How much should I expect to pay for AI search optimisation

Pricing for AI search optimisation is one of the most searched commercial queries among UK business owners considering this investment. The challenge is that the market is new enough that pricing is not yet standardised, and many businesses struggle to benchmark what they should be paying against what they are being quoted. Understanding AI SEO agency pricing in the UK requires clarity on what the work actually involves, what drives cost variation and what to watch out for. AI search optimisation is a distinct discipline from traditional SEO. The work involved is different, the tools are different and the expertise required is more specialised. This means that comparing prices directly to traditional SEO retainers is not particularly useful, even though many agencies attempt to position their AI services alongside existing SEO packages. ## What the work involves A typical AI search optimisation engagement includes several components. An initial audit assesses how your business currently appears across major AI platforms, identifies inaccuracies, gaps in visibility and areas where competitors have stronger presence. This audit forms the foundation of any subsequent work. Strategy development follows, mapping out which AI platforms matter most for your sector, what signals need strengthening and what content or structural changes are required on your website and across your broader online presence. Ongoing work may include content restructuring to improve how AI models interpret your pages, entity consistency work across directories and third-party platforms, citation building, schema markup implementation and regular monitoring of how your business appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. The breadth of platforms covered, the number of service lines or locations being optimised and the competitive density of your sector all influence the amount of work required and therefore the cost. ## Typical UK pricing ranges Based on cu