AEO agency pricing ranges from $4,000 to $20,000+ monthly. Learn what you get at each tier, how to calculate ROI, and why month-to-month contracts beat traditional 6-12 month SEO agreements.
Updated December 01, 2025
TL;DR: AEO agency pricing ranges from $4,000 to $20,000+ monthly depending on content volume, technical infrastructure, and citation tracking capabilities. At $4,000–$8,000, expect basic audits and 4-8 articles monthly. At $8,000–$15,000, agencies deliver 20-60+ articles, comprehensive schema implementation, and multi-platform tracking. The hidden cost of cheap AEO is the lack of technical infrastructure and content velocity needed to signal authority to LLMs. Traditional agencies lock you into 6-12 month contracts, while we offer flexible month-to-month terms that reduce risk and force continuous value delivery. Calculate ROI by multiplying AI search volume by citation rate, engagement rate, conversion rate, and average deal value, then subtract agency cost. For B2B SaaS, one additional enterprise deal per quarter often pays for the entire annual investment.
If you lead marketing for a B2B SaaS company, you're watching organic leads decline while leadership questions the ROI of your current SEO investments. Your traditional agency optimizes for Google rankings, but buyers increasingly turn to AI assistants for vendor research. When prospects ask ChatGPT or Perplexity for recommendations, your competitors appear with detailed explanations while your brand remains invisible.
The shift to Answer Engine Optimization isn't optional anymore. It's a balance sheet issue. This guide breaks down exactly what AEO agencies charge, what you get for your money, and how to calculate the ROI before signing a contract. No "contact us for pricing" walls. No vague deliverables. Just the transparent benchmarks you need to justify this investment to your finance team.
The economics are stark. When buyers research with AI assistants, they arrive with higher intent because the AI has already pre-qualified your solution based on their specific context. They've told ChatGPT their tech stack, budget constraints, and pain points. The AI synthesizes that information and provides targeted recommendations. If you're not in that response, you've lost the deal before your sales team ever hears about it.
Gartner predicts a 25% decline in traditional search volume by 2026. For marketing leaders, this means your SEO investment is optimizing for a shrinking channel while competitors capture the growing one. The question isn't whether to invest in AEO. It's how much to allocate and which partner can deliver measurable results without trapping you in a long-term contract.
AEO pricing follows a three-tier structure based on content velocity, technical depth, and citation tracking sophistication. Understanding what each tier delivers helps you match investment to business stage and competitive intensity.
At this entry level, agencies focus on foundational visibility and baseline tracking. Some agencies offer starter packages around $4,000 per month with six-month minimum commitments, delivering four blog posts monthly (1,500-2,000 words each), one content refresh, and basic schema implementation for FAQ blocks.
Technical services at this tier include:
This tier makes sense for companies under $2 million in revenue testing AEO before committing to a full program. The risk is that low content velocity fails to signal topical authority to LLMs, limiting citations after six months.
The mid-tier is where serious AEO programs live. Our entry package starts at €5,495 per month and includes 20+ articles monthly, full technical audits, schema implementation, and proprietary tracking across ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Other full-service B2B SaaS engagements in this range start around $10,000 monthly, delivering high-quality content and backlink acquisition.
We publish daily or near-daily content because high publishing velocity signals freshness and authority to LLMs. This daily cadence provides more surface area for citations across a wider range of buyer queries. Our technical services include advanced schema types (FAQPage, HowTo, QAPage), entity mapping, and structured data optimization.
We report weekly on citation-specific KPIs, not vanity metrics. You'll see your share of voice compared to competitors, citation rate by platform, and sentiment analysis of how AI systems position your brand. This tier reaches statistical significance for citation testing, allowing us to optimize based on what actually earns mentions versus what gets ignored.
For B2B SaaS companies between $2 million and $20 million ARR, this tier offers the best risk-adjusted return. You get managed services without building internal AEO expertise, and the content volume is sufficient to compete with established players. One B2B SaaS company using our approach grew from 575 to over 3.5k trials in seven weeks, a 6x increase attributed to ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity recommendations.
Enterprise-level AEO adds authority-building campaigns on top of high-velocity content production. Some enterprise SEO plans range from $12,550 to $23,750 monthly and include optimization of 80-150 pages, quarterly content assets, and support from large teams.
Services expand beyond owned content to include digital PR campaigns, Wikipedia editing (where appropriate), and Reddit narrative shaping through dedicated account infrastructure. These third-party validation signals are critical because AI models trust external sources more than your own site when determining citation-worthiness. This tier makes sense for companies above $20 million ARR or highly competitive categories.
