How much does GEO cost?
For a single-location small business, expect $400 to $1,500 a month. Below about $400 you are buying automated reporting and little labor. Above $2,000 usually means multiple locations or serious content production. Most local businesses land between $500 and $1,200.
What each band buys
$300 to $500. Google Business Profile management, posts, review requests and replies, citation cleanup, basic reporting. Real work, narrow scope. Right for a single location that mainly needs the phone to ring.
$800 to $1,500. The above plus prompt research, several answer-first pages a month, schema, and AI citation tracking. This is where most of the compounding happens.
$2,000 and up. Multiple locations, or a single location in a genuinely competitive market with heavy content production.
What drives the number
How many locations, how competitive your market is, how much content gets produced monthly, and whether AI mention tracking is included - that carries a real data cost, roughly $2 to $5 per full report run.
What to be wary of
Percentage-of-revenue or per-lead pricing, which gives an agency reason to send volume rather than fit. Twelve-month lock-ins. Setup fees over about $1,000. And any guarantee of a specific AI mention, which nobody can control.
Judging value
Work out what one new customer is worth over a year. For most trades a single retained customer covers a month or two of fees. If the math needs three new customers a month to break even, be more sceptical.
The short version
- $400 to $1,500 a month for one location
- Under $400 is mostly automation, not labor
- Avoid per-lead pricing and twelve-month lock-ins
- Compare fees against the lifetime value of one customer
Related questions
Is there a setup fee?
Often, and it should be modest or waived. Ask what it covers.
How long before it pays back?
Plan on six months. Anyone promising two is guessing.
Can I start small?
Yes. Profile work first is the sensible entry point.
Keep reading
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Want this checked on your own business?
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