How much do SEO, AEO and GEO cost? Real price ranges for India and the US

Many agencies now sell AEO (answer engine optimisation) and GEO (generative engine optimisation) as new services. Most of the work overlaps with good SEO: making pages clear and accurate, getting your business details consistent, earning mentions and reviews, and making sure crawlers can read your site. Google's own guidance says no special technical steps are needed for its AI features beyond normal SEO.

So be wary of paying three times for one job. Ask any agency which tasks are new for AEO or GEO, and which they already do for SEO. Our SEO vs AEO vs GEO page explains the difference in plain words.

Two Indian agencies publish 2026 ranges that broadly agree:

• Single-location local business: ₹8,000 to ₹20,000 a month (upGrowth); ₹8,000 to ₹18,000 entry level (OneCity, Bangalore).
• Small and growing businesses: ₹25,000 to ₹75,000 a month (upGrowth); ₹20,000 to ₹50,000 "growth" level (OneCity).
• Competitive sectors and funded startups: ₹80,000 to ₹1,50,000 a month (upGrowth).
• Enterprise, many sites or regions: ₹1,50,000 to ₹3,00,000 or more (upGrowth).
• Freelancers: ₹8,000 to ₹40,000 a month (upGrowth).

Both are agencies selling SEO, so these are their own market estimates, not independent data.

The best-known survey is Ahrefs' poll of 439 SEO providers (page last updated August 2024):

• The most common monthly retainer was $501 to $1,000, charged by 20.4% of respondents.
• The most common hourly rate was $75 to $100, charged by 24%.

Prices spread widely, from under a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands a month, depending on the size of the site and how competitive the market is. Local businesses in competitive trades, such as personal injury law or dental implants, usually sit at the higher end.

Fewer agencies publish GEO prices. Two that do:

• US, eSEOspace (October 2026): combined SEO, GEO and AEO plans from $750 to $4,000 a month, with 5 to 30 hours of implementation work a month. The same page says plainly that there's no authoritative public benchmark for GEO pricing.
• India, upGrowth estimates (September 2026): GEO retainers of ₹1.5 to 2.5 lakh (starter), ₹2.5 to 4 lakh (growth) and ₹4 to 8 lakh (enterprise) a month, plus a one-time setup of ₹50,000 to ₹1.5 lakh. These are aimed at mid-size and large brands; most local businesses don't need this level.

AI visibility tracking tools are billed separately. Published starting prices include Otterly.AI at $29 a month and Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit at $99 a month (vendor prices as reported in October 2026).

Low end (₹8,000 to ₹20,000 or a few hundred dollars a month)

Google Business Profile upkeep, a few posts, basic on-page fixes and a monthly report. Fine for a single shop or clinic, if the work is real. Ask to see what was changed each month.

Middle (₹25,000 to ₹75,000 or $500 to $2,000 a month)

New pages or articles each month, technical fixes, listings and review work, and some outreach for mentions. A common level for small businesses that rely on their website for enquiries.

High end (lakhs or several thousand dollars a month)

Strategy, a team, regular content, digital PR and tracking across AI assistants. Makes sense for brands in competitive markets or with many locations.

A lot of the first-year work doesn't need an agency:

1. 1Check your basics. Free tools such as Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and our free checks show crawler blocks, title problems, missing business data and slow pages.
2. 2Fix your Google Business Profile. Complete every field, add real photos, reply to reviews. Our GMB ONE audit shows the gaps against nearby competitors.
3. 3Make your main pages answer clearly. What you do, where, for whom, and what it costs, near the top of the page.
4. 4Get listed consistently. Same name, address and phone on your site, Google, Bing, Apple and the directories in your trade.

Then hire help for what takes skill or time: content, technical fixes you can't do, and outreach. For full disclosure, SEARCH ONE, our paid audit tool, costs $9 to $35 a month; it tells you what to fix but doesn't do the work for you.

Ask each provider the same five questions:

1. 1What exactly will you do each month, in hours or tasks?
2. 2Which of those tasks are for AI search, and which are normal SEO?
3. 3How will you report results, and which numbers will you track: rankings, enquiries, calls or AI mentions?
4. 4Who owns the content, listings and accounts you create?
5. 5Can I leave after three months if I'm not happy?

The cheaper quote is often fine if the answers are clear. The expensive one isn't better if they can't say what they'll do.

[[faq:[["Is GEO more expensive than SEO?", "Agencies that sell GEO separately usually charge more for it, but most of the work overlaps with SEO. Ask which tasks are actually new before paying for both."], ["How much should a small local business spend on SEO in India?", "Published ranges for a single-location business are roughly ₹8,000 to ₹20,000 a month. Many owners can do the basics themselves first and hire help once they know what's missing."], ["Can I get guaranteed rankings or ChatGPT placement?", "No honest provider can promise that. Rankings and AI answers depend on Google's and the AI companies' systems, which nobody outside controls."], ["How long before SEO shows results?", "Fixes like an unblocked crawler or a corrected Google profile can show up within weeks. New content and reputation usually take months."], ["Do I need an AI visibility tracking tool?", "Not at first. A monthly manual check of 10 questions works. See our guide on checking whether AI recommends your business."]]]