comparison · HOW TO CHOOSE AN AI CONSULTING FIRM

Two very different businesses use the same words, and telling them apart is the entire decision.

The first assesses. It interviews your staff, scores your readiness, ranks opportunities and hands you a report with a roadmap in it. That has real value when the organisation is large enough that nobody can see the whole picture. In a five to ten person office there is no hidden picture.

The second builds. It picks a task, connects it to the software you already pay for, puts it in front of real work and stays responsible for it. That is the version a small professional practice needs, and it is a smaller part of this market than the advertising suggests.

Readiness is the word to watch, because it means nothing on its own. Ask what specifically would be different in your office in six weeks. If the answer is a document, you are buying assessment. If it is a task that no longer requires a person, you are buying a build.

Five signals. The first one eliminates most of the field.

The published market has a hole in the middle, exactly where a small professional practice sits. At the bottom, free assessments and low cost automated reports with no human attached. At the top, firms quoting five figure builds with a retainer behind them. Between those two, almost nothing is priced in public.

That is why I publish mine. The AI Systems line is $1,000 a month, three months, then month to month, no setup fee. It covers the after hours answering, the automations between your tools, custom builds and training your people. Two lines together are $1,799 and three are $2,499.

Search cost is usually the next question in the same meeting, because the AI work and the being found work are often bought together. Same answer, same number, separate line.

One rule worth applying to anyone you hire. If a firm charges for an assessment, ask whether the fee comes off the build. A firm confident in the build says yes without hesitating.