How much does an AEO audit cost for a B2B website?
Optimist prices its one-time roadmap engagement from $7,500.
Etched posts $5,500 for its GEO Audit, a human-led diagnosis that takes about two weeks. HubSpot's AI Search Grader scores a brand once for free. GeoAudit Lab sells written audits at $99 and $249, and Optimist starts a one-time strategy and roadmap at $7,500. Each figure comes from the seller's own page as posted on October 6, 2026.
Lean Labs owns WhatIsBest. Lean Labs sells AEO services and is a HubSpot Solutions Partner.
What do published AEO audit offers cost and include?
| Offer | Type | Posted price | Billing term | Prompts and engines | Excluded or unstated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot AI Search Grader | Free automated check | $0, USD, read Oct. 6, 2026 | Single snapshot; no account, but a form unlocks the full report | Queries HubSpot chooses, sent to Gemini, Perplexity and GPT-5.4 mini | Ongoing tracking; query count not stated |
| Otterly Lite | Monitoring subscription that includes 1,000 GEO URL audits a month | $29, USD, read Oct. 6, 2026 | Per month on monthly billing | 15 prompts tracked daily on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot | Analyst review and a roadmap are not listed |
| GeoAudit Lab Starter | Fixed diagnostic fee | $99, USD, read Oct. 6, 2026 | One-time; ready in 5 to 7 business days | Four platforms and a five-page limit; prompt count not stated | Competitor benchmark, schema recommendations, debrief call |
| GeoAudit Lab Growth | Fixed diagnostic fee | $249, USD, read Oct. 6, 2026 | One-time; ready in 7 to 10 business days | Five platforms, a 20-page limit, three competitors; prompt count not stated | Implementation support is not listed |
| Etched GEO Audit | Posted diagnostic fee | $5,500, dollar sign only, read Oct. 6, 2026 | One-time, about two weeks; full fee credited to a retainer started within 30 days | About 15 to 20 buyer prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude | Implementation, sold as retainers from $7,500 a month |
| Optimist strategy and roadmap | Starting price for a roadmap | From $7,500, dollar sign only, read Oct. 6, 2026 | One-time engagement; duration not stated | Benchmark on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews; prompt count not stated | Execution, sold as full service from $4,000 a month |
| RevenueZen Foundation | Audits inside a content retainer | $3,000, dollar sign only, read Oct. 6, 2026 | Per month, month to month | Not stated for this tier | LinkedIn, link building, original research, content repurposing |
| Lean Labs | Free automated scan (AEO Baseline) and an implementation package (Launchpad) | Baseline $0, USD; Launchpad from $12,000, dollar sign only; read Oct. 6, 2026 | Baseline free once a work email is entered; Launchpad one-time per the cost FAQ | Baseline headline lists ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overview; its sample report uses 10 questions | No paid standalone audit is listed; analyst review of the Baseline is not listed |
Etched's page calls every number on it a starting point while listing the audit at $5,500 one-time, so get the figure confirmed in writing. Optimist's $7,500 is a floor, since its page says "from." Lean Labs prices its on-site AEO work two ways, from $12,000 as the Launchpad and $9,000 as a differently named suite with the first year included, so that figure needs the same confirmation.
HubSpot sells continued tracking as a separate product, HubSpot AEO, priced at $50 a month for 25 prompts. RevenueZen's recurring audits come bundled with four articles a month, and its separate GEO Opportunity Audit page showed no price on October 6, 2026.
What does a higher price add in these offers?
Otterly's monthly plans step from $29 for 15 prompts to $189 for 100 and $489 for 400 on the same four engines, with larger URL audit allowances on the higher plans.
GeoAudit Lab's $249 tier raises the page limit from five to 20, covers a fifth platform and adds a three-competitor benchmark with a 45-minute debrief call.
RevenueZen's $3,000 tier re-runs its six core audits bi-monthly, and its $15,000 tier audits AI visibility every month on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.
Optimist describes its CORE Roadmap as a benchmark of AI visibility plus an audit of each page's content, a technical review and a baseline for measurement, and its advisory model leaves execution to your team or another agency.
Does a site need schema or llms.txt before an audit is worth buying?
Google's generative AI search guide, updated July 10, 2026, says Google Search makes no use of llms.txt files and does not require structured data, which it still recommends for rich results. That guide requires an indexed page that can show a snippet, on a site whose Search generative AI control in Search Console includes it, which Google's help page says is the default. Google guarantees neither indexing nor serving.
Google's AI features page lists crawl access in robots.txt and at the CDN or host among its SEO practices. A team with proof that crawlers are blocked at either point can fix that first and commission the audit afterward.
What should a written quote for an AEO audit include?
- The prompt list, who wrote it, and how many prompts name your brand versus ask a category question a buyer would type.
- Every engine, model or mode, country and language tested, with the run dates.
- How many times each prompt is run, and whether results are reported per run.
- The named competitors in the benchmark.
- The technical checks: crawler access at robots.txt and the CDN or firewall, indexability, main content in rendered text, and structured data validation.
- The raw log of prompt, engine, date, full response and cited URLs, delivered as a file you keep.
- The handoff: a roadmap written as specs your developers or another agency can execute, and who answers questions afterward.
- What the fee excludes, with implementation and ongoing monitoring priced on separate lines.
- Any credit toward later work, with its deadline.