How much does GEO cost? GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) pricing varies by provider, but most specialist work runs a setup fee plus a monthly retainer in the low four figures. Bowen AI Strategy Group charges $2,500 for month 1, which covers the audit, the foundation build, the first batch of pages, tracking setup, and a first press release, then $2,000 per month for ongoing optimization and citation monitoring.
What Drives the Price
GEO is not one flat number across the market. These are the honest drivers behind what any provider quotes you.
A clean, indexable site needs less foundation work than a thin or broken one. The worse the starting point, the more the first build costs.
A crowded answer set with entrenched names takes more work to break into than a quiet category where nobody is optimizing yet.
If you already have reviews, mentions, and listicle presence, you are ahead. If not, building that corroboration is part of the cost.
Winning one query in one city is smaller than winning many queries across many locations. Scope scales the work and the price.
The Market
Here is the honest lay of the land, and where Bowen sits inside it. Ranges are typical, not quotes.
| Provider type | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| DIY tools and audits | Free to a few hundred a month | Data and reports, but you do all the work yourself |
| Freelancer | A few hundred to about $1,000 a month | A narrow scope, and the work stops when they do |
| Specialist GEO agency (Bowen) | Setup or audit fee plus low four figures a month | Foundation build, citation work, and monthly tracking |
| Bowen AI Strategy Group | $2,500 for month 1, then $2,000 a month | Audit, foundation build, first pages, tracking, and a press release in month 1, then ongoing optimization and citation monitoring |
| Large full-service firm | Several thousand to five figures a month | Broad service, higher overhead, longer contracts |
Investment
Three options, each priced the same way: a first month that does the heavy lifting, then a steady monthly rate. Month 1 covers the audit, the foundation build, the first batch of pages, tracking setup, and a first press release. A quarterly press release is included every month after.
GEO
Then $2,000/mo
Get your business named when buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI. Answer-first pages, entity and listings repair, off-page authority, and monthly citation tracking.
GEO + SEO
Then $4,000/mo
Both programs run together, so you rank on Google and get named inside AI answers from one plan, one team, and one monthly report.
SEO
Then $2,500/mo
The search page engine: pages built around what your buyers actually type, technical fixes, and ranking and traffic tracking every month.
Not sure which one fits? Send your site and you get a written check plus a straight price within 48 hours.
Common Questions
Implementation is the foundation build: fixing how AI crawlers read your site, clean business data and schema, answer-first pages, and the outside listings engines trust. At Bowen that build happens in month 1, which is $2,500 and also covers the audit, the first batch of pages, tracking setup, and a first press release, so there is no separate implementation fee. Ongoing work is $2,000 per month after that.
Not necessarily. GEO and SEO share a foundation, so a lot of good SEO work already counts. What GEO adds is the work aimed at AI answers: answer-first pages, entity consistency, and citation monitoring across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI. Many businesses fund it by shifting part of an existing SEO or ads budget rather than adding a new line.
GEO pricing falls into tiers. DIY tools run from free to a few hundred a month, but you do the work. Freelancers often charge a few hundred to around a thousand a month for a narrow scope. Specialist GEO agencies typically charge a setup or audit fee plus a monthly retainer in the low four figures. Large full-service firms can run several thousand to five figures a month. Bowen sits in the specialist tier: $2,500 for month 1, which includes the audit and the full foundation build, then $2,000 per month.
Bowen offers three options. Get Named by AI (GEO) is $2,500 for month 1, then $2,000 per month. Get Found on Google (SEO) is $3,000 for month 1, then $2,500 per month. Get Found and Named, which runs both, is $4,500 for month 1, then $4,000 per month. Month 1 covers the audit, the foundation build, the first batch of pages, tracking setup, and a first press release, and a quarterly press release is included after that.
Staying cited is a continuing game. AI engines change how they pick and rank sources, competitors publish new answers, and your off-page footprint needs steady reinforcement. A one-time build gets you eligible and cited, but the retainer keeps you in the answer set as the engines evolve and tracks your citation share month over month so you can see it move.
The main drivers are the size and health of your current site, how competitive your category is inside AI answers, how much off-page authority you already have, and how many queries and locations you want to win. A single-location service business in a quiet category needs less work than a multi-location brand fighting for a crowded answer. Bowen keeps it simple with published pricing, $2,500 for month 1 and $2,000 per month after, and scopes anything larger in writing before work begins.
It depends on whether your buyers are asking AI for recommendations. If they are, being named inside the answer is the difference between getting the call and being invisible at the moment of decision. GEO is worth it when the value of one new customer clears the monthly cost quickly, which is true for most service businesses. We measure citation share by engine and query so you can judge the return on evidence, not on faith.
Start with a free AI visibility check. Send your site and you get a written read on how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI answer for your category today, plus a straight price in writing within 48 hours. No mystery pricing, no call required.
tyler@bowenaistrategygroup.com | (412) 841-5392 | Canonsburg, PA · Pittsburgh metro, serving businesses nationwide