In short
For generative engine optimization (GEO), providers based in Germany that publish their prices charge €749–3,500 for a one-time audit or quick check (median €925). One-time setup costs €1,499–3,490. The smallest retainer package with implementation costs €499–7,000 a month (median €1,500). The figures come from 18 providers, and most quote prices excl. VAT. As of November 2026.
Key takeaways
- In Germany, an audit or quick check costs €749–3,500. The smallest retainer with implementation costs €499–7,000 a month, median €1,500.
- We found no official or independent price statistics for GEO. These ranges come from the pricing pages of 18 providers based in Germany.
- At median market prices, an audit, setup and a six-month retainer cost about €12,700 in total; at the lowest prices, about €5,200.
- Prices depend mainly on how many questions and AI systems are measured, your website’s technical state, new content and the contract term.
- Six of 15 monthly packages require a commitment of 6–12 months. Before you sign, check the notice period, scope and what you keep afterward.
What do AI visibility audits, GEO setup and retainers cost?
Among providers based in Germany that publish their prices, a one-time audit or quick check costs €749–3,500, and setup €1,499–3,490. The smallest retainer package with implementation costs €499–7,000 a month, depending on the provider, with a median of €1,500. The median is the middle value: half the providers charge less, and half charge more.
| Service | Typical scope | Range | Median | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit or quick check, one-time | 12–40 customer questions across 3–5 AI systems, where stated; report and recommended actions | €749–3,500 | €925 | 8 |
| Setup or one-time implementation | technical work, structured data and content, usually after an audit | €1,499–3,490 | €2,745 | 4 |
| Strategy, planning or project, one-time | annual plan or one-off project; implementation isn’t always included | €4,900–10,000 | not specified | 3 |
| Retainer with implementation, smallest package per month | measurement, report and implementation, sometimes new content and SEO | €499–7,000 | €1,500 | 15 |
| Measurement and reporting only, per month | fixed list of customer questions, monthly report | €179–690 | not specified | 2 |
Source: our own survey, · 18 providers based in Germany; 13 quote prices excl. VAT, 5 don’t mention VAT
How to read the table: We haven’t found any official or independent price statistics for generative engine optimization (GEO), so the figures come from our own survey. The survey covers providers that offer GEO services, list at least one price in euros and are based in Germany according to their legal notice (Impressum). We opened their pricing pages on November 7, 2026. We found them through our competitor research from October 2026 and through web searches for GEO pricing. Each row counts the lowest-priced offer of that type from each provider. We also opened the pricing pages of three German-language providers based in Croatia, Austria and the US. They aren’t included in the table.
Audits usually have a fixed price. Monthly prices, by contrast, are almost all starting prices for the smallest package, so a quote for your scope will often be higher. Few providers publish prices for setup and strategy, so those ranges are less certain. Three of the 15 monthly packages explicitly combine SEO and GEO. We don’t name competitors as a matter of principle, so you can’t check the individual prices directly here.
| Price band per month | Packages |
|---|---|
| under €1,000 | 2 |
| €1,000–1,499 | 5 |
| €1,500–1,999 | 3 |
| €2,000–2,999 | 2 |
| €3,000–3,999 | 1 |
| €5,000–7,000 | 2 |
Source: our own survey, · 15 monthly packages, each provider’s smallest with implementation; band counts by us
Our guide What is GEO? explains what GEO does and what’s proven about it.
What drives the price of GEO work?
The main price drivers are the number of customer questions and AI systems measured, the technical state of your website, the amount of new content and the contract term. Settle these points before you request quotes, because only then can you compare the prices.
