Why compare tool cost against agency cost
A tool subscription is not the whole cost. Someone still has to check the visibility data, spot what is missing, write the content briefs, and then actually implement the fixes: new content, schema, page updates. Peec, Otterly and similar tools run $29 to $500+ a month depending on how much you track. An agency retainer for the same scope usually costs more because it covers all of that execution work too, not just the monitoring.
This calculator adds up the full in-house cost properly: the subscription plus a realistic estimate of the hours needed to monitor, brief and execute the work yourself, based on how many prompts, countries and AI models you are tracking. That is the number to compare against an actual agency quote, not the software price on its own.
“AI models” means engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. Most tools track 3–4 by default and charge extra to add more.
How we calculate this
Tool cost: the median published price for that tier across the AI-visibility tools we track (Peec, Otterly, Scrunch, Surfer, Ahrefs, Semrush and others). Beyond Premium’s limits (400 prompts / 3 countries / 8 models), vendors typically move to custom/enterprise pricing, so we scale the estimate proportionally to how far over you are, but treat it as a ballpark, not a quote.
Your time: a tier-based estimate covering the full in-house workflow: monitoring, content briefs and actually implementing the fixes (roughly 15 / 32 / 55 hrs a month for Starter / Mid-tier / Premium, scaled up beyond Premium), multiplied by your hourly rate, plus a 1.3× loaded-cost multiplier for payroll taxes, benefits and other employment overhead. This is our estimate for a generalist handling it themselves; a specialist may be faster, a beginner slower.
Agency cost: if you enter a real quote, we use it. Otherwise we show a typical range for that scope, based on published 2026 AEO/GEO agency pricing benchmarks and real client pricing. This is a market estimate, not a published price list like the tool figures above, so treat it as a ballpark rather than a quote.
Figures are estimates. Tool prices are based on published pricing pages, checked regularly. Agency ranges are a general estimate, not a quote. Actual costs vary by provider and scope.