Most US SEO agencies price work as a monthly retainer, with hourly, project, and performance-based models also common. Foundgrove keeps it transparent: SEO/GEO/AEO from $2,500/mo, paid-ads management at $3,500/mo plus ad spend, and websites at $8,500-$25,000 — every retainer month-to-month, no minimum, cancel anytime.
Pricing · Updated July 2026
How SEO agencies price their work in 2026 — the models, the ranges, and what a fair retainer should include — plus Foundgrove's own transparent rates: month-to-month, no minimum, no lock-in.
Pricing
Foundgrove offers three tiers built around the service that fits your stage. Foundation is a fixed-fee website build from $8,500 to $25,000 depending on scope. Growth is our SEO/GEO/AEO retainer at $2,500/mo. Performance is our paid acquisition retainer at $3,500/mo plus ad spend. Below is the at-a-glance comparison; full deliverables follow. If you want a number tuned to your own industry and service area first, run the SEO cost calculator — it applies these same published rates to your inputs.
A fixed-fee Next.js build engineered for speed, SEO, and conversion. The foundation under everything else we do.
Compounding organic traffic from Google plus citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews. Our recommended retainer for organic growth.
Profitable Google, Meta, and LinkedIn campaigns that produce qualified leads in 30 days. Tracked to booked calls, not vanity clicks.
What you get
Every tier includes audit, strategy, execution, and reporting — no hidden retainer fees, no surprise add-ons. Below is the full deliverables list at each price point. Click a tier to expand.
Investment
There is no single sticker price for SEO — what you pay scales with the size of your site, how competitive your market is, and how fast you want to move. Entry-level programs cover a focused local scope; mid-market retainers add national content and links; premium and enterprise work layers in technical depth, larger content volume, and multi-location coverage. As a reference point, Foundgrove's own SEO/GEO/AEO retainer starts at $2,500/mo, month-to-month with no minimum.
For a full breakdown of the numbers, read how much SEO really costs for a service business. When you want a number for your exact situation, get a free audit and a fixed custom quote.
Models
Agencies package the same work in five common ways. Knowing which model you're being sold makes proposals far easier to compare.
By service type
The kind of SEO you need is the single biggest driver of scope. Here is how the common service types compare.
Price factors
Two businesses can pay very different rates for "SEO." These five factors explain the gap — and where an audit typically confirms what an audit should cost. See what an SEO audit should cost for the standalone version.
Retainer scope
A fair retainer is more than "some blog posts." At a minimum, look for these line items — and compare them against our SEO, GEO & AEO retainer and what's included.
Proposal check
See real, anonymized client results for how we report outcomes.
GEO / AEO
Search is no longer just ten blue links. Being cited inside AI Overviews and answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity is a new optimization layer — structured data, entity coverage, and citable, well-sourced passages — that most 2026 retainers now fold into the same fee rather than billing separately. It rarely doubles the price, but it does change the work, which is why we treat how GEO and AEO reshape search in 2026 and AI-search optimization as part of one retainer, not an upsell.
By industry
Costs vary widely by vertical because competition and case value differ. These guides break down the numbers for specific industries.
Compare
A freelancer is the lowest sticker price but carries key-person risk and limited bandwidth. Hiring an in-house team takes 3-6 months and costs $15,000-$40,000+ in salary plus tools. Generalist agencies start around $5,000-$10,000/mo and stack junior account managers between you and the work. Foundgrove specialists deliver senior-led execution from $2,500/mo, and onboarding starts within days, not months. Below is the side-by-side.
Terms
No setup fees on any retainer — onboarding, audits, technical fixes, dashboards, and conversion tracking are all included in month one. Retainers (SEO/GEO/AEO and Paid Ads) are month-to-month — cancel anytime, no minimum, no lock-in, with 30 days notice. Website Design is fixed-fee with no ongoing contract: 50% at kickoff, 50% at launch, and you own the build outright.
No-lock-in cancel right
If we aren't delivering against the agreed scope, cancel anytime — no penalty. Every retainer is month-to-month with no minimum, so you are never locked into work that isn't producing. You keep all content, schema, links, ad accounts, and dashboards we built.
