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Hven vs done-for-you AI visibility agencies
A growing number of agencies will manage your AI visibility for you — real humans, on a monthly retainer. That's a legitimate way to solve this problem, and for some businesses it's the better one. Here's the honest trade, category to category. No specific agency's pricing or features are claimed on this page.
| Question | Done-for-you agency | Hven |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | Typically £300–£950/month retainers (varies by location, sector and scope; some run higher) | Free during the beta; paid plans aren’t on sale yet |
| Who does the work | The agency's team — content, outreach, fixes are done for you | You — guided by one ranked action a week, with the template ready |
| How often you see movement | Monthly reports are the common cadence; quarterly reviews | Weekly automated checks with a score history you watch yourself |
| When something changes | You usually hear about it in the next report | You see it the week it happens |
| Proof it's working | Depends on the agency's reporting and honesty — many are excellent | Every action you complete is re-measured against your score (verified lift) |
| Commitment | Fixed terms and notice periods are common | None: nothing is on sale during the betaMonthly, self-serve |
Category-level comparison — these are typical patterns for done-for-you retainers, not claims about any named agency. Hven prices in US dollars.
When each one is the right choice
You want it off your plate
- You genuinely have no time — even one action a week won't happen.
- The budget already exists, and £300–£950 a month is comfortable.
- You want a human accountable for the outcome, not a dashboard.
- AI visibility is one strand of a bigger marketing engagement they already run for you.
You want the instrument, not the retainer
- You're budget-conscious — Hven is free during the beta, and you get the same weekly visibility an agency would monitor with.
- You want weekly instrumentation you can look at yourself, not a monthly summary.
- You (or someone on your team) can do one concrete action a week — that's the whole workload.
- You want to see the score move and know which action moved it.
The two aren't mutually exclusive: plenty of agencies run tools like this under the hood, and some run Hven itself for their clients — that's what our Agency plan is for. If you already trust an agency, asking what instrumentation they use is a fair question.