When I first started offering local SEO services at my agency, pricing felt like throwing darts blindfolded. Charge too low and you end up overworked and resentful. Charge too high without backing it up, and potential clients vanish faster than you can say “Google Business Profile.”
If you are feeling stuck about what to charge, you are not alone. Pricing local SEO is tricky because every client situation is different, every market is different, and frankly, the value you bring can vary wildly depending on how deep you go.
In this guide, I am going to break down everything you need to know about setting your agency’s local SEO pricing the right way.
We are going to cover:
- Typical local SEO pricing models
- Real-world pricing benchmarks
- Key factors that should influence your pricing
- A few honest opinions you might not hear elsewhere
- Pricing strategies that help you close deals without second-guessing yourself
Let’s dive in.
There are a few different ways agencies price local SEO. Each model works, but the right one for you will depend on the types of clients you serve and how you want to run your business.
How Agencies Typically Charge for Local SEO Services
1. Monthly Retainers
This is the most common way agencies charge for local SEO, and for good reason. Clients pay you a set amount each month, and you deliver an ongoing set of services designed to grow their local online presence over time.
Services under a typical retainer can include:
- Managing and optimizing the Google Business Profile
- Building and maintaining local citations
- Building local backlinks
- Managing online reviews and reputation
- Creating and optimizing location-specific landing pages
- Monitoring local rankings and providing monthly reporting
What agencies charge for this: Anywhere from $500 per month for smaller businesses in low-competition markets all the way up to $5,000 or more per month for multi-location businesses or clients in highly competitive industries like law, finance, or healthcare.
Things to keep in mind:
➡️Monthly retainers are the best model if you want predictable income and the ability to grow your agency without constantly scrambling for your next project.
➡️They also allow you to implement long-term SEO strategies that move the needle instead of doing a one-time fix and hoping for the best.
➡️Just make sure the services you offer in your retainer actually match the client’s needs and goals. Not every business needs a full-blown 20-page local SEO strategy from the start.
2. Hourly Billing
Some agencies and consultants choose to bill by the hour, especially when providing consulting, audits, or very specific technical SEO services.
What agencies charge for this: Hourly SEO rates usually fall somewhere between $75 and $250 per hour depending on your expertise, reputation, and geographic location.
There’s also an extensive list here that digs into this in detail.
Things to keep in mind:
➡️Billing hourly seems straightforward but it comes with a lot of headaches.
➡️Clients start tracking your hours and questioning why things take as long as they do.
➡️You also limit your income because there are only so many hours in a week you can physically work and you end up being paid for your time instead of the value and results you are delivering.
➡️Use hourly billing if you are selling a short-term service like a strategy session or a technical site audit. Otherwise, package your services around outcomes, not hours.
3. Project-Based Pricing
This model works when you are selling a clear, one-time service with a defined scope and deliverables. Also, these are not ongoing SEO campaigns. They’re tactical, deliverable-focused projects with a fixed timeline. You’re not being hired to “grow rankings over time”, you’re being paid to complete a specific job.
Some of the common examples for this are: Google Business Profile setup and optimization, Local SEO audits, Citation cleanup, One-time review generation campaign, and more.
What agencies charge for this: Prices can range anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 or more depending on the size and complexity of the project.
Source: WebFX says SEO project pricing typically ranges between $1,000 to $5,000, but can go much higher for larger or more complex sites. On the other hand, KlientBoost states that 38% of agencies charge more than $2,500 per project, and the most common pricing tier falls between $1,001–$1,500. So it’s safe to say that, these prices are very subjective and mostly depend on the nature of the project.
Things to keep in mind:
➡️Projects are a good way to create fast cash flow and build trust with new clients.
➡️They also give you a natural opportunity to upsell the client into an ongoing retainer if they like the results they see.
➡️Just be very specific about the scope of work you are delivering and have a clear process for handling change orders or additional requests.
➡️Scope creep is one of the fastest ways to kill your profitability.
