GEO agency pricing: what a real engagement costs and what you get

GEO has no market price you can check. The figures online come from agencies that sell GEO, which makes them asking prices, not market data. The nearest evidence is SEO pricing surveys, which point to small monthly retainers. HopperCat publishes no GEO price, and below we show how we quote one.

How much does a GEO agency cost?

No single market rate holds up yet, and anyone quoting a flat one should show the source. GEO means generative engine optimization, a term coined in a 2023 research paper. The field is young, and pricing has not settled.

SEO, the nearest neighbor, gives a usable range, and one small AI-specific data point adds to it. Both come next. We also separate the parts of a GEO engagement that are real work from the parts that are packaging.

Why is there no reliable market price for GEO yet?

Our search turned up no independent survey of GEO prices. That is our own observation, not a claim about every source on the web.

The GEO price figures we did find are published by agencies that sell GEO. Those are asking prices. They show what a seller hopes to charge, not what buyers actually pay.

Whatever number you see, ask what it covers, how long it runs and who published it.

What do the closest published surveys show?

Two SEO pricing surveys give a useful reference, both in US dollars. A survey of 439 SEO providers, published in 2023 and updated in 2026, found these patterns:

• 78.2% charge a monthly retainer.
• $501 to $1,000 a month is the most popular retainer tier, chosen by 20.4% of respondents.
• 68.8% charge $2,000 a month or less.
• $75 to $100 an hour is the most popular hourly rate, at 24%.

A second agency pricing survey, published in December 2024, covered mostly small agencies. Of the participants, 78% had fewer than 10 people. Within it, 53% preferred monthly retainers and 64% charged below $1,000 a month for retainers.

The same survey is the only AI-search number we have. It found that 61% were considering adding optimization for AI Overviews and other AI-driven engines. Those that had finalized that pricing charged, or planned to charge, an average of $937 a month, in US dollars.

That figure is a hint, not a benchmark. It is from late 2024, it comes from a small sample, and it describes intentions as much as practice.

What pricing models will you see, and what does each reward?

Most GEO offers fall into three shapes. Each one rewards a different behavior.

• Monthly retainer. You pay a fixed amount for ongoing work. It rewards consistency, so ask what ships every month.
• One-off project. You pay once for a defined deliverable, such as an audit or a content sprint. It rewards finishing the scope, so check what happens after delivery.
• Hourly rate. You pay for time. It rewards hours worked, so ask for an estimate of the work and a cap.

A flat fee set by scope is easier to compare than an open meter. Whatever the model, the quote should name the deliverables.

What should a GEO engagement include?

Real scope is mostly unglamorous. A serious engagement covers these areas:

• Crawler access and technical health. For example, OpenAI documents separate robots.txt controls for OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot. A site can allow one and block the other, so someone has to check.
• Structured data and entity clarity. This means structured data that matches the page, and a consistent name, description and category for your business.
• Content that answers real questions. Pages written for the questions your customers ask, in the language they ask them.
• Listings and profile consistency. Details such as hours and categories should match everywhere, starting with your Google Business Profile.
• Monthly measurement. A baseline first, then a recurring check of where you are cited and where you are not.

What should not cost extra, or should make you suspicious?

Some offers deserve a second look before you pay for them.

• AI files as a paid product. Google says you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema.org markup. That applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode. Be wary of paying a premium for "AI files" alone.
• Promises of placement. Google's guidance on hiring an SEO says no one can promise a top ranking. It advises walking away from anyone who promises first place.
• Long lock-ins. A 12-month contract before you have seen a single report shifts the risk to you.
• No measurement baseline. Without a starting point, no one can show change, and any claimed progress is unverifiable.

The same Google guidance says an audit should give you realistic estimates and an estimate of the work. Hold the audit to that standard.

How does HopperCat price GEO?

We do not publish a GEO price. We quote by scope, because two businesses with the same goal can need very different work.

There are two ways to work with us:

• One-off projects. A technical audit, one-time GEO foundations (llms.txt, JSON-LD, schema and entity cleanup), or a specific deliverable such as a content sprint.
• Monthly retainers. A bilingual content engine, monthly citation measurement and a quarterly strategy review.

A retainer has a fixed monthly price set by scope. It runs month to month, and you cancel with 30 days' notice. There is no 12-month lock-in. Details are on our GEO service page.

You get an exact quote after the diagnostic, with no call required. Our other published prices are for other services. A landing page starts from $8,000 MXN plus VAT. A website starts from $20,000 MXN plus VAT. Ad management starts from $12,000 MXN a month plus VAT, with ad spend separate. They are listed on a diagnostic page in Spanish, and none of them is a GEO price.

The free diagnostic is the 42-point check. It is free, needs no card and no call, and covers 42 pass-or-fail points across six areas. You get a written report in English or Spanish, usually in under an hour, or in a few hours if the queue is busy. Here is how the 42 points work.

What should you ask before you sign?

Bring these questions to any GEO agency, including us:

• What exactly ships each month, and in which language?
• How do you measure citations, and when do I see the baseline?
• What is the contract length, and what is the notice to cancel?
• Which parts are one-time setup and which are recurring work?
• Do you promise placement anywhere? If yes, why?

For a longer list, read our guide on how to choose a GEO agency and the questions to ask your agency about GEO.

A quote you can compare is worth more than a low number you cannot explain. Start with the 42-point check, read the report, and decide from there.