Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is new enough that there are no established market rates — which means pricing is genuinely inconsistent. Some agencies charge £500/month for what amounts to 4 blog posts. Others charge £5,000/month for a programme that includes genuine technical work. Understanding what you should pay requires understanding what real GEO actually is — and what it costs to deliver properly.
What GEO Actually Is (and Isn't)
GEO is the practice of optimising your business to be cited by AI search engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, and others. It is fundamentally different from traditional SEO, which optimises for Google rankings. Real GEO involves:
✓Entity recognition building — making AI models aware of your business as a distinct, verifiable entity
✓Structured data deployment — implementing Schema.org markup that AI models can parse and verify
✓AI crawler access — ensuring GPTBot, PerplexityBot, and ClaudeBot can reach your content
✓Content extractability — structuring content so AI models can pull clean, accurate information
✓Third-party citation building — earning mentions in sources AI models treat as authoritative
✓Citation tracking — measuring how often and where your business is cited across AI platforms
Content production without these technical foundations is not GEO. It's content marketing with a new label.
GEO Agency Pricing Tiers
£500-1,000/month — entry-level. — Typically covers basic content optimisation and monthly reporting. Often lacks structured data work, entity building, and proper citation tracking. Appropriate for very small businesses testing the channel.
£1,500-3,000/month — professional. — Full GEO programme including technical implementation, content strategy, entity building, third-party citation development, and monthly citation tracking across all major AI platforms. This is where genuine, compounding AI visibility is achievable.
£3,000-6,000/month — specialist. — Intensive programmes for competitive categories, multi-location businesses, or companies with complex technical setups. Includes dedicated reporting infrastructure and senior strategic oversight.
£6,000-10,000+/month — enterprise. — Large-scale programmes for multi-brand organisations, international businesses, or highly competitive AI search categories requiring aggressive citation building.
How to Evaluate a GEO Agency Proposal
The fastest way to evaluate a GEO proposal is to look at what's being measured. Genuine GEO services measure citation frequency — how often your business is cited across target AI platforms for relevant queries. If a proposal measures traffic, rankings, or content volume as primary KPIs, it is not a real GEO programme.
Also check: does the proposal include AI crawler auditing? Structured data implementation? Entity signal consistency review? If these three things aren't explicitly included, the programme is content marketing with a GEO label — and you will pay content marketing prices for content marketing results.
What Panovista Marketing's GEO Retainer Includes
Ian Ayliffe (First-Class Honours in Computer Forensics & Security from Leeds Beckett, Guest Lecturer at Imperial College London) runs the Panovista GEO retainer from £1,500/month. This includes: direct access to Ian (no account managers), monthly citation tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews, ongoing structured data and entity signal optimisation, content strategy aligned with AI citation methodology, and a monthly performance report with competitor benchmarking. The retainer is always preceded by the £997 AI Visibility Audit to establish a verified baseline.
💡 Tip:Ask any GEO agency to show you a monthly report from an existing client (anonymised). The report should show citation frequency data across multiple AI platforms, not just traffic metrics or content output. If they can't show you this format, they're not tracking the right things.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is GEO more expensive than traditional SEO?
A: At the professional level, comparable. Traditional SEO has a wider range because there are more providers, including very cheap ones. GEO has fewer providers with genuine methodology, so the floor is higher — but so is the specificity of what you get.
Q: Should I invest in GEO before my traditional SEO is strong?
A: Ideally, both simultaneously. GEO draws on the content quality and domain authority that traditional SEO builds. But if your site already has reasonable domain authority and good content, a GEO programme can unlock significant AI visibility quickly without waiting for traditional SEO to mature further. See [what GEO is](/blog/what-is-geo) for a full comparison.
Q: How long before GEO investment starts showing returns?
A: Quick technical fixes show results in 2-4 weeks. Building consistent AI citation authority — the compounding advantage — typically takes 3-6 months of sustained work. The return comes in brand discovery, qualified traffic from AI-driven branded search, and competitive positioning that is increasingly difficult for late movers to displace.
Want to understand exactly what a GEO programme would cost for your business? Book a free 30-minute call with Ian — we'll assess your current position and give you transparent pricing for a tailored programme.