Here's where your dollars go and why we structure AEO differently than traditional SEO:
| Feature | Traditional SEO Agency | Our AEO Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Drive website traffic through higher search rankings | Achieve citations in AI-generated answers across multiple platforms |
| Content cadence | 4-8 blog posts per month | 20-60+ articles monthly (daily publishing) |
| Contract length | 6-12 month minimum standard | Month-to-month with 30-day notice |
| Reporting metrics | Keyword rankings, organic traffic, backlinks, domain authority | Citation rate, share of voice in AI answers, sentiment analysis, AI-referred traffic |
| Technical focus | On-page optimization, link building, site speed | Schema markup, structured data, entity optimization, knowledge graph integration |
| Pricing range | $5,000-$10,000 per month for 15 articles | Starts at €5,495 for 20+ articles, audits, and tracking |
The technical infrastructure difference is significant. Traditional SEO agencies focus on making content readable by search engine crawlers, while AEO specialists engineer content for machine parsing and synthesis. This requires deeper implementation of various schema types, explicit entity relationships in copy, and answer-grounding with verifiable sources.
Foundational packages from some agencies around $5,999 monthly include keyword strategy and on-page SEO but exclude link-building and content writing. In contrast, comprehensive AEO packages bundle content production, technical optimization, and authority-building because these elements must work together to earn citations.
The real expense of AEO isn't content creation. It's the technical infrastructure to track citations and the velocity required to signal authority to LLMs.
Tracking infrastructure: We build proprietary technology to monitor when and how brands appear in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot responses. This tracking enables the data-driven optimization that separates effective AEO from guesswork. Building this capability in-house costs significantly more than agency fees. One analysis of building an internal AEO team calculated first-year costs at $403,000 for six essential roles, plus technology infrastructure.
Content velocity requirements: LLMs prioritize fresh, frequently updated sources. A traditional SEO cadence of 8-12 articles monthly signals limited topical coverage. Daily publishing creates more citation opportunities across a wider range of queries and demonstrates ongoing expertise in your category.
Contract lock-in risk: Traditional agencies typically require 6-12 month minimum commitments, justified by the time needed for SEO results to materialize. Many traditional agencies explicitly state six-month initial terms with 15-day written notice required for cancellation. If the agency underperforms, you're financially trapped while competitors capture AI-driven demand. Month-to-month models transfer this risk back to the agency, forcing continuous optimization and transparent reporting on citation rate, not keyword rankings.
A defensible ROI model for AEO must account for both direct conversions and brand impression value from non-click citations.
The formula:
ROI = [((AI Search Volume × Citation Rate × Engagement Rate × Conversion Rate × Average Deal Value) + Value of Brand Impressions) - AEO Agency Cost] / AEO Agency Cost
Sample calculation for B2B SaaS ($20,000 average deal value, $10,000 monthly agency investment):
Inputs:
Returns:
ROI calculation:
($24,750 - $10,000) / $10,000 × 100 = 147.5% monthly ROI
This model provides a framework for data-driven CFO conversations. The key is establishing baseline metrics early, then tracking improvement month over month. Most companies see meaningful citation rate improvements within 90 days, with full optimization taking 4-6 months.
We offer an ROI calculator that lets you input your specific metrics to model expected returns. The advantage of this approach is it quantifies both direct pipeline and brand equity impact, addressing the CFO's concern that citations without clicks provide no value.
Our performance-based AEO model requires us to prove value continuously, not just at contract renewal. We remove the three biggest barriers marketing VPs face when evaluating agencies.
We offer month-to-month contracts with no long-term lock-in: We earn your business every 30 days. If citation rates don't improve, if AI-referred trials don't appear in your CRM, if the strategy doesn't fit, you're not trapped in a 12-month commitment. This structure forces us to deliver measurable results quickly and maintain transparent communication on what's working and what isn't.
We track citations with proprietary technology across all major AI platforms: We built internal technology to monitor citations in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot. Our weekly reports show your citation rate by platform, position in AI responses, share of voice versus top three competitors, and sentiment of how AI systems describe your brand. You're not flying blind on whether the investment is working.
We publish daily content using the CITABLE framework: Our packages start at 20 articles monthly minimum, scaling to 60+ for larger clients. The CITABLE framework structures content with clear entity definitions, intent architecture, third-party validation, answer grounding, block-structured formatting for RAG, timestamp freshness, and explicit entity relationships. This isn't generic blog content repurposed for AI. It's engineered specifically for LLM retrieval and citation.
