What should you pay for an AI search visibility audit in 2026? UK agencies now run a wide range of audit offerings, from genuinely free sales pre-qualifiers to £8,500 enterprise deep-dives. This guide gives you the honest pricing, what each tier should include, and how to spot a templated audit that is not worth the fee.
Free Audits: What They Should Be, What They Often Are
Free AI visibility audits sit in two categories: legitimate sales pre-qualifiers and sales theatre.
A Legitimate Free Audit
- Covers a defined query set you nominate (typically 20-30 priority commercial-intent queries)
- Sweeps at least two major AI surfaces (ChatGPT + Perplexity at minimum, ideally also Google AI Overviews)
- Provides screenshot evidence of citation share for each query
- Benchmarks against your top 3 named competitors
- Returns a written summary identifying the top 3 authority gaps and the indicative remediation cost
- Delivered within 5-10 working days
- Scope to upgrade to a paid deep audit or to a retainer engagement
Sales Theatre Disguised as a Free Audit
- A 30-minute sales call with generic claims about AI search
- A “report” that is the same template every prospect receives with the brand name swapped
- Vague observations like “your brand has limited AI visibility” without query-level evidence
- Pressure to commit to a retainer before any actual audit work has been delivered
- No screenshot evidence, no defined query set, no competitor comparison
If you are being sold a “free audit” that turns out to be the second category, you have learned something useful about the agency’s seriousness. Walk away.
Paid Audit Pricing Tiers
| Tier | Price Range | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | £750 - £1,500 | 50-75 queries, 2-3 platforms, basic competitor benchmark, written summary |
| Standard | £1,500 - £3,500 | 75-150 queries, all major AI surfaces, structured competitor analysis, schema audit, written report |
| Deep | £3,500 - £6,500 | 150-250 queries, full multi-platform sweep, full entity and structured-data audit, competitor authority graph, executive presentation |
| Enterprise | £6,500 - £15,000 | 250+ queries, multi-brand or multi-jurisdiction coverage, full compliance integration, board-ready report, multiple workshops |
Lite Tier: £750 - £1,500
Suits a single-domain B2B firm that has already done some self-assessment and wants a structured report. At this price, expect a competent technical assessment but limited strategic depth.
Standard Tier: £1,500 - £3,500
The most common engagement tier. You should expect 75-150 queries, full sweep across the major AI surfaces, structured competitor citation analysis, schema and structured-data audit, and a written report you can present internally.
Deep Tier: £3,500 - £6,500
For firms preparing to commit to a serious retainer or restructure their content programme. Includes full entity authority graph mapping for you and your top 3-5 competitors, prioritised remediation roadmap with effort and cost estimates, and an executive presentation to your leadership team.
Enterprise Tier: £6,500 - £15,000
For multi-brand groups, regulated incumbents, and multi-jurisdiction firms. Should include compliance integration (FCA, SRA, NICE as applicable), board-ready written report with executive summary and technical appendix, multiple workshops with stakeholders, and a multi-quarter remediation roadmap.
What an Audit Should Always Include
Whatever the price tier, a credible audit includes:
- Defined query set — a specific list of priority queries the audit covers, agreed before work begins
- Multi-platform citation evidence — screenshots or session captures from named platforms on named dates
- Citation share benchmarking — your share vs at least three named competitors across the query set
- Entity authority diagnostic — schema, structured data, third-party authority signals
- Authority gap identification — the specific reasons your citation share is what it is
- Prioritised remediation pathway — what to fix first, why, and indicative cost
Audits that produce only a percentage score with no underlying evidence and no remediation pathway are not useful. They are pitch decks dressed as diagnostics.
What an Audit Should Never Be
A retainer pitch in disguise. A genuine audit gives you actionable information regardless of whether you engage the agency afterwards.
A keyword volume report. AI search is a different signal surface to traditional SEO. A “keyword opportunity audit” is not an AI visibility audit.
A claims-only document. “You are missing significant AI visibility” is not a finding. “You are cited in 8% of your top 30 commercial queries on ChatGPT, vs 47% citation share for [named competitor], primarily because of [specific reason]” is a finding.
A one-time deliverable. AI surfaces evolve quickly. An audit conducted Q1 2026 will be substantially out of date by Q3 2026 without refresh — annual or semi-annual re-audit is standard practice for serious programmes.
Free vs Paid: What Should You Actually Buy?
| Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| You’re early in your AI search thinking and want to gauge the seriousness of the gap | Free audit |
| You’re comparing 2-3 agencies before committing to a retainer | Free audit from each, compared |
| You need to present the AI search opportunity to a board or executive team | Paid audit (Standard or Deep tier) |
| You’re a regulated incumbent or multi-brand group | Paid Deep or Enterprise audit |
| You’ve already done a free audit and want to plan a 12-month programme | Paid audit (Deep tier) |
For most mid-market UK firms, a free audit followed by an upgrade to a paid Deep audit before committing to a multi-year retainer is the right path. The paid audit fee is typically credited against the first quarter of any retainer that follows.
What MarGen Charges, Transparently
| Audit Tier | Price | Coverage | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free AI Visibility Audit | £0 | 30 nominated queries, 3 AI platforms, citation share vs top 3 competitors, written summary | 5 working days |
| Synaptic Audit (our standard audit — most businesses) | £2,950 | 100 queries, all major AI surfaces, structured competitor analysis, schema audit, written report | 3 weeks |
| Synaptic Enterprise Audit (Deep) | £4,500 - £6,500 | 150-200 queries, full entity authority graph, competitor authority mapping, executive presentation | 4-5 weeks |
| Synaptic Enterprise Audit (Enterprise) | £8,500+ | Multi-brand, full compliance integration, board-ready report, multi-workshop format | 5-6 weeks |
The Synaptic Audit fee is credited in full against your first retainer month; the deeper Synaptic Enterprise Audit is credited against your first three months of any subsequent MarGen retainer. Request your free audit to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should an AI search audit be free or paid?
Both have a place. Free audits make sense as sales pre-qualifiers. Paid audits make sense when you need depth, executive presentation, or board-ready reporting.
What should a free AI visibility audit include?
A defined query set of 20-30 priority queries, citation share screenshots from 2+ major AI surfaces, competitor comparison against your top 3 competitors, and a written summary of the largest authority gaps.
What does a £3,500 paid audit deliver that free doesn’t?
100-200 query coverage, full multi-platform sweep, full entity audit, competitor authority graph analysis, written report, and executive presentation.
How long should an AI visibility audit take?
Free audits 5-10 working days; paid audits 3-6 weeks depending on depth.
Can I run an AI search audit myself?
Partly. You can observe whether you appear in priority queries. What you cannot easily do is structured citation share calculation across a defined query set, competitor entity authority graph analysis, or schema audit.
What does MarGen’s audit include?
Free audit covers 30 priority queries across 3 AI surfaces with competitor benchmarking. The standard paid Synaptic Audit is £2,950 (100 queries, all major AI surfaces); the deeper Synaptic Enterprise Audit (£4,500-£8,500+) extends to 150-200+ queries with full entity audit and executive presentation. Both are credited against a subsequent retainer.