What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
How AI assistants choose which sources to cite, and what you can change.
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Short answer
SEO usually costs $1,000 to $5,000 a month on a retainer, $75 to $200 an hour for consulting, and $500 to $5,000 for a one-off project such as an audit. Those are the ranges WebFX, a large US agency, publishes in its pricing guide. Clutch, the agency review platform, puts the average monthly cost of SEO projects reviewed on its site at about $3,200. Where your quote falls depends on the size of the site, how strong the competition is, and how much of the work the agency does itself. Below are the published figures with their sources, and a way to compare offers line by line.
Three ways agencies charge
| Model | How it works | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | a fixed fee each month for an agreed list of work | you want ongoing work: fixes, new pages, links, reports |
| Project | one price for a defined result | you need an audit, a site migration or a set of pages |
| Hourly | you pay for the time spent | you need advice, training or a second opinion on your team’s work |
The retainer is the most common model by far. In a survey of 439 SEO providers, Ahrefs found that 78.2% charge a monthly retainer. Many agencies combine the models: an audit as a project, then a retainer for the work it uncovers.
Some sellers offer pay for performance, where you pay per ranking or per lead. Read those contracts closely. The price is usually tied to search terms the seller picks, and a ranking for a phrase nobody searches costs you money and brings no buyers.
Published prices
Every figure below comes from the source page itself, checked on November 2, 2026.
| Source | What it describes | Per month | Per hour | Per project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clutch, SEO pricing, page updated September 21, 2026 | SEO projects reviewed on Clutch | average $3,199; agencies typically charge $2,000 to $20,000 | most agencies $100 to $149 | average $37,159; most projects under $10,000 |
| WebFX, SEO pricing guide | WebFX’s ranges for the market | $1,000 to $5,000 | $75 to $200 | $500 to $5,000 |
| WebFX’s own plans, same page | one agency’s price list | $2,900 to $9,200, with a 6-month commitment | ||
| Ahrefs survey, 439 providers, updated August 15, 2024 | what SEO providers charge | most common answer: $501 to $1,000 (20.4%) | most common: $75 to $100 (24%) | most common: $2,501 to $5,000 (21.2%) |
The sources measure different things. Clutch reports on projects that clients reviewed on its platform, and its typical timeline is 12 months, which helps explain the $37,159 project average. The Ahrefs survey also covers freelancers and consultants, so its most common retainer is lower. Within it, agencies average about $3,209 a month and freelancers about $1,348. WebFX publishes a market range and its own plans: the plans start at $2,900, inside the range, and top out at $9,200, well above it.
Location matters too. Clutch lists $100 to $149 an hour as the usual rate for agencies in the United States, Canada and Australia, and lower rates in several other countries.
What drives the price
- Size of the site
A 20-page service site and a store with thousands of product pages need very different amounts of crawling, fixing and writing.
- Strength of the top 10
If the pages ranking for your main searches have links from hundreds of sites, getting next to them takes more content and more outreach.
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A good agency checks this before quoting.
- Markets and languages
Each country needs its own search demand, pages and links. A second language is close to a second project.
- Who does the work
Some quotes include writing and developer time. Others give you a list of tasks and leave the work to your team.
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The second option is cheaper on paper.
- Links and mentions
Outreach to real publications takes hours per placement. Cheap packages often skip it, or buy links in bulk.
- The state of the site
A site with broken redirects, duplicates and slow pages needs a round of fixes before new pages can help.
- Reporting
A monthly report that ties work to pages, clicks and enquiries takes time to build.
Read more
A screenshot of rankings does not.
Some sellers offer pay for performance, where you pay per ranking or per lead.
How to compare two offers
Put the offers side by side and ask each agency the same questions:
- What exactly happens each month? Ask for a list: how many pages fixed or written, how many outreach attempts, how many hours.
- Who does the work? Staff, freelancers or a white label partner. Each is fine; you just want to know.
- What do you need from us? Developer time, approvals, facts for the pages. Without them an agency often cannot deliver.
- How do you measure progress? Google suggests asking an SEO how they measure success and what results they expect in what timeframe, in its page Do you need an SEO?
- What happens if we stop? Notice period, who owns the pages and the accounts, and whether links disappear when payments end.
Convert both offers to a price per unit of work, such as a page or an outreach placement. A $1,500 offer with four pages a month can be better value than a $1,000 offer with none.
What not to fall for
- Promises of first place. Google’s own advice: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” An agency that promises position one is either guessing or planning shortcuts.
- Very cheap monthly packages. Below a few hundred dollars a month there is little room for real work. The usual shortcut is bought links from networks, which Google’s spam policies treat as link spam. The risk falls on your site, not on the seller.
- Secret methods. Google says to be careful if a company is secretive or will not clearly explain what it intends to do. If an agency cannot say what it will change, do not pay for it.
- Cold emails. The same Google page says to be wary of SEO firms that email you out of the blue.
- Long lock-ins with no exit. A minimum term is normal, because pages need months to rank. A contract you cannot leave even when no work is done is not.
Where we stand
Our classic SEO is quoted per project after the brief; the AI visibility audit is $1,200 fixed and the monthly program starts at $3,200 a month. Full details are on our pricing page.
Convert both offers to a price per unit of work, such as a page or an outreach placement.
Questions
Is SEO for $500 a month worth it?
It can be, for a small local business with a simple site and weak competition, if the money buys a clear list of work. For a competitive market it is rarely enough for both fixes and outreach. Ask what the $500 buys each month, item by item.
Why do quotes for the same site differ so much?
Agencies quote different scopes. One includes writing and links, another sends a task list for your team. Compare the work, not the total.
Should I pay for an audit first?
Usually yes. An audit shows how much work the site needs, and any later quote can be checked against it. Our SEO audit page has a free self-check you can run before you pay anyone.
When will SEO pay off?
New pages usually need months to rank, and how many depends on the competition. Ask the agency which of your searches are realistic in the first year and why.
