Generative engine optimization (GEO) for a small business typically costs $300 to $1,500 for a one-time AI visibility audit and setup, and $500 to $2,500 per month for ongoing work. Because GEO is a new service, pricing varies widely. The biggest cost drivers are how many services and locations you want AI assistants to recommend you for, how consistent your business information already is, and how much content and citation building is needed.
Key takeaways
- A one-time GEO audit and setup usually costs $300 to $1,500.
- Ongoing GEO typically costs $500 to $2,500 per month for small businesses.
- GEO builds on SEO, so many businesses combine the two.
- Good GEO includes monthly AI mention tracking, not just “optimization”.
- No one can guarantee what an AI assistant says; be wary of anyone who does.
How much does GEO cost?
| GEO service | Typical price range | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| AI visibility audit | $300 to $1,000 | Testing real customer prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews |
| GEO foundation setup | $500 to $1,500 | Business facts, schema, entity details, FAQs, key page rewrites |
| Ongoing GEO (monthly) | $500 to $2,500 per month | Answer-first content, citations, reviews, monthly AI mention tracking |
| SEO + GEO bundle (monthly) | $1,000 to $4,000 per month | Full local SEO plus AI search optimization |
Our pricing: Tech Engineers Group offers a GEO Audit for $299, GEO Growth for $499 per month and SEO + GEO for $999 per month, all with no contract. See our GEO services.
What is included in GEO work?
- AI visibility audit: testing the questions your customers ask and recording who AI recommends and which sources it cites.
- Business fact cleanup: making your name, address, phone, services, hours and service areas consistent everywhere.
- Structured data: schema markup that labels your business, services and FAQs for machines.
- Answer-first content: pages that answer questions clearly in the first sentence, the format AI tools quote.
- Citations and reviews: trusted mentions and detailed reviews that give AI confidence to recommend you.
- Monthly tracking: re-running the same prompts to measure mentions, citations and leads.
What affects the cost of GEO?
- Number of services and locations you want to be recommended for
- Current state of your listings, since inconsistent details take longer to fix
- Content needs, from rewriting a few pages to building full service and area pages
- Competition in your industry and area
- Whether SEO is already in place, since GEO works best on a solid SEO foundation
Is GEO worth it for a small business?
For businesses whose customers research before buying (home services, health care, legal, professional services and many retailers), it increasingly is. AI answers name only a few businesses, so being one of them can bring well-qualified leads. The simplest way to check is to add a “How did you hear about us?” field with an “AI assistant” option and track it.
Red flags when buying GEO
- Guarantees that ChatGPT will recommend you
- No clear list of prompts tracked or no monthly report
- “AI content” that is generic and unedited
- Long contracts for a service that is still new
Frequently asked questions
How much does GEO cost per month?
Ongoing GEO typically costs $500 to $2,500 per month for small businesses, depending on the number of services, locations and content needed.
Is GEO more expensive than SEO?
Usually similar or slightly less on its own, because it builds on SEO foundations. Many businesses buy them together to cover both Google results and AI answers.
Can I do GEO myself?
Some parts, yes: keeping your business details consistent, earning reviews and writing clear FAQs. Structured data, prompt tracking and content at scale are where professional help saves time.
How long does GEO take to work?
Business fact and schema fixes can influence AI answers within weeks. Building the reviews, mentions and content that make you the obvious recommendation usually takes three to six months.
What is the difference between GEO and SEO pricing?
SEO pricing is based on ranking work such as pages, links and technical fixes. GEO adds AI prompt tracking, entity and schema work and answer-first content. Read our guide: What is GEO?
See how AI describes your business
Book a free growth audit and we will show you what ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI say about your business today, and what it would take to get recommended.
