Most AI consultants do one of two things when you ask what they cost: they quote an hourly rate, or they hide behind "it depends" and push you toward a sales call before naming a single number. Bowen AI Strategy Group does neither. We publish a fixed price for the two services that can honestly carry one, and we scope everything else to the specific problem with a straight number in writing within 48 hours.
Here is the whole picture in plain terms. Two services have a fixed, public price. Websites: $1,500 setup for the Launch build or $3,000 setup for the Growth build, each with a flat $250 per month care plan. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): $1,500 for a full audit plus a flat $1,500 per month. Everything else (AI voice agents, automation, dashboards, custom builds) is scoped to your problem, with a straight number in writing within 48 hours. Custom engagements start at $3,000 per month. That is the entire sheet. The rest of this post explains why it is structured that way and how to budget against it.
How do AI consultants usually price?
Across the market in 2026, AI consulting pricing falls into three models, and it helps to know all three before you compare quotes.
Hourly. Common among independent consultants and freelancers. Industry estimates place freelance AI consulting rates in roughly the $150 to $300 per hour range in 2026, with specialists and enterprise-firm partners charging well above that. The trouble with hourly is that the meter is running during discovery, revisions, and every email, and you cannot know the total until the invoice arrives.
Per project. A single fee for a defined deliverable: a chatbot, a website, an automation. This is cleaner for the buyer because the number is fixed before work starts. The risk is scope creep: if the project is loosely defined, "out of scope" change orders can stack up.
Monthly retainer. A flat recurring fee for ongoing work, the standard for anything that needs to be maintained, monitored, and improved over time, like GEO or a live AI agent. Retainers are predictable and align the consultant with your long-term result rather than a one-time handoff.
These are general market descriptions, not Bowen AI's prices. What matters is that a good consultant tells you which model applies and commits to a number. Bowen AI does not bill hourly at all: fixed where a fixed price is honest, flat-scoped everywhere else.
What does Bowen AI charge?
Two services are published because the deliverable is consistent enough to name a real price without guessing. Everything else is scoped, because it is not.
| Service | Setup / Audit | Monthly | Pricing type |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-Ready Website (Launch) | $1,500 | $250/mo care plan | Fixed · published |
| AI-Ready Website (Growth) | $3,000 | $250/mo care plan | Fixed · published |
| GEO Program | $1,500 full audit | $1,500/mo flat | Fixed · published |
| AI Voice Agents | Scoped | From $3,000/mo | Scoped to the problem |
| Automation & Workflows | Scoped | From $3,000/mo | Scoped to the problem |
| Dashboards & Portals | Scoped | From $3,000/mo | Scoped to the problem |
| Custom AI Builds | Scoped | From $3,000/mo | Scoped to the problem |
The website tiers cover a modern, fast, AI-ready site: $1,500 for Launch, $3,000 for Growth, and a flat $250 per month care plan at either level that handles hosting, security, and updates. The care plan is $250 per month regardless of which build you choose, with no maintenance upcharge for the larger site.
The GEO program is $1,500 for the full audit and a flat $1,500 per month after that. The audit maps exactly how your business currently shows up across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews and what is holding it back; the monthly program builds and maintains the citation strategy. Flat means flat, with no per-keyword or per-engine surcharges.
The custom work (voice agents, automation, dashboards, bespoke builds) is quoted as a flat scoped number, in writing, within 48 hours of a short conversation. Custom engagements start at $3,000 per month.
Why scope custom work instead of publishing a price?
Because a voice agent that answers after-hours calls for a single dental office and a voice agent that routes and books across a five-location dealership are not the same build, and pretending they cost the same would either overcharge the small job or shortchange the big one. A website has a predictable shape. Custom automation does not. The honest thing is to look at your actual problem, quote the real number, and put it in writing before anyone commits.
Scoping protects you in both directions. You do not pay for capability you will never use, and you do not get blindsided by an hourly meter halfway through. The 48-hour turnaround exists so scoping never becomes a stall tactic: you describe the problem, we come back with a flat number you can say yes or no to. No deck, no discovery-call gauntlet, no "let's schedule a follow-up to discuss pricing."
What should a small business actually budget?
Match the budget to the goal, and start with one thing rather than everything at once.
- Get a modern, AI-ready website live: $1,500 to $3,000 setup plus $250 per month.
- Become visible inside AI search answers: $1,500 for the GEO audit plus $1,500 per month.
- Automate a specific bottleneck (missed calls, manual outreach, repetitive workflows): from $3,000 per month, with the exact flat number confirmed in writing within 48 hours.
Most small businesses start with the piece tied to their most expensive current problem, usually missed leads or AI-search invisibility, then expand once it has paid for itself. You do not need the whole stack on day one. You need the one thing that moves a number you already care about.
How do you know it's worth it?
Tie the engagement to a single measurable outcome before you sign: more booked calls, more AI citations, fewer missed leads, hours of manual work removed. Then ask the consultant to quote a flat price against it. If the number is small relative to the value of the outcome and the firm will commit to it in writing with no hourly surprises, it is worth it. If the answer is a fuzzy hourly estimate and a promise of a strategy document, it is not.
Transparent pricing is itself the signal. A firm that will name a flat number is a firm confident it can deliver against that number, with skin in the game the moment the ink dries. A firm that only talks in hourly ranges has quietly shifted the risk of its own inefficiency onto you. That is the real reason this whole page leads with prices instead of a contact form.
Bottom line
AI consulting in 2026 costs whatever the consultant is willing to put in writing. Bowen AI Strategy Group publishes fixed prices for websites ($1,500 or $3,000 setup, flat $250 per month) and GEO ($1,500 audit, flat $1,500 per month), and scopes everything else to your specific problem with a straight number in writing within 48 hours, custom engagements starting at $3,000 per month. If you want to see how a Pittsburgh small business should think about AI investment more broadly, start with the AI consulting overview. If you already know the problem you want priced, tell us what it is and you will have a flat number within two business days.