| Cost driver | What determines it | Published figure |
|---|---|---|
| Questions, systems and runs | how many customer questions are measured, in how many AI systems and how often | audits with 12–40 questions in 3–5 systems, monthly packages with 10–40 questions; one provider’s audit measures 40 questions in 5 systems over 7 days |
| Competitors | how many competitors are measured alongside you | up to 3 in an audit, up to 5 in a monthly package |
| Technical work | state of the website, content management system, structured data | €115 an hour at one provider; setup €1,499–3,490 |
| New content | number and depth of new or revised pages | €95 an hour for editorial work at one provider; at another, the package at €1,290 a month includes 2 articles, the one at €690 none |
| Languages and markets | each language needs its own questions and its own content | multilingual package from €5,000 a month at one provider |
| Mentions on other sites | profiles, expert articles, PR | sometimes included in the monthly package; we haven’t found a reliable market range |
| Contract term | minimum term and notice | 6–12 months for 6 of 15 monthly packages; 3 can be canceled monthly, with 30 days’ notice or at any time |
Source: our own survey, · scope and terms as stated on the 18 providers’ pricing pages
For every quote, ask how many questions, systems and runs it covers. An audit with 12 questions in three systems measures less than one with 40 questions in five systems over seven days. The section How do you measure GEO success? in our guide explains why each question needs several runs.
You can convert a monthly price into hours of work. At one provider’s technical rate of €115 an hour, a €1,500 package equals about 13 hours. At €80, the median hourly rate of SEO freelancers, it’s just under 19 hours. Subtract measurement and reporting, and what’s left is the time for implementation and content.
Source: freelancermap (in German) (external site), , updated · median of 2,744 SEO profiles, listed rates
The section What role do your website and mentions on other sites play? in our guide explains why mentions on other sites matter for AI answers.
From our work: what do three typical starting points cost?
At median market prices, an audit costs €925, an audit plus setup €3,670, and an audit, setup and a six-month retainer €12,670. At the lowest prices in our survey, the totals are €749, €2,248 and €5,242. The calculations are ours, and the figures come from our survey of November 7, 2026. They aren’t Datafalke prices or quotes.
| Starting point | At the lowest prices | At median prices |
|---|---|---|
| Audit only | €749 | €925 |
| Audit and setup | €2,248; €1,499 with the audit credited | €3,670; €2,745 with the audit credited |
| Audit, setup and a 6-month retainer | €5,242; €4,493 with the audit credited | €12,670; €11,745 with the audit credited |
Source: our own calculation based on our survey,
Here’s how we calculate, so you can do the same with your own quotes:
- Lowest prices: the lowest-priced audit at €749, the lowest-priced setup at €1,499 and the smallest monthly package with implementation at €499. The three figures don’t all come from the same provider.
- Median prices: the median for each service, so €925 for the audit, €2,745 for setup and €1,500 a month.
- Credit: If a provider credits the full audit fee toward setup, you pay only the setup price for both. Terms vary. Two providers in our survey credit their audit or quick check if you place a follow-up order within eight weeks. Two others waive setup fees after the audit.
- Six months: six monthly packages at the stated price. Six providers commit you for 6–12 months anyway.
New content beyond the package, tools and your own time aren’t included. At the two most expensive providers, retainers start at €5,000 and €7,000 a month, so six months cost at least €30,000 and €42,000 respectively. If you calculate your quotes the same way, you’ll see what a low entry price adds up to over six months.
What do other GEO providers charge?
GEO providers charge very different prices because they sell different services under the same name. Other published overviews put an in-depth audit at up to €10,000. For mid-sized companies, they give typical retainer ranges between €2,450 and €5,000 a month. Their figures are mostly higher than in our survey, and like this article, they’re published by providers.
