The market for "getting found by AI", sometimes called GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation), is young, busy and a bit confusing. New tools and agencies appear every month, prices range from a few pounds to several thousand, and the labels overlap. This page is meant to cut through that. It's deliberately fair: we name the categories and describe them honestly rather than knocking any individual provider, because a comparison only helps you if you can trust it. We'll also be straight about where Renownly is the right fit and where another route would serve you better.
What are the three main options?
DIY monitoring tools (cheap, data only, you do the work), generalist GEO agencies (hands-on, broad, retainer-priced), and sector specialists (tailored to your industry, varying price and format). Renownly sits in the specialist category, at the fast, flat-price, light-touch end.
Each route suits a different kind of firm. Below is each category in plain English: what it's genuinely good at, what to watch for, and roughly what it costs. Prices are indicative ranges drawn from publicly advertised pricing across the UK market in 2025–26; check current figures directly with any provider, as they change.
// Option 1
DIY AI-visibility monitoring tools
Indicative price: ~£25–100/month · self-serve software
Self-serve dashboards that track whether and how AI assistants mention your brand across a set of prompts. You set them up, read the data, and decide what to do with it. Good examples in this category are generalist monitoring platforms used across many industries.
Good for
- Low monthly cost
- Ongoing tracking once you know what to look at
- Firms with in-house marketing confidence and time
Worth knowing
- They show what is happening, not why or what to fix
- Rarely tailored to accountancy queries or directories
- Setup and interpretation are on you
Best if: you're comfortable interpreting data and making the fixes yourself, and you want continuous monitoring on a small budget.
// Option 2
Generalist GEO / AI-visibility agencies
Indicative price: ~£800–6,000/month retainers
Agencies that do the work for you (auditing, content, technical fixes, ongoing optimisation), usually on a monthly retainer, across a range of industries. Many are excellent at the craft; the trade-off is cost, commitment and breadth rather than depth in any one sector.
Good for
- Hands-on, done-for-you execution
- Larger firms with bigger budgets and broader needs
- Ongoing partnership over months
Worth knowing
- Retainers and minimum terms can be a big commitment
- Pricing is often "contact us" rather than published
- Sector tailoring varies, so ask how well they know accountancy
Best if: you want a long-term hands-on partner and have the budget for a multi-month retainer.
// Option 3
Accountancy / professional-services specialists
Indicative price: one-off audits ~£149–995 · retainers ~£150–3,500/month
Providers who focus on accountants or regulated professional services, so the queries, directories and language are tailored to firms like yours. Several credible UK players operate here: some lead with one-off audits, others with monitoring platforms or premium retainers. Renownly is in this category, at the fast, flat-price, light-touch end.
Good for
- Tailored to accountancy queries, ICAEW/ACCA-type listings
- More relevant findings out of the box
- A range of formats, from quick audits to full retainers
Worth knowing
- Format and price vary widely, so compare like with like
- Some are audit-only; some are advisory- or governance-heavy
- Turnaround ranges from days to several weeks
Best if: you want findings that already speak your language, without explaining your sector first.
How do the categories compare at a glance?
DIY tools are cheapest but leave the work to you; agencies do the most but cost the most; specialists give you sector-relevant findings, and Renownly is the fast, flat-price, plain-English specialist with no lock-in.
| What matters | DIY tools | Generalist agencies | Renownly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price | ~£25–100/mo | ~£800–6,000/mo | £149 flat audit · optional rolling extras |
| Who does the fixing | You | The agency | You get a prioritised plan; optional done-for-you help |
| Built for accountants | Rarely | Varies | Yes: accountancy queries & directories |
| Typical turnaround | Instant data, ongoing | Weeks to months | 48 hours |
| Commitment | Monthly subscription | Often minimum terms | No lock-in; monitoring optional & rolling |
| Pricing visibility | Usually published | Often "contact us" | Published, flat |
| Deliverable | Dashboard / data | Varies | ~6–10-page plain-English report + 20-min walkthrough |
| Guarantees rankings? | No | Shouldn't | No, and we say so plainly |
Where does Renownly fit, and where doesn't it?
Renownly is the fast, flat-price, plain-English option built specifically for independent UK accountancy firms who want a clear diagnosis and a prioritised plan without a retainer. It's not the right pick if you want a monthly platform to watch yourself, or a long-term agency partner doing everything for you.
We think we're a genuinely good fit when you want:
- A sector-specific answer, fast. A flat £149, delivered in 48 hours, testing the queries your clients actually ask across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude.
- Findings you can act on. Around six to ten plain-English pages plus a 20-minute walkthrough: three prioritised fixes a practice manager can action, rather than a 25-page matrix.
- No lock-in. The audit stands alone. Optional done-for-you fixes and rolling monitoring exist if you want them, but there's no minimum term and no pressure.
- Honesty about what's possible. We report the current state with dated evidence and never guarantee that AI will rank or recommend you, because no one truthfully can.
And we'll happily say when we're not the answer: if you want a low-cost dashboard to monitor yourself indefinitely, a DIY tool is a better buy; if you want a partner running your whole marketing function for months, a full-service agency will serve you better. Renownly is the diagnosis-and-priorities specialist, not a do-everything retainer.
Why a sector-specific check matters: AI engines cite differently, and only around one in ten cited domains appears across more than one engine, so all four need checking separately.
And the foundations that move the needle for accountants (ICAEW/ACCA listings, Google Business Profile, reviews, schema) aren't the generic ones a multi-sector tool tends to flag.
// Sources: UK/industry AI-search citation studies, 2025–26. Figures indicative and rounded.
How should I choose?
Match the route to what you actually need: data and a small budget point to a DIY tool; ongoing hands-on work points to an agency; a fast, sector-specific diagnosis with no commitment points to a specialist audit like Renownly.
A simple way to decide: if your bottleneck is knowing what's happening, a monitoring tool may be enough. If your bottleneck is capacity to do the work, an agency earns its retainer. If your bottleneck is knowing what's wrong and what to do first, which is where most firms actually are, a fast, sector-specific audit gets you unstuck for the least money and commitment. Across all three, treat any guarantee of rankings or recommendations as a red flag rather than a selling point.