A tool, a freelancer, a hire, an agency or Reach AI?
How Reach AI compares with the four options most teams weigh before they decide: an AI visibility tool, an SEO freelancer, an in-house hire and an SEO agency. Here is what each one is good at, where it stops and what it costs, so you can pick the right one, even when it isn't us.
Experts only, no juniors · You approve every page · Month to month after the first 3 months
Side-by-side comparisons
Reach AI next to an SEO agency, an in-house hire and specific tools. Every outside fact comes from its own source, with the date we checked it.
Comparisons
Reach AI vs SEO agencies
How searches are picked, AI answers, who does the work and what each costs, with the rows the agency wins.
Comparisons
Reach AI vs in-house
What one SEO hire costs with benefits and tools, how soon work starts, and when hiring is the better call.
Comparisons
Reach AI vs Profound
AI visibility software with agents your team runs, or a team that does the work.
| Options compared | An AI visibility tool, an SEO freelancer, an in-house hire, an SEO agency and Reach AI |
|---|---|
| AI visibility tool | From about $100 a month, plus your team's time to act on the data |
| SEO freelancer | About $2,000 to $3,000 a month |
| Reach AI | $8,000 or $15,000 a month, research, pages, mentions and reporting included |
| Side-by-side pages | Reach AI vs SEO agencies, Reach AI vs in-house, Reach AI vs Profound, Profound alternatives and Peec AI alternatives |
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: An AI visibility tool, from about $100 a month, if a senior in-house team already does the research and the work.
- Articles on a budget: An SEO freelancer, about $2,000 to $3,000 a month, when you already own the strategy.
- Know-how inside the company: An in-house hire, when search is a core channel and you can wait months to hire and ramp.
- A Google-only program: An SEO agency, at prices that vary widely, when Google rankings are the main goal.
- Google and AI answers, done for you: Reach AI, at $8,000 or $15,000 a month with research, pages, mentions and reporting included. First pages go live in weeks 3 and 4.
Tool, freelancer, hire, agency or Reach AI: at a glance
Seven things teams tell us they need from whoever owns search, and how each option does on them.
| What you need |  Reach AITeam plus platform | An AI visibility toolA dashboard | An SEO freelancerOne person | An in-house hireOne person plus tools | An SEO agencyAccount team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finds the searches that decide deals | Yes: Buyer questions, ranked by how close they are to a deal | Partly: Shows where you're missing | Partly: Keyword lists, mostly Google | Partly: If they have the data and time | Partly: Often Google keywords first |
| Writes and publishes the pages | Yes: Yes, published to your CMS | No: Your team does it | Yes: Yes, often a set number | Yes | Yes |
| Earns the mentions and threads AI quotes | Yes: Yes, on the sites AI already quotes | No | No: Rarely | Partly: If it's in their skill set | Partly: Links, less often AI sources |
| Works on Google and AI answers together | Yes: Yes, one plan for both | Partly: AI tracking only | Partly: Mostly Google | Partly: Depends on the hire | Partly: Often Google first |
| Reports pipeline, not only traffic | Yes: Strict and influenced pipeline | No: Visibility scores | No: Rankings and traffic | Partly: If they set it up | Partly: Mostly traffic |
| When work goes live | Yes: First pages in weeks 3 and 4 | No: Data on day one; the work is still yours | Partly: Depends on their workload | Partly: After hiring and ramp-up | Partly: Depends on onboarding |
| What it costs a month | $8,000 or $15,000the work included | From about $100, plus your team's time | About $2,000 to $3,000 | A salary, plus about $500 a month in tools source | Varies widely |
| The right call when | You want search to be your unfair advantage as you grow | You run a senior SEO team doing its own research | You need articles and own the strategy | Search is core and you can wait to hire and ramp | You want a Google-only SEO program |
Tool and freelancer costs are what prospects told us they pay, August 2025 to October 2026. Reach AI prices are list prices.
Each option, and how it works with us
Each one is the right call for some teams, and you can combine them with us.
An AI visibility tool
From about $100 a month, plus your team's timeSeeing where you show up in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and how that changes week to week.
It reports. Someone still has to pick the searches that matter, write the pages, earn the mentions and fix the site. Without that time, the dashboard stays red.
Every package tracks your prompts, so you don't need both. If you like your tool, keep it, and we'll match our prompt list to yours so the numbers line up.
An SEO freelancer
About $2,000 to $3,000 a monthA steady flow of articles when you already own the strategy and know which searches matter.
One person rarely covers research, writing, technical SEO, outreach and community at once, and AI answers lean on mentions and threads as much as on your own pages.
Keep them. We can own the research, the priorities and the pages that drive pipeline, and hand your freelancer briefs for the rest.
An in-house hire
A salary, plus benefits and toolsThe long run, when search is a core channel and you want the know-how inside the company.
Months to hire and ramp, and the mix of skills is rare in one person: search research, data, writing and outreach.
Start with us now and hire later. The pages, mentions and roadmap stay yours, and we can hand the system over to your hire. Side by side: Reach AI vs in-house.
An SEO agency
Varies widelyA long-running Google SEO program with a large content team behind it.
Many still plan around Google keywords and traffic reports. AI answers need different research and different sources, and traffic is not pipeline.
