SEO Services Measured in Pipeline

A full SEO program covers four jobs: make the site easy for search engines and AI crawlers to read, publish the pages buyers are looking for, earn proof from other sites, and measure what turns into revenue. Here is what that looks like in our search engine optimization service, in the order we usually tackle it.

SEO pricing depends on who does the work and how much of it they own. The best public data we know of is Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers (updated August 2024). It found that 78.2% of providers charge a monthly retainer, the most common retainer is $501 to $1,000 a month, and 79.1% of providers in the US and Canada charge at least $1,001 a month. Agencies averaged $3,209 a month and freelancers averaged $1,348.63. For hourly SEO consulting services, $75 to $100 an hour was the most common rate.

Those averages blend local shops, freelancers and enterprise firms, so treat them as a floor for B2B work. A program that covers technical fixes, expert content, digital PR, AI search and CRM attribution for a company with long sales cycles costs more, because it takes senior people and real production every month.

AlchemyLeads plans start with an SEO and AI search program, and higher tiers add paid media, web development and automation. We price on outcomes and experience, and hourly billing is reserved for scoped development projects. Full tiers are on our pricing page.

We work with a small roster of companies where search drives large deals or high order values:

• High-AOV B2B: industrial, manufacturing, aerospace and engineering, medical device and technical companies, where one new account can be worth a year of marketing spend. Our B2B SEO guide covers how we approach long sales cycles.
• High-earning Shopify DTC brands that want organic and AI search to carry more of their revenue.
• Companies with $5M to $150M in annual revenue that have a sales team or ecommerce stack we can connect to.

We are a poor fit for very small local businesses that mainly need map pack visibility. For that work, our local SEO services page is a better place to start. We're based in Los Angeles and serve clients nationwide; if you want a Los Angeles partner specifically, see our Los Angeles SEO agency page or SEO services in Los Angeles.

It is worth it when the program is measured on the numbers your CFO cares about. A ranking report says little about whether sales got easier. That's why we connect analytics to your CRM in the first weeks and judge the work on qualified leads, pipeline and revenue.

When deals are large, the math works fast. A few extra qualified requests for quote a month can cover a year of fees. Here is what that has looked like for clients:

Clients stay because it keeps paying off. 95% of new clients since 2020 (38 of 40) stayed longer than 12 months, and the average client relationship is 3 years 10 months. We also hold 22 five-star Google reviews (5.0). Read them, plus case studies, on our client reviews page.

You can do a lot of SEO yourself. Google Search Console, a crawler and a clear content plan will take a small site a long way, and plenty of founders learn the basics in a few weekends. The question for a $5M to $150M company is whether your team has the time and the depth to keep up with technical SEO, content production, link building, AI search and attribution all at once.

Here is a simple way to decide:

• Do it in-house if you already have a marketer who owns SEO, engineering support for technical fixes, and subject matter experts who can write or review content.
• Hire an SEO consultant if you have the hands but need strategy, audits and a second opinion. SEO consulting services work best when your team can execute.
• Hire an SEO agency if you need strategy and production together, want specialists in technical, content and PR, and want the work tied to pipeline without building a department.

Many of our clients run a hybrid: their team owns product knowledge and approvals, and we run the program around it. Switching from an agency that isn't working? Our guide to switching SEO agencies walks through the handoff.

Good SEO companies are easy to verify. Ask these questions on the first call:

• Who owns the accounts? You should own your Google Search Console, GA4, Google Business Profile, domain and content. Walk away if an agency keeps them.
• How do you measure success? Look for leads, pipeline and revenue from your CRM, with traffic and rankings as supporting signals.
• Can I see live data? A real-time dashboard on your own tools beats a PDF you wait a month for.
• Who does the work? Ask who your strategist is and how much of the work is senior.
• What changes for AI search? A modern agency should explain how it earns citations in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.

Red flags to watch for:

• Guaranteed #1 rankings. Nobody controls Google's results, and promising them is a warning sign.
• Cheap packages built on bulk links or AI content with no expert review.
• Vague scopes with no tie to your business goals.
• No case studies or reviews from companies like yours.

We wrote a longer list of questions to ask an AI search agency that works for any SEO hire.

SEO is very much alive. What changed is where buyers read the answer. Buyers now research in two places at once: classic search results and AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. Pew Research Center found that 18% of Google searches it studied in March 2025 produced an AI summary, and users clicked a traditional result in 8% of those visits, compared with 15% when no summary appeared.

That means fewer clicks for the same rankings, and more weight on being the source the AI quotes. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of earning those mentions and citations. It rests on the same foundation as good SEO: a crawlable site, clear expert content, structured data and independent proof that you are credible. On top of that we add entity work, answer-first page structure and citation tracking across the major AI assistants.

Every SEO program we run includes this AI search layer. For a deeper look, see our AI SEO services and our breakdown of what an AI SEO agency costs.

1. Diagnose. We audit your site, content, authority and AI visibility, and connect analytics to your CRM so we can see what actually produces revenue. Audits take 4 to 6 weeks from onboarding, mostly spent analyzing your first-party data.
2. Plan. We build a roadmap around high-value buyer questions and the fixes most likely to move qualified leads and pipeline.
3. Fix and build. We resolve technical issues, optimize priority pages and publish expert content and pillar pages on a steady cadence.
4. Earn authority. We secure links and mentions from credible sources that both Google and AI assistants rely on.
5. Measure and refine. We track conversions, pipeline and AI citations in real-time dashboards, keep you posted in Slack or email, and reset the plan in quarterly strategy reviews.

How long do SEO services take to work?

Plan on months. Technical fixes and conversion improvements can show up within the first quarter, while content and authority compound over the following quarters. The cleanroom pipeline result above came in 90 days, and the contract-furniture AI citation result came about four months from kickoff, but every site starts from a different place. Our guide on how long AI SEO takes covers realistic timelines.

What is included in your SEO services?

Our SEO services include a paid SEO and AI visibility audit, keyword and topic strategy, technical SEO, on-page optimization, content creation, link building and digital PR, AI search optimization, conversion work and CRM attribution. Everything is measured in a real-time dashboard tied to leads and pipeline.

How much do SEO services cost?

In Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers, agencies averaged $3,209 a month and the most common retainer was $501 to $1,000 a month. AlchemyLeads plans, and what each includes, are on our pricing page.

Are SEO services worth it?

For high-value B2B and ecommerce brands, usually yes, as long as the work is measured on pipeline and revenue. One industrial cleanroom manufacturer grew monthly sales pipeline from $1M to $2.7M in 90 days, and 95% of our new clients since 2020 stayed longer than 12 months.

How long does SEO take to produce results?

Expect early gains from technical and conversion fixes in the first quarter, and compounding results from content and authority after that. Timelines depend on your starting point, competition and how quickly changes ship.

Does SEO help us show up in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews?

Yes. AI assistants lean on the same signals as search: crawlable pages, clear expert content, structured data and mentions from trusted sites. Every program we run includes AI search optimization and citation tracking.

Can I do SEO myself instead of hiring an agency?

You can handle the basics yourself with Google Search Console and a solid content plan. Most $5M to $150M companies hire help once they need technical SEO, content, digital PR, AI search and attribution running at the same time.

Do you offer SEO consulting services?

Our programs are strategy and execution together, led by senior strategists. If your team already handles execution, ask about a scoped audit on a strategy session.

Is AlchemyLeads a good fit for my company?

We're a strong fit for high-AOV B2B companies in industrial, manufacturing, aerospace and engineering, medical device and technical markets, plus high-earning Shopify brands, with $5M to $150M in revenue. Very small local businesses are better served by our local SEO services.