What Does AEO Cost? Pricing Models and What Is Worth Paying For

Quick answer: AEO (answer engine optimization) is sold in three ways: a one-off audit that shows what AI assistants say about you and what to fix, a monthly retainer where an agency does the work, and self-serve tracking tools that measure how often you are mentioned. Audits are the cheapest place to start, retainers are where most of the cost sits, and tools only measure, they do not fix anything. Pay for work done on your site and your presence elsewhere, with reporting you can check, and walk away from anyone who guarantees a spot in ChatGPT.

AEO is new enough that pricing is all over the place. Some agencies rename their SEO retainer and add "AI" to the invoice. Others sell dashboards that report the problem without solving it. Knowing the pricing models, and what each one should deliver, is the fastest way to tell them apart.

We run Loop2Tech, a studio based in Karachi, Pakistan, that sells AEO, GEO and SEO to businesses worldwide. This guide explains how AEO is priced, what is worth paying for, and what our own packages cost so you have real numbers to compare.

What you are paying for

AEO is the work of getting your business named and quoted when people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews a question you should be the answer to. GEO (generative engine optimization) is the closely related work of being cited as a source in those answers. Our guides to answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization explain each in full.

In practice the work falls into four parts, and a quote should say which of them it covers:

• Access. Making sure AI crawlers can reach your pages, and that the facts about your business are consistent everywhere they read.
• Your own pages. Service and product pages written so an AI assistant can quote them: plain answers, prices, locations and specifics, with structured data. Our post on AI-friendly service pages shows what that looks like.
• Your presence elsewhere. AI answers lean heavily on third-party sources such as directories, reviews, Reddit, Wikipedia and press. Our guides to Reddit and AI citations and Wikipedia for brands cover two of them.
• Measurement. Asking AI assistants a fixed set of questions every month and recording who gets named. Our guide to measuring AI citations and share of voice explains the method.

AEO pricing model 1: the one-off audit

An audit tells you what AI assistants say about you today, who they name instead, and what is stopping them naming you. It is the right first purchase because it turns a vague worry into a fix list you can act on yourself or hand to anyone.

A useful audit includes real answers from several AI assistants, the competitors they name, a check of AI crawler access and structured data, and a prioritised list of fixes with the evidence behind each one. An audit that only gives you a score out of 100 has not done the work.

AEO pricing model 2: the monthly retainer

A retainer is where an agency does the work every month: fixing pages, writing content that answers buyer questions, building your presence on the sites AI assistants cite, and reporting results. Most of the money in AEO is spent here, and the range is wide because the scope is.

When you compare retainers, compare what gets done each month, not the price alone:

• Does the agency change your site, or only send recommendations? Recommendations you have to implement yourself are worth far less.
• Is SEO included? AI assistants often draw on pages that already rank, so AEO and SEO work best together. Our comparison of AEO and SEO explains how they overlap.
• What is in the monthly report? Ask for the prompts that are tracked, the assistants checked, and how often your business is named, alongside Search Console data.
• What is the minimum term? AEO takes months to show results, so a short minimum is normal. A twelve-month lock-in before any results is not.

AEO pricing model 3: tracking tools

Self-serve tools run your chosen prompts through AI assistants and chart how often you appear. As examples of published pricing on 30 October 2026, Otterly listed monthly plans at US$29, US$189 and US$489, and Peec listed US$95, US$245 and US$495 a month, with the number of prompts tracked rising at each level. Enterprise tools such as Profound quote on request.

Tools are useful if you have someone in-house to act on what they show. On their own they measure the problem without fixing it. If you hire an agency, ask which tool it uses and whether the cost is included in the retainer.

What is worth paying for

Red flags in an AEO quote

• A guaranteed position in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews. Nobody controls what these systems say. A guarantee means the agency is selling, not measuring.
• No list of prompts. If the agency cannot tell you which questions it is tracking, it cannot show you progress.
• Only an llms.txt file. An llms.txt file can help, but it is a small part of the job. Our post on what llms.txt does explains why.
• Your SEO retainer with a new name. Ask what changes in the work, not just in the invoice.
• Results reported only as a score. Ask for the answers themselves.

What Loop2Tech charges for AEO

Our prices are fixed and published on our pricing page:

• Free AI Visibility Check: what ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI answers say about you today, who gets named instead, and your top five fixes. No card, no call, by email within three working days.
• Full AI Visibility Audit, US$99: ten areas including AI answers, competitors named, AI crawler access, structured data and your Google Business Profile, with a written report, a prioritised fix list and a 30-minute walkthrough call. Five working days.
• AEO, GEO and SEO, US$450 a month (minimum three months): we do the work on your site rather than just recommend it, and report monthly on Search Console rankings and impressions plus AI citation share from a fixed set of prompts.

Our AEO, GEO and SEO services page explains what happens each month.

Pay for the work, not the label

AEO pricing makes sense once you separate the three models: an audit to find the problems, a retainer to fix them, and tools to measure progress. Start with an audit, pay for work done on your site and beyond it, and insist on reporting that shows the real answers to a fixed set of questions.

If you want to see where you stand first, run our free audit or read how our AEO, GEO and SEO service works, then tell us which questions you want to be the answer to.

Frequently asked questions

How much does AEO cost?

It depends on the model. A one-off audit is the cheapest starting point, monthly retainers where an agency does the work cost the most, and self-serve tracking tools run from tens to hundreds of dollars a month. At Loop2Tech a full audit is US$99 and the monthly AEO, GEO and SEO service is US$450 a month.

Is AEO more expensive than SEO?

Not necessarily. Much of the work overlaps: clear pages, structured data and authority on other sites help both. AEO adds prompt tracking and work on the third-party sources AI assistants cite. Buying them together is usually cheaper than buying them separately.

How long does AEO take to work?

Fixes to crawler access and structured data take effect as soon as AI assistants and search engines recrawl your pages. Changes to who gets named in answers usually take months, because they depend on content and third-party sources building up over time.

Can I do AEO myself?

Yes, if you have the time. Start by asking ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini the questions your customers ask, note who gets named, and fix the pages and listings that should mention you. A tracking tool helps you measure progress once you have a routine.

Can any agency guarantee my business will appear in ChatGPT?

No. Nobody controls what AI assistants say. A credible agency will show you which questions it is tracking, what it changed, and how often your business is named over time, without promising a result.