What does an AI SEO audit cost?

The aiseo-audit tool costs $0 in software fees.

It is an MIT-licensed command-line tool. It runs locally, needs no account or AI application programming interface key, and produces terminal, JSON, Markdown, or HTML reports.

An AI SEO audit refers to a review of page access, understanding, and reuse inside an AI-generated answer. Generative engine optimization pricing refers to the cost of that diagnosis plus any research, strategy, or implementation included with it. The prices below are current public benchmarks, but they do not describe identical work.

Terms used in this comparison

Deterministic audit

A deterministic audit means that fixed content, tool version, configuration, and target queries produce the same score. It is a stable baseline for before-and-after testing.

Consultant

Consultant refers to one specialist who provides research, judgment, or advice for a defined scope.

Agency

Agency refers to a team that combines strategy, production, implementation, and reporting under one engagement.

Potential savings

Potential savings means that the team avoids an external diagnostic fee after subtracting the value of internal review time.

Open-source tool

aiseo-audit

A repeatable page-side audit with fixed scoring rules. Your real cost is the time you spend reviewing and acting on it.

Freelance benchmark

$15 to $35/hr

SEO specialist

According to Upwork, this is the range for SEO experts on its marketplace. It is not specific to AI SEO audits [1].

Agency benchmark

$100 to $149/hr

SEO agency

According to Clutch, this is the typical SEO agency rate. Its reviewed projects average $3,199.19 per month and include broader work [2].

Published GEO example

$5,500

Human-led GEO audit

According to Etched's public pricing, this two-week audit includes cross-engine observation, competitor analysis, a roadmap, and a findings call [3].

Sources: Upwork, Clutch, and Etched. Prices checked August 30, 2026.

Why the range is so wide

The range is wide because providers sell different scopes under the same label. A page check, live cross-engine test, competitive study, strategy workshop, and implementation plan require different work. Compare the measured inputs, deliverables, and ownership before comparing prices.

How to calculate potential savings

The defensible saving is the diagnostic work you no longer need to buy. It is not the price of an entire agency relationship. Strategy, content, engineering, outreach, and monitoring are separate work. This means the tool only reduces diagnostic spending; it does not erase the cost of work that follows.

Outside audit costminusvalue of your review timeequalspotential savings

Example	Calculation	Potential avoided cost
Three agency hours for an initial page review	3 × $100 to $149	$300 to $447
The same baseline repeated once per quarter	4 × $300 to $447	$1,200 to $1,788 per year
A quoted specialist engagement	Quote minus work the tool cannot replace	Depends on scope

These are illustrations based on Clutch's published hourly range, not promised savings. Subtract the value of your own time and any work you still hire someone to perform.

What the tool replaces, and what it does not

Use aiseo-audit to separate measurement from consulting. It gives your team a baseline before a sales call and a shared report after each change. This separation matters because a baseline is useful only when a team owns the next decision. According to the project evidence map, each scored factor carries an evidence tier and source record.

Use the tool for

Repeatable diagnosis

Page access and content extraction checks
Query alignment and answer coverage
Citation fitness and source identity signals
Evidence-tiered findings and prioritized fixes
Before-and-after reports with the same rules

Pay a person for

Judgment and execution

Choosing the right market and target queries
Live observation across AI products
Competitor, brand, and business analysis
Writing, engineering, and outreach
Owning a roadmap and its results

Using an LLM for an AI SEO audit

An LLM provides useful critique, but not a stable measuring stick.

A large language model (LLM) reviews a page, identifies missing topics, and drafts clearer answers. Repeated runs of the same prompt produce variable scores and findings.

According to OpenAI's API documentation, model outputs are variable by nature. Model versions, prompts, browsing results, and supplied context also change the review [4].

aiseo-audit uses fixed measurement and scoring rules. The same fetched content, tool version, configuration, and target queries produce the same audit result. That makes it better suited to before-and-after testing. This means an LLM works well for critique and drafting, while the rule-based audit remains the stable baseline. The score does not predict AI-engine citations.

Question	aiseo-audit	General language model	Human specialist
What drives the result?	Published rules and weights	Model judgment and prompt context	Experience, method, and project scope
Repeatability	Yes, with fixed inputs and version	Not guaranteed	Only with a documented method
Wording suggestions	No	Yes	Yes
Implementation	No	Drafts changes	Yes, when included in scope

A practical combined workflow

Run the baseline. Keep the tool version and target queries with the report.
Give the report to a language model. Ask it to explain the top findings and draft options.
Review the proposed changes. Check every claim, source, and product detail yourself.
Publish the approved edit. Keep the change narrow enough to evaluate.
Run the same audit again. Measure what changed under the same rules.

When outside help is worth the cost

The reason to hire outside help is to add work beyond page-side diagnosis. A good specialist adds judgment, research, execution, or accountability that software alone does not provide.

Start with the tool when

Your team owns implementation

You have a site editor, want a documented baseline, or need a repeatable check before publishing and deploying.

Hire help when

You need ownership

You need market research, cross-engine observation, a content strategy, technical implementation, or someone accountable for a longer program.

Bring the report to the first call

Ask the provider what they add beyond the findings you already have. Their answer makes scope and pricing easier to compare.

Key takeaways and next step

The tool is free and repeatable.
The audit is a page-side baseline, not a citation forecast.
A consultant or agency earns its fee by adding research, strategy, implementation, or ownership.

Bottom line: run one page before buying outside advice, then use the report to define the work that remains.

Run one page

npx aiseo-audit https://example.com

Add the queries the page targets. Five queries give a stable view of coverage, and the audit scores the weakest one so a large gap does not disappear inside an average.

npx aiseo-audit https://example.com/guide \
  --query "first target question" \
  --query "second target question" \
  --out report.html

Build the baseline before you buy advice.

Run one page, inspect the evidence, and keep the report.

Open the quickstart →View on npm →

Sources

SEO expert cost benchmark, Upwork. Current page checked August 30, 2026.
SEO Agency Pricing Guide 2026, Clutch. Updated August 30, 2026.
GEO audit and retainer pricing, Etched. Current page checked August 30, 2026.
API backward compatibility, OpenAI. Notes that model outputs are variable and recommends pinned versions and evaluations for consistency.
aiseo-audit source and documentation, GitHub.
aiseo-audit evidence map, project research record.