Bundles
Yes — and most service businesses get the best ROI from bundling. Bundled retainers save 10-20% versus standalone pricing because the channels feed each other. SEO content informs paid ad copy, paid landing pages double as SEO assets, and the website ties conversion tracking together. The most common bundle is Growth + Performance ($2,500 SEO + $3,500 Paid Ads management) plus ad spend, run by one senior strategist instead of three siloed vendors.
ROI
Pricing is the input — booked calls and revenue are the output we measure together on your dashboard.
FAQs
Common questions on contracts, setup fees, cancellation, annual discounts, and how Foundgrove compares to NP Digital, Single Grain, and WebFX. If your question is not here, book a call and a senior strategist will answer it directly — no sales rep middleman.
No. Every retainer is month-to-month — cancel anytime, no minimum, no lock-in. SEO and paid ads both take roughly 90 days to optimize and another 90 to scale, so we recommend giving the work time to compound, but you are never locked in. Website Design is fixed-fee with no ongoing contract — pay 50% at start, 50% at launch, and you own the build outright.
No setup fees on any retainer. Onboarding, account audits, technical fixes, dashboard build, and conversion tracking are all included in your first month. Website projects bill 50% at kickoff and 50% at launch. Rush launches in 7 days are available for an additional $1,500 if brand assets are ready.
Yes, anytime. Retainers are month-to-month with no minimum — cancel with 30 days written notice and there is no penalty. We do not lock clients into engagements that are not working. You keep all content, schema, links, ad accounts, and dashboards we built.
Yes. We discount 10% on annual prepay for any retainer (SEO/GEO/AEO or Paid Ads management fee — ad spend is excluded). Bundled retainers combining two or more services receive a 10-20% discount on top of monthly pricing. Email hello@foundgrove.com for a custom bundled quote.
There is no minimum term — retainers are month-to-month, cancel anytime. We do suggest giving SEO time to compound and paid ads time to collect enough data to optimize, but that is a recommendation, not a lock-in. The minimum recommended monthly ad spend is $5,000 across channels — below that, statistical significance for optimization becomes hard to achieve. Total first-month budget for paid ads is therefore roughly $8,500 all-in: the $3,500/mo Performance management fee plus the $5,000+ recommended ad spend you pay the platforms directly.
Yes — most service businesses get the best ROI from bundling because the channels feed each other. SEO content informs paid ad copy, paid landing pages double as SEO assets, and the website ties tracking together. Bundled retainers also save 10-20% versus standalone pricing and give you one strategist instead of three.
Generalist agencies like NP Digital and Single Grain typically start at $5,000-$10,000/mo because they bundle six services and layer junior account managers onto every engagement. WebFX prices per project task and adds enterprise overhead. Foundgrove focuses on three services run by senior strategists — no junior handoffs, no SEO+PR+social bundles you do not need. That focus is why our $2,500/mo entry point delivers more execution per dollar.
It depends on scope, competition, and your market — but most US agencies bill a monthly retainer rather than a one-off fee, with hourly, project, and performance-based pricing also common. Rates rise with site size, niche competitiveness, and how aggressive your goals are. Foundgrove's SEO/GEO/AEO retainer starts at $2,500/mo, month-to-month with no minimum, so you can start lean and scale as results compound.
For most service businesses, yes — provided the work is measured against booked calls and revenue, not vanity metrics. SEO compounds: the content and authority you build keep earning long after the invoice. The risk is paying for activity that never ties to pipeline, which is why we report outcomes on a live dashboard and keep every retainer month-to-month, so you can leave if it isn't producing.
A standalone technical audit is usually scoped as a fixed project, and the price tracks with site size and complexity. Be wary of anyone who proposes a full retainer before auditing your site — a real scope comes after the audit, not before. Foundgrove includes an ongoing technical audit in month one of any retainer, and offers a free audit up front so you see the plan before you commit.
A freelancer usually has the lowest sticker price but carries key-person risk and limited bandwidth. An in-house hire is the most expensive and slowest to ramp — salary, tools, and months of hiring. A specialist agency sits in between: senior-led execution without the overhead of a full-time team. The right answer depends on your budget and how much you need done, but for most service businesses a focused agency retainer delivers the most execution per dollar.
Book a 30-minute call with Hyder Shah. We'll recommend the lowest-cost path to qualified leads based on your stage and budget — even if that means starting with one tier and adding services later.