SEO for a small business usually costs $500 to $3,500 a month when you hire it out. In Ahrefs' poll of 439 SEO providers, local SEO averaged $1,557 a month: $1,150 from freelancers and $1,819 from agencies. WebFX puts small businesses at $1,500 to $3,500 a month, and BrightLocal's managed local SEO service is $1,299 a month. Doing it yourself costs the tools, from $41 a month.
Google itself charges nothing: "it costs nothing to appear in our organic search results." Everything on this page is the price of someone's time or software.
How much does SEO cost per month for a small business?
Hired out, SEO costs a small business $500 to $3,500 a month on the published ranges. WebFX lists $500 to $1,500 for startups and micro-enterprises and $1,500 to $3,500 for small businesses. In Ahrefs' poll, about 42% of SEOs charge $250 to $1,000 a month, and local SEO averages $1,557.
| Source | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs poll, local SEO | $1,557 a month on average | 439 SEO providers polled; freelancers $1,150, agencies $1,819 |
| Ahrefs poll, all SEO | $2,917 a month on average | Same poll, local and worldwide clients together |
| WebFX, small business | $1,500 to $3,500 a month | WebFX's range by business size |
| WebFX, startup or micro-business | $500 to $1,500 a month | The same table |
| WebFX SEO services | From $2,900 a month | WebFX's own plans |
| BrightLocal Managed SEO Service | $1,299 a month | Local SEO done for you |
| Upwork, SEO experts | $15 to $35 an hour | Median hourly rates on Upwork |
Read on 15 October 2026 from each company's own page. US dollars. Ahrefs' poll page was last updated 15 August 2024.
The spread is mostly who does the work and where. Ahrefs found that "Agencies charge 138% more than freelancers," and that providers serving local markets charge $1,557.08 a month on average against $3,473.74 for those serving the worldwide market.
Want to sell local search work, not just buy it? The AI Visibility Service walkthrough lays out the business step by step.
How much does local SEO cost?
Local SEO, getting found in your town's searches and on the map, averages $1,557 a month in Ahrefs' poll: $1,819 from agencies and $1,150 from freelancers. BrightLocal, a local SEO company, sells a managed service for $1,299 a month. Ahrefs puts small-business SEO at about the same level as local SEO.
Much of local SEO is the Google Business Profile and getting the business listed accurately on other sites. BrightLocal sells those listings separately through its Citation Builder, "starting at $3.20 per site, or as low as $2 with bulk credits," with no subscription needed. What the profile work itself costs is in how much Google Business Profile management costs.
How much do SEO consultants charge per hour?
47% of the SEOs in Ahrefs' poll charge $75 to $200 an hour, and 90% charge $150 an hour or less. WebFX gives the same consulting range, "$75 to $200 per hour." On Upwork, the median hourly rate for SEO experts is $15 to $35, a marketplace figure that includes freelancers worldwide.
Ahrefs also found that experience moves the rate: an average of $73.05 an hour for SEOs in business for two years or less and $118.35 for those in business for 10 years or more. Upwork notes that its figure is "typical hourly rate ranges of certain historical contracts worldwide" and that "What clients will pay is subject to negotiations with talent."
What does a one-off SEO project or audit cost?
$2,501 to $5,000 is the most common per-project fee in Ahrefs' poll, charged by 21.2% of respondents, and half charge $2,000 or less. WebFX lists project work at $500 to $5,000. Freelancers price lowest: in Ahrefs' data their most common project fee is $101 to $250.
A project suits a business that wants the site checked and fixed once, rather than paying every month. Google's advice for an audit is to give the SEO limited access: "only grant read access to Search Console (at this stage, don't grant them write access)."
Can a small business do SEO itself, and what does it cost?
Yes, says Google: "If you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself." The cost is your time plus any tools. BrightLocal's local SEO plans start at $41 a month for one location, or $31 a month billed yearly. Semrush's SEO plan is $139 a month, or $117.33 billed yearly.
| Tool and plan | Monthly price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| BrightLocal Track | $41 ($31 billed yearly) | Local rankings for up to 100 keywords, local SEO audits, Business Profile audit |
| BrightLocal Manage | $54 ($40 billed yearly) | Track plus keeping listings in sync and scheduling Business Profile posts |
| BrightLocal Grow | $65 ($49 billed yearly) | Manage plus monitoring, requesting and replying to reviews |
| Semrush SEO | $139 ($117.33 billed yearly) | 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily, Site Audit |
| Semrush Starter | $199 ($165.17 billed yearly) | Adds AI visibility tracking: 50 prompts tracked daily |
Prices from BrightLocal's and Semrush's own pricing pages, 15 October 2026, US dollars. BrightLocal's prices are for one location.
Google's own free tools, Search Console and its SEO starter guide, are where it suggests starting. A tool tells you what is wrong; the hours to fix it are still yours.
Is SEO still worth paying for when customers ask AI?
Search is now two places, and the cheapest SEO plans already track both: Semrush's $139 plan lists "Track performance in AI search," and BrightLocal's $41 plan includes a "Local AI Visibility Tracker." What being named by ChatGPT costs on its own is in how much GEO costs, from $29 a month to track.
The overlap is real. The accurate listings, reviews and Business Profile that local SEO builds are also what AI engines read about a local business, which is the subject of how to get recommended by ChatGPT. Why changing the website alone rarely moves an AI answer is in the three problems in AI visibility work.
The honest hard part
The averages are softer than they look. Ahrefs worked out its averages by assuming every respondent charges the top of their price band, and the poll was last updated in August 2024. Treat $1,557 as a fair guide, not an invoice.
The second hard part is that the price does not tell you the work. Google warns that hiring an SEO "can potentially improve your site's visibility and save you time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation," and suggests asking for past results and checking references before paying anyone.
The third is time. SEO is paid monthly and works slowly, and most of the providers who would quote you never publish a price. The figures here are the visible part of the market, read on one day.
