed and made consistent across the directories that matter. That's a project, not a subscription. It's the ongoing expansion — new answer pages, new citations, monitoring — that legitimately recurs.
Be skeptical of anyone selling a large monthly retainer whose first three months are entirely foundation work you'll never need repeated.
What you should expect included
- An audit of how your business currently reads to AI, with specific findings rather than a generic score
- Schema markup written for your business and validated, not a plugin toggle
- Pages answering the questions your customers actually ask, with real numbers in them
- Google Business Profile categories, attributes, services and description rebuilt
- Listing and citation work across the platforms AI reads, with inconsistencies corrected
- Clear deliverables — and no guarantee of a specific ranking or citation, because nobody can honestly offer one
What we charge
For transparency, since we're in this market: $199 for a one-time audit and fix pack you or your web person implement, $497 for the same work implemented for you including the off-site listing work, and $249/month for ongoing expansion. Those numbers are on our services page with the full deliverables list.
Want to know where your business stands?
Send us your website address and we'll send back a one-page breakdown of how your site currently reads to AI — the specific gaps, in order of what they're costing you. No charge, no sales call, nothing to sign up for.
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