Plenty of teams run us next to their agency: we own the AI search research and the pages that drive pipeline, and the agency keeps the rest of its scope. Side by side: Reach AI vs SEO agencies.
How to choose between a tool, a freelancer, a hire and an agency
Whether you're weighing an SEO agency vs in-house, an SEO agency vs freelancer, or an AI visibility tool vs agency, five questions decide it.
1. Who does the research and the work
A tool only reports. Someone senior still has to own research, writing and outreach every week, and a tool plus that team usually costs more than a team that does the work on its own platform.
2. What you can spend
Tools start at about $100 a month, freelancers cost about $2,000 to $3,000, and a hire costs a salary plus tools. Reach AI costs $8,000 or $15,000 with the work included. Count your team's hours on top of any tool.
3. Google, AI answers or both
AI answers cite pages that rank on Google, plus roundups, reviews and threads. If your buyers ask ChatGPT and Claude for shortlists, pick someone who earns those mentions too.
4. How soon you need pages live
A tool gives you data on day one, but the work is still yours. A hire takes months to recruit and ramp. Reach AI puts the first pages live in weeks 3 and 4.
5. How you'll measure it
Visibility scores and traffic are not pipeline. Ask each option how it reports the deals search brings in. We report strict and influenced pipeline from your CRM.
Customer Testimonials
From teams that had a choice
Their system combines AI-powered research and execution with a level of precision that even the best in-house teams would struggle to match.
Alex VaccaCo-founder and COO, ColdIQ
They understand the business context, focus on the work that moves pipeline, and execute fast with a level of rigor you usually only get internally.
Alex VaccaCo-founder & COO, ColdIQThey keep testing and updating the strategy as the models evolve, which is how they are helping us prepare for the future of search.
Rafaela LopesGrowth marketing manager, Fidelidade
Their internal AI agents and platform let them find high intent opportunities fast and analyze what needs to change across hundreds or thousands of pages without guesswork, which would normally take weeks.
Yevhen (Eugene) SuslovFractional Head of Content, ColdIQIn 6 months they helped me go from basically no website traffic and being invisible for the relevant searches and prompts, to being recommended by AI in prompts like “the best GTM engineering agency in the world”.
Jorge B. MacíasFounder & GTM Engineer
Reach came in, identified what was blocking us, and got us showing up in ChatGPT and Google AI Mode within a few months.
Loïc RecoHead of Product, ColdIQIn a few months, Fraudio went from zero AI visibility to 20% mention coverage in the prompts that matter most for our buyers
10xinbound pipeline in 8 months ($2M)
João MouraCo-founder & CEO, Fraudio
Reach AI went far beyond the original scope to make sure we saw measurable impact early.
Rui CostaCTO, Indie Campers
They pull real questions and intent signals from the places our buyers actually learn and make decisions, and use that to focus on the keywords and prompts that really matter.
Rui CostaCTO, Indie CampersReach helped us engineer that narrative so when ChatGPT or Perplexity answer questions in our category, they don’t just mention Carro, they position us the way our best salesperson would.
Jason GoldbergCo-founder & CEO, Carro
Reach didn’t just explain it, they built the strategy and executed it end to end. Within a few months we were being recommended in the competitive prompts that actually influence buying decisions.
Mário CruzFractional CMO, CarroIn a few weeks, Reach took Vntana from ~7% to ~20% mention coverage and into the top 5 most cited sources for the highest-intent prompts in the buyer journey.
Ashley CrowderCEO, Vntana
Within weeks of the first pages going live, Noxus had its first qualified inbound lead from ChatGPT.
João Pedro AlmeidaCo-founder & CEO, Noxus
They took full ownership end to end. Research, strategy, execution, and iteration. As a founder, that was the difference.
Nathan TrousdellFounder & CEO, Navero
Still weighing your options?
On a 30-minute call we tell you which option fits your team and budget, even when it isn't us.
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Questions about choosing
How does Reach AI compare with an agency?
Reach AI compares with an agency on one point first: our team does the work too. The difference is how: our own platform does the research volume, so our experts spend their time on decisions and writing, and you see every step. You pay for the plan and the work, not for hours.
Can we buy only part of the work, like mentions?
You can't buy only part of the work, like mentions, on its own, because mentions only pay off when they point at the right pages. Every package includes research, pages, mentions and reporting. Inside a package you can top up: an extra link or mention placement is $250, and 5 extra pages are $2,000.
We already pay for an AI visibility tool. Do we need both?
You don't need both an AI visibility tool and Reach AI, because every package tracks your prompts in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews: 100 or 250, depending on the package. If you like your tool, keep it, and we'll match our prompt list to yours so the numbers line up.
Can we start with a pilot?
The first 3 months work as the pilot: after them it runs month to month on 30 days' notice. We don't run free trials, because search work takes months to show and a two-week trial would measure nothing.
Can you work next to our agency or freelancer?
Yes, we work next to your agency or freelancer: we usually own the search research, the priorities and the pages that drive pipeline, and they keep the rest of their scope. Some teams later move everything to us so there's one team and no handoffs.
Free 30-minute call
Book your search strategy call
Thirty minutes with Alex on your market, live. We look up where you and your closest competitors show up on Google and in AI answers, find the buyer searches nobody owns yet, and show you what we'd do first. You keep the notes either way.
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From $8,000 a month · 3-month minimum, then month to month · You approve every page