How much does AI marketing cost? Real 2026 prices.
Most small businesses pay $1,500 to $5,000 a month for AI marketing done by an agency. Mid-size companies pay $5,000 to $25,000 a month. An AI marketing consultant charges about $100 to $450 an hour, and setting up an AI chatbot, voice agent or automation usually costs $2,500 to $15,000 one-time plus a monthly fee. Below: what AI marketing agencies charge for each service, what drives the price, and a calculator for your own mix.
AI marketing cost calculator
Choose your size, what you need and who should do the work. You'll see what agencies typically charge in 2026 next to my published prices. Estimates only; nothing you pick is sent anywhere.
How much do AI marketing agencies charge?
Most AI marketing agencies charge a monthly retainer: about $1,500 to $5,000 for a small business, $5,000 to $25,000 for a mid-size company, and $25,000 to $50,000 or more for enterprise work. Projects such as an audit or a rebuild run $5,000 to $50,000, and hourly work $50 to $300. In the US, agency hourly rates cluster around $100 to $149. Here is the range by service.
| Service | Small business / month | Mid-size / month | Project or setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI search visibility (GEO, AEO, LLMO) | $1,500–$5,000 | $5,000–$25,000 | $5,000–$50,000 per project |
| Content and social media | $1,000–$3,000 | $3,000–$10,000 | $2,000–$10,000 per project |
| Paid ads management (fee only) | $600–$1,500 | $3,000–$9,500+ | often a % of ad spend |
| AI chatbot or voice agent | $100–$500 to run | $1,000–$5,000 to run | $2,000–$25,000 setup |
| Marketing automation | $500–$1,000 | $2,500–$5,000 | $2,500–$15,000 setup |
| AI-ready website | — | — | $3,000–$30,000+ per project |
| Strategy / fractional CMO | $5,000–$8,000 | $10,000–$25,000 | $100–$450 an hour |
Ranges compiled from the 2026 sources listed at the bottom of this page. Ad spend and software subscriptions are extra.
The four ways agencies price AI marketing
A fixed fee for an agreed list of work every month. The most common model, and the easiest to budget.
A fixed price for a defined job: an audit, a website, an agent build. Good for a clear start and finish.
Pay for time, usually for advice, reviews and strategy. Best when you have a team to do the work.
A lower base fee plus a bonus tied to leads or sales. Read the definition of a "lead" carefully.
Why one quote is $1,500 and another is $15,000
One channel or all of them. AI visibility alone costs far less than visibility, content, ads and automation together.
A tool, a junior team running prompts, or a senior strategist deciding what to say. You pay for judgment.
A dentist in a small town needs less than a law firm in Los Angeles competing with fifty others.
Websites, agents and automations cost the most at the start, then much less each month to run.
Done-for-you costs the most in cash. Guidance plus your own team costs less cash and more time.
Medical, dental, legal and financial work needs privacy safeguards and review, which adds cost.
Agency, consultant, freelancer or do it yourself?
| Option | Typical cost | Who does the work | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI marketing agency | $1,500–$25,000+ a month | The agency | Owners with no time or team for marketing |
| AI marketing consultant | $100–$450 an hour | Your team, with expert direction | Businesses with staff who need a plan they can trust |
| Freelancer | About $1,350 a month on average (SEO freelancers) | One person | A single, well-defined task |
| Do it yourself | $10–$1,000 a month in tools | You | Very small budgets, if you have the time to learn |
Freelancer average from an Ahrefs survey cited by MV3 Marketing.
