BullishResources · Pricing · 7 min read
What SEO costs, and what you should get.
Monthly SEO runs from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. The price matters less than what is actually being done each month.
By Ted Bullard, founder of Bullish Marketing · Updated October 2026- Agency local SEO usually runs $500 to $2,500+ a month; competitive markets and multi-location companies pay more.
- In one survey, 43% of companies paid $1,000 to $2,000 a month for SEO.
- Anything under a few hundred dollars a month is usually reporting, not work.
SEO is one of the hardest services to buy because you cannot see the work. Two agencies can both charge $1,500 a month while one writes new pages, fixes your listings and earns reviews, and the other sends a PDF. Here is how to tell the difference.
Typical monthly ranges
| Level | Typical range | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $300 to $900 a month | Listing management, a little on-page work, a report |
| Standard local SEO | $1,000 to $2,500 a month | New pages, Google Business Profile, citations, reviews, reporting |
| Competitive or multi-location | $2,500 to $5,000+ a month | More content, more locations, link building, deeper tracking |
What a fair retainer should include
- New content every month: pages that answer real customer questions for your services and towns.
- Google Business Profile management: posts, photos, services and review replies.
- Listings and citations kept consistent across the directories that matter.
- A review system that asks every customer, automatically.
- Technical care: speed, indexing, schema and fixing what breaks.
- AI visibility checks: what ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI say about you, every month.
- A report in plain English: what was done, what changed, what is next.
Red flags
- Guaranteed #1 rankings. Nobody controls Google. Honest agencies promise the work, not a position.
- Long contracts up front. A 12-month lock-in protects the agency, not you.
- They own your stuff. If you leave, you should keep every page, listing and login.
- Reports full of vanity numbers (impressions, "visibility scores") and nothing about calls or leads.
- No idea who is doing the work, or it is quietly outsourced overseas.
How long until it works?
New pages usually get indexed within a few weeks. Rankings, map-pack positions and AI mentions build over months, not days. A good agency tells you that up front and shows progress every month instead of promising a date.
What we charge
Our search and AI service, Found Pro, is $1,500, $2,500 or $4,000 a month, depending on how many answer pages, posts and checks you need. It is month to month, and every page we write stays yours. Not sure where you stand? Run the free SEO + AI check first.
Sources
OneNine: Local SEO pricing guide for 2026
Ahrefs: SEO pricing
Google: Do you need an SEO?