Do ORM firms charge by the page suppressed or on a retainer?

The pay-per-page model exists at the low end of the market and it is the wrong incentive structure for serious work. It rewards firms for shallow tactics that move a result superficially in the short term, regardless of whether the move is durable, regardless of whether the underlying source-level issue is addressed, and regardless of whether the work survives the next Google update or AI engine refresh. Retainer pricing on a defined scope aligns the firm’s interest with the client’s: the work has to keep producing results over time, and the engagement renews based on whether it actually did. Our engagements run on monthly retainer for six- or twelve-month terms, with the scope and deliverables documented in a Letter of Engagement.