Compare, Enginekick vs. in-house

A whole team,
not one hire.

Hiring in-house feels like control, until you realize one person can't be a technical SEO, a content strategist, an AEO specialist and a GEO operator at once. And the search to find someone who's even good at one of those takes six months.

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[ THE MATH ON ONE HIRE ]

$150K+ a year for a fraction of the skills.

A strong senior SEO costs $150K+ in salary, benefits and overhead. They take months to hire, ramp slowly, and bring one skill set to a job that now spans technical SEO, content production, answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization. When they leave, the knowledge leaves with them.

Enginekick gives you the entire system on day one, a decade of operator experience across all four disciplines, plus the AI-powered automation that lets a lean setup outproduce a whole department. No recruiting, no ramp, no single point of failure.

 
One in-house hire
Enginekick
Cost
$150K+ salary, benefits & overhead
A fraction of one headcount, no overhead
Time to value
6 months to hire, then ramp
Strategy and execution from week one
Coverage
One skill set
Technical SEO + content + AEO + GEO as a system
Capacity
One person’s bandwidth
AI-automated workflows that scale output
Risk
They leave, knowledge leaves
Documented systems, durable results
AI search
Probably learning it on your dime
Already made a brand the most-cited in its category
[ STRAIGHT ANSWERS ]

In-house hire or agency?

Is it cheaper to hire an in-house SEO or use an agency?
A senior in-house SEO runs $150K+ a year in salary, benefits and overhead, for one skill set. An agency like Enginekick covers technical SEO, content, AEO and GEO for a fraction of one headcount, with no recruiting, ramp or single point of failure.
Can one in-house SEO hire cover technical SEO, content, AEO and GEO?
Almost never. Those are four different disciplines, and AI search (AEO and GEO) is new enough that few individuals have shipped real results in it. One person ends up strong in one area and thin in the rest.
When does hiring in-house make more sense than an agency?
Once you're large enough to staff a full team, an SEO lead plus content, technical and AI-search specialists, in-house gives you dedicated focus. Below that, you get more coverage and proven systems from an operator-led agency.
How long does it take to hire a good SEO?
A strong senior SEO typically takes around six months to find and then needs time to ramp. An agency starts strategy and execution in week one, so you skip both the search and the ramp.

Skip the
six-month search.

Book a strategy call and get the whole system, plus a free Answer Map of your category, without adding headcount.

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