What I charge, published
I'm a consultant-led, done-for-you AI agency: I set the strategy and review every deliverable, and my AI agents do the volume. Here is what that costs. Every price is also on the pricing page.
| Service | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| First call | Free, 30 minutes | Your goals, your numbers and the one move that matters most |
| Strategy hour | $350 | A full hour on any question; hourly consulting $350–$450 after that |
| AI Authority Audit | $1,500 fixed | What ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and AI Overviews say about you, with a ranked fix list |
| AI Visibility Launch | $2,500 one-time | The foundation that makes Google and AI understand and recommend you |
| AI Visibility Growth | $1,500 a month | Ongoing AI search work, content and monthly measurement |
| Content Engine | $1,200 a month | Articles, posts and scripts made with AI and checked by me |
| AI-Ready Website | From $4,500 | A fast website built for search engines and AI |
| Done-For-You AI Agent | $3,500 + $1,000/month | An agent that answers, qualifies and books 24/7 ($5,000 + $1,500/month for regulated practices) |
| S.C.A.L.E. Academy | $197 one-time | The full course, to do the work in-house |
AI marketing cost: common questions
How much does AI marketing cost?
Most small businesses pay $1,500 to $5,000 a month for AI marketing done by an agency, mid-size companies $5,000 to $25,000 a month, and enterprises $25,000 and up. If you only want guidance, AI marketing consultants charge about $100 to $450 an hour. Setting up an AI chatbot, voice agent or automation usually costs $2,500 to $15,000 one-time, plus a monthly fee. Doing it yourself with tools runs $10 to $1,000 a month plus your time. Use the calculator on this page for your own mix.
How much do AI marketing agencies charge?
AI marketing agencies usually charge a monthly retainer: about $1,500 to $5,000 for a small business, $5,000 to $25,000 for a mid-size company and $25,000 to $50,000 or more for enterprise work. One-off projects such as an audit or a rebuild typically run $5,000 to $50,000, and hourly work $50 to $300. Some agencies add a performance bonus on top of the retainer.
How much does AI marketing cost for a small business?
A realistic small-business budget is $1,500 to $5,000 a month for done-for-you work, or a few hundred dollars a month if you get expert guidance and do the work yourself. With me, the most common starting point is an AI Visibility Launch ($2,500 one-time) followed by AI Visibility Growth ($1,500 a month).
How much does AI search optimization (GEO or LLMO) cost?
Agencies charge about $1,500 to $5,000 a month for small businesses and $5,000 to $25,000 for mid-size companies. Projects run $5,000 to $50,000. My prices: a fixed $1,500 AI Authority Audit, a $2,500 AI Visibility Launch and $1,500 a month for ongoing AI Visibility Growth. See also How much does LLMO cost?
How much does an AI chatbot or AI voice agent cost?
Off-the-shelf chatbot software costs about $19 to $500 a month. A custom-built agent costs $2,000 to $25,000 to set up, plus a monthly fee to run and monitor it. My Done-For-You AI Agent is $3,500 to set up plus $1,000 a month, or $5,000 plus $1,500 a month for doctors, dentists, law firms and financial advisors, because their agents need extra privacy safeguards.
Is AI marketing cheaper than traditional marketing?
Not always cheaper per month, but usually more output for the money. AI does the volume work (drafts, variations, reports, follow-ups) faster, so the same budget buys more. What you still pay for is strategy and judgment: deciding what to say, to whom, and checking that it is right. That is where cheap AI marketing usually fails.
Why do AI marketing agency prices vary so much?
Because the word covers very different work: a $99-a-month software tool, a freelancer running ChatGPT prompts, and a senior team rebuilding how a company gets found are all called AI marketing. Price follows scope, seniority, how many channels are covered, how competitive your market is, and whether setup work is included.
What should I get for my money?
A written plan before any work starts, a list of deliverables you can check each month, access to every account in your name, and reporting tied to leads and revenue, not just impressions. No honest provider guarantees rankings or AI mentions. Before you sign, read how to tell if a marketing agency is working.
Where these numbers come from
Market ranges are compiled from these published 2026 guides and are typical prices, not quotes. My prices are my own, published on siamakconsulting.com/pricing. Last updated October 29, 2026.
- WebFX: How much does generative engine optimization cost? (May 2026)
- Nutshell: How much does GEO cost in 2026? (updated Sept 2026)
- Digital Agency Network: AI agency pricing guide 2026
- MV3 Marketing: AI agency pricing in 2026, with Clutch and Ahrefs data (Aug 2026)
- Denser: How much does an AI chatbot cost in 2026? (updated Sept 2026)
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