4. Performance-Based Pricing
This is a risk-reward model that ties your income directly to the client’s business outcomes. You don’t get paid just to work, you get paid to win. Some of these instances might be,
- Ranking the client’s website or GBP on page one for target keywords
- Increasing their organic traffic by a certain percentage
- Delivering a specific number of leads
Some agencies charge a flat bonus when targets are hit. Others take a percentage of new revenue generated. This sounds great in theory because it ties your success to the client’s success.
What agencies charge for this: There’s no one-size-fits-all here. Some models you’ll see are Flat bonuses performance milestone, 10%–30% of new SEO-driven revenue, Pay-per-lead models, often priced at $20–$100 per qualified lead depending on industry, and so on. Also these are not fixed prices but just examples of what pay-per price model might look like for many.
Things to keep in mind:
➡️Performance pricing can quickly turn into a nightmare if you are not careful. So many variables are out of your control. A bad website, a slow sales team, poor client communication, or even a Google algorithm update can destroy your results.
➡️You could be doing incredible SEO work and still not hit the numbers if other parts of the business are broken.
➡️If you want predictable growth, stick to retainers where you are paid for your expertise and execution, not external factors you cannot guarantee.
The Biggest Factors That Should Influence Your Pricing
Pricing local SEO services is not a one-size-fits-all task. There is no standard rate sheet or universal calculator because every client brings different goals, challenges, and levels of readiness to the table. The amount you charge should reflect the actual work involved, the complexity of the client’s needs, and the potential return on investment your services can deliver.
1. The Client’s Size and Industry
The size of the business and the industry it operates in play a critical role in determining your pricing. A small business with a single storefront and minimal competition is very different from a multi-location law firm competing in one of the most aggressive markets online.
Industries like legal services, financial planning, real estate, and healthcare typically have higher customer lifetime values. That means every new client they win through search has the potential to bring in thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Because of this, companies in these industries are more willing to invest in SEO, and the SEO itself needs to be more intensive.
For example, ranking a personal injury lawyer in a major metro area will usually require:
- Detailed content strategies and legal service pages
- Link building from high-authority local and legal domains
- Aggressive review acquisition tactics
- Ongoing technical optimization
- Structured data for legal professionals
- High-end tracking, analytics, and conversion optimization
Compare that to a local cleaning service in a suburban town. Their competitors are fewer. Their service pages are simpler. Their budgets are tighter. And the average ticket size is lower, which means SEO has to be leaner to be profitable.
So, If the client operates in a highly competitive industry or has the potential to generate significant revenue per lead, your pricing should reflect the added strategy, labor, and long-term value involved.
2. Number of Locations
Every additional location multiplies the complexity of the SEO strategy. It is not just a matter of copying and pasting efforts across locations. Each location has its own set of requirements that must be managed individually.
Here is what needs to be handled for every location:
- A separate Google Business Profile with complete optimization
- Unique citation listings with accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
- Individual review monitoring and response strategies
- Either a dedicated landing page or subdirectory for SEO relevance
- Distinct ranking and traffic tracking
- Localized keyword research
If you are managing SEO for a chain with ten locations, you are essentially running ten mini-campaigns under one umbrella. That requires scalable systems, trained team members, and consistent reporting across all branches.
Many agencies find success by pricing per location, especially once the business crosses three or more branches. Some offer volume-based pricing models that reward clients for expanding their footprint while still protecting agency margins.
3. The Client’s Current Online Presence
Not all clients come to you with the same starting point. Some already have a well-optimized presence, while others have significant foundational issues that need to be fixed before any new SEO efforts can be effective.
Before you build a proposal, you should perform a thorough audit and assess:
- Whether their Google Business Profile is properly claimed, verified, and optimized
- The accuracy and completeness of existing citations across key directories
- Duplicate listings or NAP inconsistencies that need to be cleaned up
- The health and authority of their backlink profile
- Whether their website is structured for local SEO (location/service pages, schema, mobile usability)
- The presence of technical debt such as crawl errors, missing metadata, or poor site speed.
