You're getting quotes from three GEO agencies. The first comes back at $2,800/month. The second at $6,500/month. The third at $13,000/month. All claim to do the same thing.
The GEO market is young and opaque. Here are the real prices, ranges by scope, and the criteria that justify (or don't justify) a price tag.
One-shot audit: $2,000 to $4,500
A one-shot GEO audit is the most common entry point. Typical deliverable:
- Assessment of your current citation share on 30 to 50 business-critical prompts
- Coverage of 3 to 5 LLMs (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini are non-negotiable)
- Identification of sources LLMs cite in your niche
- Competitive benchmark on 3 to 5 direct competitors
- 90-day prioritized action plan
An audit under $1,500 is usually superficial: just running a tracking tool and delivering the screenshot. Above $5,500, you're paying for enterprise features (multi-market, multi-language, exhaustive fan-out analysis).
Continuous engagement: $1,500 to $8,500 per month
The dominant format for brands that want 90-day results.
Low end ($1,500-$3,000/month): monitoring of 20-30 prompts on 3 LLMs, monthly report, 3-5 content recommendations per month. No content execution. Reserved for brands with an existing in-house content team.
Mid range ($3,000-$5,500/month): monitoring of 40-80 prompts on 5 LLMs, bi-weekly report, quarterly fan-out analysis, production of 1-2 articles per month, monthly steering call.
High end ($5,500-$8,500/month): monitoring of 80-200 prompts on 7 LLMs, weekly fan-out analysis, production of 2-4 articles per month, external source optimization (PR, Reddit, partnerships), bi-weekly steering.
Beyond: enterprise and multi-brand
Above $10,000/month, you're in enterprise territory: multi-brand, multi-market, dedicated team. Reserved for scale-ups and large enterprises with international products or a portfolio of brands.
Below: the red zone
Below $1,000/month, you're buying classic SEO rebranded GEO. No serious agency can track 7 LLMs, analyze fan-out queries and produce an action plan at this price. Agencies at $550-$950/month usually use a free tool, take one screenshot a month, and deliver a PDF.
What drives the price
Four main factors:
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LLM coverage. 3 vs 7 LLMs: 2x ratio on tracking cost. The "ChatGPT-only vs full coverage" debate drives 30-40% of the price.
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Prompt volume tracked. 30 vs 150 prompts: 3-4x ratio on analysis work. The more prompts you track, the bigger the fan-out analysis grows.
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Fan-out analysis depth. Monthly (heavy but necessary) vs weekly (premium, for competitive brands). Fan-out analysis is the most time-consuming agency-side work.
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Content execution scope. Audit-only vs audit + 4 articles/month. An engagement that includes content production is 50-100% more expensive.
A fifth factor, often overlooked: multi-language. Tracking a brand across 3 markets (FR, EN, DE) easily doubles the price.
Setup fee + retainer or per project?
The healthiest structure: setup fee of $1,500-$3,500 for the initial audit and tracking setup, then monthly retainer over 6 or 12 months. Avoid project work under 90 days — LLMs need 60-90 days to recrawl and move citations. A 30-day GEO engagement only delivers an audit, not results.
DIY: $85 to $325/month
If you have an internal SEO or content team, the DIY option is almost always more efficient. A tracking tool like Mentionable costs between $85 and $325 per month depending on the plan. You keep control, you learn the craft, you save 80-90% of agency cost.
Hidden DIY cost: 4-8 hours per week of analysis and action. For a brand without internal resources, an agency is often more profitable once these hours are valued.
Finding a GEO agency at the right price
If you want to compare multiple agencies with their published rates, Mentionable maintains a hand-picked directory of GEO agencies and consultants. Each agency profile shows its starting price when disclosed. No commission, no paid placement.