The proof is in outcomes. One B2B SaaS client went from 550 AI-referred trials to over 3,500 monthly within seven weeks of working with us. Another saw ChatGPT referrals increase 29% and closed five new paying customers in the first month. These results came from our integrated approach: comprehensive audits, high-velocity content, technical optimization, and third-party validation through Reddit marketing and review campaigns.
We don't promise immediate transformative results in two weeks. AEO takes 3-4 months for full optimization and statistical confidence in citation patterns. But early wins appear within 1-2 weeks as initial citations show up for 5-10 buyer-intent queries. Our job is to accelerate that timeline through volume, technical precision, and continuous testing of what earns citations versus what gets ignored.
AEO agency pricing reflects the engineering required to earn citations, not just content creation effort. The $8,000-$15,000 tier delivers the best risk-adjusted returns for most B2B SaaS companies between $2 million and $20 million ARR, with daily content, comprehensive audits, and proprietary citation tracking. Traditional agencies lock you into 6-12 month contracts optimized for declining search channels. Month-to-month performance-based models reduce your risk and force agencies to prove value weekly through measurable citation improvements and AI-referred pipeline.
For most B2B SaaS companies, one additional enterprise deal per quarter pays for the annual AEO investment. The question isn't whether you can afford AEO. It's whether you can afford to stay invisible while competitors capture buyers researching with AI.
Get your baseline numbers first. Book a free AI Visibility Audit to see exactly where your brand and top three competitors appear when prospects ask AI for recommendations in your category. We'll deliver a comprehensive report showing citation gaps, technical optimization opportunities, and a custom quote based on your competitive intensity and growth goals. No pressure, no long-term commitment. Just transparent data to inform your decision.
How long does it take to see ROI from AEO investment?
Early citations appear within 1-2 weeks for 5-10 queries, with measurable citation rate improvements (20-30%) by month one and full optimization reaching 40-50% citation rates by month four.
What contract terms should I negotiate with an AEO agency?
Prioritize month-to-month agreements with 30-day notice periods, clear ownership of all content and assets produced, explicit performance metrics tied to citation rates rather than vanity metrics, and transparent weekly reporting across all major AI platforms.
Why is content volume more important for AEO than traditional SEO?
LLMs prioritize sources with comprehensive topical coverage and frequent updates, with daily publishing signaling ongoing expertise and providing more citation opportunities across a wider range of buyer queries than the 4-8 monthly articles typical in SEO.
How do I track citations across ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity?
Specialized agencies build proprietary tools to monitor citation frequency, position, and sentiment across AI platforms, as standard SEO analytics can't measure when brands appear in AI-generated responses.
What's the difference between $5k and $15k monthly AEO packages?
Lower-tier packages from most agencies offer 4-8 articles monthly with basic tracking. Our $15k tier delivers 20-60+ articles, comprehensive schema implementation, multi-platform citation tracking, and authority-building through third-party validation campaigns.
Should we build an in-house AEO team or hire an agency?
Building an internal AEO team costs approximately $403,000 in the first year for six essential roles plus technology infrastructure, while working with us delivers results at €65,940 annually with month-to-month flexibility.
What ROI can B2B SaaS companies expect from AEO investment?
Companies with $20,000 average deal value investing $10,000 monthly in AEO typically see 147% monthly ROI by closing one additional deal per month through AI-referred pipeline, plus significant brand impression value from non-click citations.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): The practice of optimizing content and technical infrastructure to earn citations in AI-generated responses from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and similar platforms, distinct from traditional search engine optimization focused on rankings.
Citation rate: The percentage of relevant buyer-intent queries where your brand appears in AI-generated responses, with mature AEO programs targeting 40-50% for high-priority queries in your category.
CITABLE framework: Our proprietary content engineering method using Clear entity structure, Intent architecture, Third-party validation, Answer grounding, Block-structured formatting, Latest timestamps, and Entity relationships to maximize LLM retrieval and citation.
Share of voice: Your brand's citation frequency compared to top three competitors across a defined set of buyer-intent queries, measured weekly across all major AI platforms to track competitive positioning.
AI-referred traffic: Website visitors or trial signups originating from citations in AI-generated responses, tracked via UTM parameters and delivering higher intent leads than traditional organic search traffic.
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