--- title: "How to add AI search to an SEO retainer · Avouch" description: "How agencies can add AI search to a client’s SEO retainer without selling the same work twice: what is already covered, what to add, shared and added costs, and reporting." url: https://avouchedfor.com/insights/add-ai-search-seo-retainer markdown_url: https://avouchedfor.com/insights/add-ai-search-seo-retainer.md --- # How to add AI search to an SEO retainer For agencies: how to add AI search to a client’s SEO retainer without selling the same work twice, what to add, how to scope it, and how to report it. **Steen Stones** · Reviewed 22 Oct 2026 Photo: [Alena Darmel / Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-group-of-people-having-a-meeting-in-the-office-7710140/) Start from what the retainer already covers: Google says its core SEO practices also serve its AI features. Then add only what is new: research into buyers’ own questions, regular checks of AI answers, work beyond the website, and reporting against enquiries. Give each addition an owner and a purpose, and start with a baseline you can measure against. Avouch adds the AI search part to agencies’ retainers under the agency’s own name. ## What the retainer covers, and what AI search adds What AI search adds to each part of an SEO retainer | Retainer work | What it usually covers | What AI search adds | | -------------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | Technical SEO | Crawling, indexing and speed | Access for AI crawlers, and the important facts in the page text | | Content | Pages for target keywords | Answers to the questions buyers actually ask | | Keyword research | Search volumes and rankings | Buyers’ own words, with a check of who is speaking | | Rank tracking | Positions in Google | Repeated checks of AI answers, with every answer kept | | Digital PR and links | Links from relevant websites | Coverage on the publications AI cites | | Listings | Google Business Profile | Review sites, directories and comparison sites | | Reporting | Traffic and rankings | Mentions, recommendations and citations, beside enquiries | ## 1. List what is already delivered Write down what the retainer covers, what has been delivered, what is waiting and what the client’s team handles. Ask what has changed on the website and why. Start the AI search conversation from that record, so existing work is not sold again. ## 2. Separate shared and added costs Split the revised scope into three parts: existing work, added work and optional work, each with an owner. Ahrefs suggests one test for every cost: would you still pay for it if the AI search work stopped tomorrow? If not, it belongs to AI search. If you would, it is shared. Include delivery as well as tools: research, model use, analysis and the changes themselves. ## 3. Start with a baseline that covers everything you will track Before the first report, ask every question the retainer will track, across the AI tools the client’s buyers use, and keep every answer. We do this on every engagement: the baseline asks everything the weekly tracking will ask, so each week can be compared with it. Plan for change. About half the websites AI cites for a question change from one day to the next, so AI search is ongoing work, not a one-off audit. Our guides to [choosing the questions to track](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/choose-prompts-ai-visibility-tracking) and [how often AI answers change their sources](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/how-often-ai-answers-change-sources) explain why. ## 4. Include work beyond the website In [our research](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/the-websites-behind-repeated-ai-recommendations), suppliers’ own websites appeared beside most of their recommendations, but almost never as the only source. A retainer that covers only the client’s website leaves out much of what AI relies on: reviews, directories, comparison sites and coverage. Our guide to [delivering GEO for clients](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/agencies-deliver-geo) shows how findings turn into work on and off the website. ## 5. Agree how extra requests are handled A new market, product or set of questions changes the work. Agree in advance whether it replaces existing work, costs extra or waits for the next review. ## 6. Review against enquiries Agree the expected results, timescale and measurement before you expand the retainer, as Google suggests when hiring any SEO provider. Report mentions, recommendations and citations separately, beside suitable enquiries, and ask new customers how they found the business. Weak enquiries call for a look at the questions and pages targeted; good enquiries that go nowhere call for a look at sales follow-up. Our guide to [measuring the return](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/measure-ai-search-roi) shows how. ## How Avouch can help Avouch adds the AI search part to agencies’ retainers on a white-label basis: buyer research, the baseline, regular AI answer tracking, work on and off the website, and reporting, under your agency’s name. Your agency keeps the client relationship. Scope, outputs and price are agreed with your agency before work starts. Our guide to [white-label SEO and AI search](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/white-label-seo-ai-search) lists the questions to ask any provider. ## Other Avouch services, priced separately These are extra to the retainer work above. Each one is scoped and priced on its own, and you can add any of them without the others. None of them is needed before the retainer work starts. Other Avouch services. Each is extra to the retainer work. | Service | What it is | How it is priced | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Free scan](https://avouchedfor.com/free-scan) | A first view of whether AI recommends a company: example answers and who is recommended instead | Free. No call needed | | [Recommendation Index™ assessment](https://avouchedfor.com/assessment) | A one-off review across up to 9 AI tools, with a written, prioritised plan | A one-off fee, agreed before you commit | | [Delivery packages](https://avouchedfor.com/what-we-deliver) | Website and SEO; content and evidence; digital PR and industry coverage; LinkedIn; YouTube and expert video; Reddit and sector communities; reviews and industry profiles; Instagram, TikTok and other social | Scope and price agreed for each package, as a project, a campaign or ongoing work | ## Want to talk about AI search in your retainers? [Talk to us](https://cal.com/steen-stones-zknzix/30min) about the clients you have in mind. To see how AI tools treat one of them, start with a [free scan](https://avouchedfor.com/free-scan) of their market. ## Common questions ### Should AI search always be a separate retainer? No. Decide from the work. Much of good SEO already serves AI search, so map the overlap before you agree extra scope. ### How do we avoid charging, or paying, twice for the same work? List what is already delivered, use Ahrefs’ “would you still pay for it?” test, and keep existing, added and optional work separate in the scope. ### What should a higher fee include? More of the research, delivery and responsibility: buyer research, a baseline, regular checks, work beyond the website and reporting against enquiries. Agree results, timescale and measurement up front. ### Is the assessment part of the retainer? No. The baseline in step 3 is part of the retainer work. The Recommendation Index™ assessment is a fuller, separate review with a written plan and its own fee. You can choose it, but you do not need it first. ## Sources 1. [Google Search Central: AI features and your website (opens in a new tab)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features), checked 22 October 2026 2. [Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO? (opens in a new tab)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo), checked 22 October 2026 3. [Ahrefs: AI search ROI is messy. Here’s how to measure it anyway (opens in a new tab)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-search-roi/), checked 22 October 2026 4. [Avouch: the websites behind repeated AI recommendations (opens in a new tab)](https://avouchedfor.com/insights/the-websites-behind-repeated-ai-recommendations), checked 22 October 2026 AI can't recommend what it doesn't know. [Check if AI recommends you](https://avouchedfor.com/free-scan) Start free. No commitment.