How much does AI search optimization (GEO) cost and what drives the price

Why there is no single price

With search ads you pay the platform for impressions or clicks. There is no such till for AI answers: Google says it never accepts money to include or rank sites in its search results, and OpenAI says ChatGPT ads are shown separately and do not influence answers. So the cost of GEO is the cost of specialists’ work, and it depends on how much work there is.

What the cost is made of

What drives the price

• Niche and competition. If AI already names three or four competitors with strong sites and reviews, there is more work to do.
• Languages and markets. AI answers depend on the language of the question. In Estonia that often means three languages, Estonian, Russian and English, each of which needs separate checks and content.
• Number of AI platforms. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot find sources differently: ChatGPT and Copilot rely on Bing, while Google’s AI Overviews rely on Google’s index.
• Starting point. If the site is poorly indexed, has no markup and inconsistent facts, the foundation has to be fixed first. That is SEO work without which GEO does not work.
• How much you do yourself. If your team takes on content and reviews, the contractor has less to do.

What it costs at JW2D

AI search optimization at JW2D starts from €1200. It covers an AI visibility audit, fixing company facts, schema.org markup, growing mentions in authoritative sources and a monthly report on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot answers. The final price depends on the factors above and is fixed in writing after the audit. Details on the AI search optimization page.

What you can do for free

• ask AI assistants your customers’ questions by hand and record the answers;
• set up Google Search Console, which Google calls a free service, and Bing Webmaster Tools with its AI Performance report on citations in Copilot and Bing’s AI summaries;
• align your name, address, phone and opening hours across all profiles;
• filter your analytics by utm_source=chatgpt.com to see visits from ChatGPT.

A step-by-step plan for doing it yourself is in how to get your business to show up in AI search. Paying a contractor is mostly paying for time: regular checks across five AI assistants in several languages and work on mentions take the most hours.

GEO or ChatGPT ads

ChatGPT ads are a separate paid format: they appear next to the answer, labelled as sponsored, only to Free and Go users and only while your budget lasts. A mention inside the answer cannot be bought; it is earned through what AI finds about you on the web. More in ChatGPT ads.

Should you invest in AI search optimization?

1. Check demand. Ask AI five questions your customers ask. If it already names competitors, customers are getting recommendations without you.
2. Check the foundation. If your site is poorly indexed, start with SEO so your GEO budget is not wasted.
3. Think in months. AI answers do not change overnight, so judge results by the trend in monthly reports.

How to compare contractors’ offers

• ask for the scope of work and a sample monthly report before paying;
• ask what results to expect, in what timeframe and how they are measured; Google recommends asking any SEO this question;
• do not pay for a “guaranteed place in ChatGPT”: Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and a place in AI answers cannot be bought.

The full checklist is in how to choose a GEO contractor.