If a client has severe issues, your work in the early months will involve a lot of cleanup. Fixing mistakes from previous SEO work, migrating citations, or restructuring a poorly built site is not the same as launching a fresh, streamlined campaign.
Clients with messy setups should expect to pay more upfront or over the first few months due to the technical labor involved. This isn’t optimization, it’s remediation, and it requires expertise.
4. Scope of Services Offered
Local SEO is a broad term that covers a variety of services, and the more comprehensive your offering, the higher your pricing should be. You cannot offer full-scale strategies at entry-level prices without sacrificing either quality or profitability.
Typical services that fall under local SEO include:
- Google Business Profile setup, optimization, and management
- Citation building and cleanup
- On-page SEO for service and location-specific landing pages
- Localized content marketing and blog publishing
- Link building with a local relevance focus
- Reputation management and review generation strategies
- Technical SEO audits and fixes
- Conversion tracking and reporting
A basic package that only includes citation building and GBP setup is entirely different from a full-stack campaign that includes link outreach, location-specific blog content, and lead tracking. Agencies should never bundle all services into one price unless the value is clearly accounted for.
Be explicit about deliverables. Define what is included in each package, how often it is performed, and what results to expect over time. Clients appreciate transparency, and it protects your scope and margins.
Structuring Local SEO Packages
Rather than building custom quotes for every lead, it helps to create tiered packages that serve as starting points. These should be clearly defined, scalable, and easy for potential clients to understand.
Starter Package
Best for: Small businesses new to local SEO
Services included:
- Full Google Business Profile setup or optimization
- 50 to 100 local citations created or corrected
- Basic local keyword research
- Simple monthly reporting
Typical pricing: $500 to $800 per month
Growth Package
Best for: Local businesses with some SEO presence looking to compete more aggressively
Services included:
- Full GBP management and regular updates
- Recurring citation audits and updates
- On-page SEO for key service and location pages
- Basic link building
- Review generation and monitoring
- Detailed monthly reporting with ranking and lead tracking
Typical pricing: $1,200 to $2,500 per month
Domination Package
Best for: Businesses in highly competitive industries or large multi-location brands
Services included:
- Everything in the Growth Package
- Ongoing content creation for location-specific blogs and landing pages
- Link building through outreach and PR strategies
- Full reputation management with advanced review workflows
- Paid local advertising strategy and oversight
- Dedicated account manager and support team
- Bi-weekly performance calls and strategy sessions
Typical pricing: Starts at $2,500 per month and scales based on location count and service scope
Final Thoughts
Your pricing should reflect the actual value you provide. That includes your expertise, the results you generate, and the amount of labor involved behind the scenes. It is not just about charging what others charge. It is about understanding what it really takes to help a business grow, and pricing accordingly.
Too many agencies undercharge because they are afraid to lose deals. But clients who understand the stakes and the ROI of local SEO are willing to invest in quality work. You do not have to race to the bottom. In fact, charging too little can lead to scope creep, poor retention, and client frustration.
Stand by your pricing. Know your worth. Make sure every proposal is tied directly to business impact. When you communicate that clearly, good clients will respect the structure, and great clients will stick with you long term.
What Should Your Agency Be Charging For Local SEO: FAQs
- How much should I charge for local SEO?
Local SEO pricing depends on the client’s size, number of locations, industry competition, and the services included. Most freelancers and small agencies charge anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per month based on scope and complexity. - How much do agencies charge for SEO?
Agencies typically charge $1,000 to $6,000 per month depending on whether the SEO is local, national, or e-commerce focused. Higher rates are common for clients in competitive industries or multi-location businesses. - How much should I charge to do SEO?
If you’re starting out, you might begin around $500 to $1,000 per month for small, single-location businesses. As you gain experience and offer more advanced services like link building and content strategy, you can scale pricing above $2,000+ per month. - How much does an SEO agency cost?
The cost of hiring an SEO agency usually ranges from $1,000 to $5,000 per month, though some charge more for enterprise-level work. One-time audits or project-based SEO can cost $750 to $3,000+ depending on deliverables.
