How much does AEO cost for a med spa?

The range is wide because 'AEO' means two very different things. Sold as its own discipline — building and maintaining the pages AI engines cite, plus monthly visibility tracking — it's a standalone program that runs in the low thousands per month. Sold as a line item bolted onto an SEO retainer, it's often a few hundred dollars and amounts to a one-time schema/checklist pass. Same acronym, very different work, which is why quoted prices vary so much.

What you're paying for monthly is the work and the measurement, not a one-time setup. AI answers re-rank within weeks, so a build that's correct today drifts out of the answer later; an ongoing program continuously monitors your citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overview and re-optimizes as they move. If a price looks low, ask what happens after month one — a static build that isn't maintained tends to fade.

A few honest watch-outs. Be skeptical of sub-$1,500/mo 'AEO' (usually thin), of one-time 'foundation' fees with no ongoing work, and of any provider guaranteeing you'll be cited — no one controls what AI says, so a guarantee is a sales device, not a capability. Reasonable risk-reversal looks like month-to-month terms and one-clinic-per-city exclusivity, not a promised outcome.

A useful way to weigh the price: compare it to what you already spend. A full-service med-spa marketing agency commonly runs $2,500–$7,500/mo, and an in-house marketer $5,000+/mo — both far above a focused AI-visibility program, and both usually with ad spend on top. Renownly is a flat $2,200/mo with no ad spend, aimed at one thing: being the clinic AI names. We report and improve your AI visibility; we don't promise bookings, patients, or revenue.