The $1,500/mo AEO Retainer Playbook.
How to package, price, and sell ongoing Answer Engine Optimization to existing and new agency clients at 94%+ gross margins.
The most effective agency pricing model for AEO is a two-phase commercial structure: a $1,500 one-time 'Sovereign Calibration Sprint' (covering entity disambiguation, canonical /llms.txt, and Schema @graph synthesis), followed by an ongoing $1,500 to $2,500/month 'Model Drift & Citation Protection Retainer'. Because Relayeo wholesale costs start at ~$49/client slot on partner tiers, your agency captures over 94% gross margin while delivering automated monthly proof-of-work.
What Your Agency Actually Delivers
Phase 1: The Sovereign Calibration Sprint ($1,500 Setup)
30-day initial deployment. Fixes missing Schema MedicalSpecialty / SoftwareApplication nodes, generates canonical manifests, and establishes baseline multi-LLM citation share.
Phase 2: Ongoing Citation Defense Retainer ($1,500/mo)
Continuous monitoring against Perplexity Sonar updates, ChatGPT Search crawler changes, and competitor prompt displacement attempts.
The Enterprise Citation Monopoly ($3,500/mo)
For high-ticket clients (SaaS, Healthcare, Legal) who require 100% citation monopoly and competitor lockout across 50+ high-intent buyer prompts.
Agency Retainer Math & Cash Margins
Standard market price for ongoing AI citation surveillance
Effective per-client cost on Growth Partner Plan
$1,451/mo gross cash profit per client retained
Test your client's current baseline citation score below to price their retainer.
Run a live multi-model citation audit to see competitor displacement in real time.
What AI Engines Actually See
Ready to onboard your first 3 retainer clients?
Unlock 5 client vaults for \$249 one-time or 15 client vaults for \$499 one-time. 100% one-time license with zero recurring software fees.
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