| Source | Audit, one-time | Retainer per month | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our survey, Nov 7, 2026 | €749–3,500 | €499–7,000 | pricing pages of 18 providers based in Germany |
| Analysis by a GEO provider, Jul 26, 2026 | €1,490–7,000 | €1,500–15,000; usually €3,000–5,000 for mid-sized B2B companies | ten German-language pricing and comparison pages |
| Comparison by an AI SEO agency, Aug 17, 2026 | €790–4,500 | €690–6,500 | pricing pages of providers in German-speaking countries |
| Cost guide by a GEO agency, Sep 17, 2026 | €1,950–4,250 for a quick check, €4,400–10,000 for an in-depth audit | €1,200–6,800; typically €2,450–3,400 for mid-sized companies | its own market overview, without a list of providers |
| Cost guide by an SEO agency, Oct 19, 2026 | €3,500 | from €2,500 | no source given |
Source: analysis by a GEO provider (in German), · excl. VAT
Source: comparison by an AI SEO agency (in German), · excl. VAT
Source: cost guide by a GEO agency (in German), · excl. VAT
Source: cost guide by an SEO agency (in German), · VAT not stated
The ranges differ because each overview counts differently. An audit can mean a quick check with 12 questions or a measurement with 40 questions over seven days. Overviews also go out of date quickly. As of November 7, 2026, one provider that the August 2026 comparison still listed with prices shows “price on request” for every package. Several other providers whose pages we opened for our survey don’t give any price at all. Our guide to publishing prices shows how providers can publish their own prices with an as-of date so that prospects and AI answers can read them.
All four overviews come from providers that sell GEO themselves. The same goes for this article; our own services are in the next section. So compare quotes on scope. Ask how many questions they measure, in which systems and how often, what they implement and how long the minimum term is. Our how-to on choosing a GEO agency shows how to check a provider.
How much does Datafalke charge for GEO?
At Datafalke, GEO starts with the AI visibility audit, a fixed package for a one-time fee of €950 excl. VAT: 180 AI answers, a technical and entity review, a directory listing check, a prioritized action plan and a 60-minute review call. We quote a fixed price for setup and the retainer after the audit. The intro call is free.
We offer three packages. Our generative engine optimization page covers scope and process.
As of
- AI visibility audit: We put 15 of your customers’ questions to four AI systems, three times each. That’s 180 answers. We also review your technical setup and company facts, check your directory listings and deliver a prioritized action plan with a 60-minute review call.
- GEO setup: We carry out the actions from the audit, covering your technical setup, company facts and profiles on the directories that AI systems cited in your audit. Setup includes up to eight hours of technical fixes.
- GEO retainer: Every month, 25 questions across four AI systems, three runs each, and a report that includes drops. It also covers monitoring of crawler access and indexing, profile upkeep and two hours of implementation work. New content is billed by the hour or at a fixed price. The minimum term is three months.
The method we’ll use is described on our methodology page, under How we’ll measure AI visibility.
We work exclusively with businesses and self-employed professionals. All offers exclude VAT.
How does SEO pricing compare?
SEO freelancers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland charge a median of €80 an hour, and agencies quote €90–200. For ongoing retainers at mid-sized companies, agency cost guides mostly cite €2,000–5,000 a month, while a small package with automated reporting starts at €149. Three of the 15 monthly GEO packages in our survey include both SEO and GEO.
| Service | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SEO freelancer, per hour | median €80, middle 50% €60–100 | freelancermap, 2,744 profiles, September 2026 |
| SEO agency, per hour | €90–200 | freelancermap, based on agency figures |
| Small SEO package, per month | from €149, with automated reporting and rank tracking for up to 20 keywords | one provider’s pricing page |
| SEO retainer for mid-sized companies, per month | €2,000–5,000 | an SEO agency’s cost guide |
| Local SEO retainer, per month | €2,500–4,000, up to €6,500 in competitive markets | a web agency’s price list |
| SEO audit, one-time | from €875; usually €1,500–5,000, according to one agency | one provider’s pricing page; an SEO agency’s cost guide |
| GEO as a markup on the SEO budget | 20–35% | an SEO agency’s cost guide, no source given |
Source: freelancermap (in German) (external site), , updated · profiles in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Source: cost guide by an SEO agency (in German), · VAT not stated
Source: price list of a web agency (in German), · excl. VAT
Source: our own survey, · one provider’s pricing page, excl. VAT
With SEO, too, it helps to think in hours. At agency rates of €90–200 an hour, €2,000 a month equals 10–22 hours of work.
