Short answer: most SEO providers charge a monthly retainer, and the most common retainer in the largest public survey is $501 to $1,000 a month. Agency programs cost more. DIAP Media publishes its own prices: local SEO starts at $800 a month for one Google Business Profile, national SEO starts at $3,000 a month, and every local and national plan is month-to-month.
This page puts the industry numbers and DIAP Media’s own price sheet side by side, so the two can be compared on the same terms. It replaces two older articles on the same question that quoted ranges without saying where they came from.
What does the industry charge for SEO?
The most cited dataset is Ahrefs’ survey of 439 SEO service providers, published in December 2023 and updated in August 2024. In that survey, 78.2% of providers charge a monthly retainer, and the single most common retainer band is $501 to $1,000 a month, chosen by 20.4% of respondents.
| Pricing model | Most common band in the survey | Share of providers in that band |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | $501 to $1,000 a month | 20.4% |
| Hourly rate | $75 to $100 an hour | 24% |
| Per project | $2,501 to $5,000 | 21.2% |
Source: Ahrefs, SEO pricing survey. The survey mixes freelancers, consultants and agencies in every country, so the most common band says more about a typical solo provider than about an agency with a team.
Why do SEO prices vary so much?
Four things move the price more than anything else:
- How many places the business needs to rank. One shop in one city is a smaller job than six locations or a national market.
- How hard the competition is. A plumber in a small town and an ecommerce brand selling nationally are not the same project, even with the same number of pages.
- Who does the work. A freelancer, an agency team and a senior lead who sits inside the business are priced differently because the hours and the accountability are different.
- Whether AI search is part of the job. Being cited by Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity takes structured, quotable pages and a consistent business entity across the web. That work is now part of the scope, not an extra.
What does DIAP Media charge?
DIAP Media charges $800 a month for local SEO covering one Google Business Profile and its core service area, $2,000 a month for up to three profiles, and from $3,000 a month for national SEO. These are the same prices Lifted Websites publishes, because both are brands of Digital Internet Advertising Properties, LLC.
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO | $800 a month | One managed Google Business Profile and its core service area. AI search work is included. |
| Multi-Local Plus | $2,000 a month | Up to three managed Google Business Profiles and unlimited location pages, built at the plan’s monthly pace. Each additional profile is $800 a month, so six locations come to $4,400 a month. |
| Custom local programs and dedicated AI search programs | $3,000 to $10,000+ a month | Priced on the competition, not the location count. Scoped in writing after a free audit. |
| National Launch, Growth, Authority | $3,000, $5,000 and $8,000+ a month | National SEO for brands that sell beyond one region. |
| Fractional SEO Lead, Director, Head of Search | $3,000, $5,500 and $10,000 a month | A senior SEO lead working inside the business. 90-day initial term, then month-to-month. |
Local and national plans are month-to-month with no long-term contract. The full sheet, with what each plan includes, is on the DIAP Media pricing page.
How does that compare with the survey?
DIAP Media’s local plan at $800 a month sits inside the most common retainer band in the Ahrefs survey. The national and fractional plans sit well above it. That gap is the difference between a single provider handling one listing and a program that covers many pages, many locations or a whole national market.
The honest trade-off: a $500 retainer from a solo provider can be the right buy for a single-location business with light competition. It usually is not enough for a business that needs to rank in several cities, sell nationally, or be cited by AI engines, because the work simply takes more hours each month.
How long before SEO pays off?
For local and multi-location SEO, DIAP Media expects first measurable movement in 60 to 90 days and meaningful results in 3 to 6 months. National SEO typically takes 4 to 9 months. AI search work usually shows results in 2 to 4 months; live-retrieval engines such as Perplexity and ChatGPT Search can cite new pages within weeks. These are expectations, not guarantees.
What should a business ask before signing?
- Is the price published, or only given after a call?
- Is there a minimum term, and what happens at the end of it?
- Who does the work each month, and what will be reported?
- Does the plan include AI search, or is it sold separately?
- How will leads be measured: calls, forms, or only rankings?
A provider that answers all five in writing before the first invoice is easier to hold to account than one that does not.
Frequently asked questions
How much does local SEO cost per month?
In the Ahrefs survey the most common SEO retainer is $501 to $1,000 a month. DIAP Media’s local SEO plan is $800 a month for one Google Business Profile and its core service area, month-to-month.
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
Not always in the first months. Ads produce clicks the day they start; SEO takes 60 to 90 days to show first movement. Once pages rank, the clicks carry no per-click cost, which is why many businesses run both and shift budget over time.
Want a price for a specific business? Send the details or call 888-863-7421.