For years, SEO was often sold to startups as a monthly agency retainer. But as search becomes more fragmented across Google, AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, some young companies are moving toward a different model: hiring specialist SEO talent directly.

Seotal, a platform connecting US startups and small businesses with freelance SEO professionals across India and Southeast Asia, says it is seeing growing demand for experts who can work on specific problems rather than broad, bundled SEO programs.

The shift reflects a larger change in search marketing. Startups increasingly need technical SEO, content strategy, local search optimization and answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO) at different stages of growth. A single agency retainer may not always provide that flexibility.

The traditional SEO agency model was built around predictable retainers, account management and teams of generalists. For startups operating under tighter budgets, that structure can become difficult to justify when the immediate requirement is a specific skill.

Seotal says its model addresses that gap by matching companies with vetted freelance specialists. The company reports that a mid-level SEO professional in India typically costs between $1,100 and $2,300 per month through its network, with clients saving about 60% compared with US rates.

Those figures are Seotal's own pricing comparisons, rather than an independent industry benchmark, but the underlying shift is significant. Companies are becoming more comfortable assembling distributed marketing teams around specialized expertise instead of outsourcing an entire function to one agency.

AI is accelerating that transition.

Google has expanded AI Overviews to more than 200 countries and territories and more than 40 languages. The company says AI Overviews are driving more than 10% growth in Search usage for the types of queries where they appear in major markets including the US and India.

Google's AI Mode also changes the nature of search queries. Early testers have been asking queries two to three times longer than traditional searches, according to Google, while the system uses AI to break complex questions into multiple searches across the web.

That creates demand for expertise beyond conventional keyword rankings. SEO professionals increasingly need to understand structured content, topical authority, entity relationships, technical accessibility and how information is interpreted by generative search systems.

Seotal says startups are responding by hiring AEO/GEO specialists alongside technical SEOs, local search experts and content strategists. Instead of paying for an agency's entire service portfolio, a company can bring in the required specialist when the business problem changes.

The model also promises more direct communication. Founders can work with the person responsible for the SEO strategy rather than communicating through an account manager. That can matter for early-stage businesses where search decisions are closely connected to product positioning, content and customer acquisition.

Seotal says it provides candidate profiles within 72 hours and typically gets specialists onboarded within two weeks. Its network currently includes more than 50 freelance SEO professionals across India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the UAE.

The company also reports a 96% client retention rate, although that figure is not independently verified.

The broader market suggests that specialization is becoming more important. McKinsey has estimated that generative AI could create productivity value equivalent to 5% to 15% of total marketing spending, potentially changing how marketing organizations allocate work between internal teams, agencies and specialized external talent.

That does not mean agencies are disappearing. Larger brands still need integrated strategy, creative production, media buying and complex enterprise execution. For startups, however, the economics can favor a smaller internal team supplemented by highly specialized freelancers.

Market Landscape

The emerging freelance SEO model is less about replacing agencies outright than unbundling what agencies traditionally sell.

An agency can provide breadth, process and continuity. Freelancers can provide deeper specialization and potentially lower fixed costs. The trade-off is that companies must manage quality, coordination, strategic consistency and continuity themselves.

AI search makes that decision more complicated. Gartner's 2026 research found that only about one-third of surveyed consumers considered GenAI chatbots as effective as search engines for learning new information, reinforcing the need for marketers to optimize for both AI-driven and traditional search.

For startups, the implication is clear: AEO and GEO should complement SEO rather than replace it.

Strategic Outlook

The most likely outcome is a hybrid search-marketing workforce. Startups may retain a core marketing or growth team while bringing in freelance specialists for technical audits, content systems, international SEO, local search, link strategy or AI-search visibility.

Platforms such as Seotal are betting that this creates a new layer between traditional agency outsourcing and full-time hiring.

The competitive advantage will ultimately depend less on whether talent is employed by an agency or independently and more on whether the specialist can connect search visibility to measurable business outcomes. As Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity and other AI interfaces reshape discovery, that distinction is becoming increasingly important.

Top Insights

• Startups are increasingly unbundling SEO services, hiring specialists directly when technical, content, local or AI-search requirements change.
• AI Overviews and AI Mode are expanding search behavior, increasing demand for SEO professionals who understand AEO, GEO and conversational discovery.
• Freelance specialists can reduce fixed agency costs, but startups assume greater responsibility for strategic coordination, quality control and long-term continuity.
• Seotal's network illustrates the globalization of SEO talent, connecting US businesses with specialists across India and Southeast Asia.
• Traditional SEO remains important because AI search complements rather than completely replaces conventional search, making hybrid optimization increasingly necessary.

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