From Google’s perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is “still SEO” (Google Search Central, as of Jul 10, 2026 (external site)). So for Google, the same fundamentals apply. When you get a GEO quote, ask which parts of the work your SEO retainer already covers, so you don’t pay twice. One cost guide puts GEO at a 20–35% markup on an existing SEO budget, without citing a source. We haven’t found a reliable figure for this. Our comparison GEO vs. AEO vs. SEO explains what GEO requires beyond SEO.
What ongoing costs follow the audit?
After the audit, the main costs are the retainer or your own time, plus measurement tools and new content. Across the market, the smallest monthly package with implementation costs €499–7,000. Measurement tools start at €29 a month, and the reports from Google and Bing are free.
| Item | Market figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Retainer with implementation | €499–7,000 a month, median €1,500 | smallest packages from 15 providers |
| Measurement and reporting only | €179–690 a month | two providers |
| Measurement tool, smallest plan | €29–85 a month for 15–50 questions | two tools, billed monthly |
| Measurement tool, larger plans | €189–489 a month for 100–400 questions | the same two tools |
| Content and technical work, billed by the hour | €95 an hour for editorial work, €115 an hour for technical work | one provider in our survey |
| Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Business Profile | free | offered by the search engines |
Source: our own survey, · pricing pages of 18 providers and 2 tools; tool prices as shown in Germany
Measurement tools charge by the number of questions and AI systems. A tool only measures; it doesn’t do the work on your technical setup, content or mentions for you. Google states: “Third-party tools don’t have access to our internal ranking data” (Google Search Central, as of Jun 5, 2026 (external site)). Our how-to on measuring AI visibility shows how to measure it yourself with a fixed set of questions.
The search engines’ own data costs nothing. Google Search Console (external site) is a free service from Google. Its generative AI performance report (external site) has been available for all websites since August 31, 2026. It shows how often your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode. For Bing Webmaster Tools (external site), you sign up for a free account. There, the AI Performance (external site) report shows how often Microsoft Copilot and AI-generated summaries in Bing cite your pages as sources. Microsoft introduced it as a public preview in February 2026. A Google Business Profile (external site) is free as well.
Then there’s your own time, even if you outsource the work: supplying expertise, approving content and answering questions. Set aside fixed slots for this each month.
Frequently asked questions
Is a free GEO check enough?
It’s enough for a first impression, but usually not for a decision. Six of the 18 providers in our survey offer a free starting point, such as an automated website scan or a measurement with three questions in three AI systems. To decide, you need more questions and several runs per question; the section How do you measure GEO success? in our guide explains why. So ask how many questions, systems and runs the check covers.
What does it cost to do GEO yourself?
Mainly your time, because the search engines’ key tools are free. That applies to Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Business Profile. If you also want a measurement tool, the smallest plans cost €29–85 a month. Our how-to How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT shows what to do and in what order.
Why do some providers require a minimum term?
One reason providers give is that results only become measurable after several months. In our survey, six of the 15 monthly packages commit you for 6–12 months. Three can be canceled monthly, with 30 days’ notice or at any time. Before you sign, find out what you keep if you cancel: profiles, reports, content and logins. The FAQ in our GEO guide covers how long it takes to see results.
Are GEO prices quoted with or without VAT?
Usually without, but not every provider says so. In our survey, 13 of the 18 providers state that their prices exclude value-added tax (VAT); five don’t say either way. For services taxed at the standard rate in Germany, 19% VAT is added, while providers using the small business VAT exemption don’t charge any. For business customers abroad, this can differ. If a quote doesn’t say, ask the provider, so you can compare all quotes on the same basis.
What shouldn’t you pay for in GEO?
Work that the search engines say has no effect, and outcomes nobody can promise. Google says you don’t need to create new machine-readable files to appear in Google Search (Google Search Central, as of Jul 10, 2026 (external site)). One such file is llms.txt, a text file with pointers for AI systems. Google also lists seeking inauthentic mentions among the things you can ignore for Google Search. In its Bing Webmaster Guidelines (external site), Microsoft writes that “GEO does not guarantee grounding or citations in AI experiences.” So anyone who promises you specific mentions is promising more than a provider can control. What an llms.txt file does and doesn’t do is covered in our llms.txt explainer.