# GEO Pricing Models: Project vs. Retainer for 2025

## Introduction

In 2025, agencies need to rethink how they price GEO work. The old model—billing by the hour—no longer matches the value you're actually delivering.

Traditional search traffic is predicted to drop by 50% by 2028 (Gartner). But the bigger shift isn't about losing clicks—it's about what replaces them. When AI answers a question and cites your client's brand, that citation carries more weight than a dozen organic clicks ever did.

For agencies looking to scale, this shift creates two clear opportunities:

**The Audit**: A high-value diagnostic project ($3k–$8k) that reveals what AI actually says about a brand.

**The Retainer**: Ongoing management ($2.5k–$5k/mo) that ensures AI keeps saying the right things.

Your clients aren't paying you to write content—they're paying you to control what AI says about them.

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## The AI Search Audit: Your Entry Point

Most agencies start with a one-time audit—and for good reason. It's a high-value diagnostic that validates the problem before asking for a long-term commitment.

But this isn't your standard SEO audit. Instead of checking broken links and page speed, you're evaluating something more strategic: how AI models actually see the brand—what they say, what they get wrong, and what they're missing entirely.

### Project Scope & Deliverables

**Technical Parsing Check**

Can ChatGPT and Perplexity actually read your client's content? Check robots.txt, structured data, and crawlability.

**Brand Perception Analysis**

What does AI currently say when asked about the brand? Are there factual errors or concerning patterns?

**Target Prompt Mapping**

Which questions should the brand be answering? This is where tools like Deca come in—analyzing the actual prompts your target audience uses, not just keywords.

### Pricing Benchmark (2025)

| Service Level   | Price Range      | What's Included                                  |
| --------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Startup/SMB** | $3,000 - $4,500  | Basic brand scan + 10-15 priority prompts        |
| **Mid-Market**  | $5,000 - $6,500  | Full competitive analysis + 25-30 prompts        |
| **Enterprise**  | $7,000 - $8,000+ | Multi-brand/product analysis + strategic roadmap |

Don't bill this by the hour. Position it as a strategic roadmap. You're showing them what they can't see: missed opportunities in AI search that their competitors might already be exploiting.

***

## The SoAV Management Retainer: Recurring Revenue

Once you've completed the audit, the natural next step is ongoing management. Unlike Google rankings—which update gradually—AI answers are generated fresh every time. That means they're constantly at risk of being displaced.

### Why Ongoing Management Matters

**Volatility**

AI models update their training data and weights regularly. What worked last month might not work today.

**Competitive Pressure**

When a competitor publishes strong content, they can replace your client in AI citations overnight.

**Hallucination Defense**

AI models sometimes invent facts. You need to catch these fast—ideally before your client's CEO does.

### Retainer Structure & Pricing

**Core Deliverable**: Monthly Share of AI Voice (SoAV) reporting + 2-4 optimized content pieces per month.

**Price Range**: $2,500 - $5,000/month, depending on:

* Number of priority prompts monitored
* Competitive intensity in the space
* Content production volume

**Value Metric**: Share of AI Voice (SoAV) percentage—not just website traffic.

The way to frame this for clients: "SEO gets you ranked. GEO keeps you cited. We make sure AI never gets your brand wrong."

***

## How to Deliver This Efficiently

The biggest challenge with GEO retainers is the operational overhead. Manually tracking AI responses across multiple engines is time-intensive and doesn't scale.

This is where automation becomes essential. You need systems that can:

* Monitor hundreds of target prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews
* Track citation patterns and displacement events in real-time
* Produce content structured for AI citation (high E-E-A-T signals, clear statements, proper sourcing)

Tools like Deca handle this automation layer, which is why agencies using it can maintain 60-70% margins on these retainers. The platform cost (\~$249/mo on the Scale plan) is minimal compared to the client value ($5,000/mo for 24/7 brand defense).

But the key insight isn't about any specific tool—it's that GEO retainers only make financial sense when you've decoupled revenue from labor hours.

***

## Conclusion

The shift to GEO pricing is fundamentally a shift from selling inputs to selling outcomes. You're no longer paid for hours worked or words written—you're paid for visibility controlled and authority maintained.

The two-tier model works because it mirrors how clients actually buy:

1. They need proof there's a problem (the audit)
2. They need ongoing assurance it won't happen again (the retainer)

Start positioning your next pitch around visibility, not deliverables. Don't sell "AI content writing"—that's becoming commoditized. Sell "AI visibility management"—that's where the value is.

***

## Common Questions

**Should the audit be a separate engagement or bundled with the retainer?**

Keep them separate. The audit establishes your expertise and filters for serious clients who understand strategic value over quick fixes. It also gives the client a clear stopping point if they want to handle optimization in-house (though most won't).

**Can I combine SEO and GEO into one retainer?**

Yes, and we recommend it for most clients. Just make sure you're tracking separate KPIs: rankings and traffic for SEO, citations and SoAV for GEO. This dual reporting shows you're covering both current traffic and future visibility.

**What if traffic doesn't increase right away?**

Focus on brand safety and purchase intent. AI citations often reach users further down the funnel—people who are ready to buy, not just browsing. A single citation in a ChatGPT answer can be worth more than 50 organic clicks if it reaches the right buyer at the right moment.

**How do I respond when clients ask for hourly billing?**

Explain that GEO is outcome-based work. Hourly billing incentivizes slow delivery, but your model incentivizes fast results. You're taking on the performance risk—if AI doesn't cite them more, you're the one who has to figure out why. That's worth a premium.

**How often should I report on SoAV?**

Monthly is standard, but set up real-time alerts for significant events. If a major hallucination appears or a competitor suddenly displaces your client in key prompts, notify them immediately. These moments prove why the retainer exists.

***

## References

* Gartner. *Predicts 2024: Search Engine Traffic to Drop 50% by 2028*. Gartner, 2024.
* Backlinko. *SEO Agency Pricing Models & Costs (2024 Guide)*. <https://backlinko.com/seo-pricing>
* SE Ranking. *SEO Pricing in 2024: How Much Do Agencies Charge?*. <https://seranking.com/blog/seo-pricing/>
* OuterBox. *SEO Pricing & Costs: How Much Should You Spend?*. <https://www.outerboxdesign.com/articles/seo/seo-pricing-costs/>
