In-house

AI Solo and An internal hire

Hiring an in-house AEO lead is a real alternative to an agency. It is slower to start and clearer to own.

Descriptions of other companies are qualitative and fair-minded. Where we mention a public positioning, treat it as “as of November 2026, per their public site,” and check the source before you rely on it. We do not publish unverified feature grids or invented customer results.

Topic	An internal hire	AI Solo
What you are buying	An employee learns your product deeply, sits inside legal review, and stays after the first 90 days. The cost is salary, tools, and the months before they are effective.	AI Solo starts from a signed plan, a 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows, and a bench that already runs this workflow. You do not own the method the way you own an employee.
Who runs the work	Their team or yours operates delivery under their commercial model (confirm on their site).	A senior strategist-led programme with human approval on customer-facing copy.
Measurement	Depends on their public positioning — verify on their site.	Defined prompt set with mention, citation, and share-of-answer reporting. No citation guarantee.
Production cadence	Depends on one hire’s bandwidth after onboarding.	Documented ship log: Growth 25 or Scale 50 articles/month on managed plans, plus technical and authority work.
Guarantees	Read their public terms. We do not summarise guarantees we have not verified.	No ranking or citation guarantees. Measurement method is described in our FAQ and terms.
When they fit better	Hire in-house when AEO is a permanent function and you can wait to recruit.	Use AI Solo to start the function now, or to cover it until the hire is productive.

Shapes of offer

Side-by-side, qualitative

How An internal hire is usually bought

An employee learns your product deeply, sits inside legal review, and stays after the first 90 days. The cost is salary, tools, and the months before they are effective.

How AI Solo is bought

AI Solo starts from a signed plan, a 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows, and a bench that already runs this workflow. You do not own the method the way you own an employee.

Category angle

In-house

An in-house AEO lead owns context permanently but needs months to recruit and tool up. AI Solo starts from a signed Growth or Scale plan with a 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows—delegation versus employment, not software versus software.

Decision

When to choose which path

Choose An internal hire when

Hire in-house when AEO is a permanent function and you can wait to recruit.

Choose AI Solo when

Use AI Solo to start the function now, or to cover it until the hire is productive.

Pricing models

How contracts usually compare

An internal hire

Salary, benefits, tooling, and ramp time for a full-time lead.

AI Solo

Monthly programme fee; 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows after sign.

Migration

Practical switch notes

Treat us as interim or permanent overlay: we document the operating loop your hire will inherit.

FAQ

Before you sign either side

When is An internal hire the better fit?: Hire in-house when AEO is a permanent function and you can wait to recruit. This note is qualitative. Verify scope, pricing, and regions on their public site before you sign.
When is AI Solo the better fit?: Use AI Solo to start the function now, or to cover it until the hire is productive. Our published plans include Growth at 25 articles per month and Scale at 50, with prompt reporting and no citation guarantee.
Are these feature claims verified line by line?: No. The comparison matrix is qualitative and dated. We do not copy competitor feature grids or invent win rates. Check each vendor’s site and contract before you buy.

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Topic

An internal hire

AI Solo

What you are buying

An employee learns your product deeply, sits inside legal review, and stays after the first 90 days. The cost is salary, tools, and the months before they are effective.

AI Solo starts from a signed plan, a 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows, and a bench that already runs this workflow. You do not own the method the way you own an employee.

Who runs the work

Their team or yours operates delivery under their commercial model (confirm on their site).

A senior strategist-led programme with human approval on customer-facing copy.

Measurement

Depends on their public positioning — verify on their site.

Defined prompt set with mention, citation, and share-of-answer reporting. No citation guarantee.

Production cadence

Depends on one hire’s bandwidth after onboarding.

Documented ship log: Growth 25 or Scale 50 articles/month on managed plans, plus technical and authority work.

Guarantees

Read their public terms. We do not summarise guarantees we have not verified.

No ranking or citation guarantees. Measurement method is described in our FAQ and terms.

When they fit better

Hire in-house when AEO is a permanent function and you can wait to recruit.

Use AI Solo to start the function now, or to cover it until the hire is productive.

Side-by-side, qualitative

How An internal hire is usually bought

An employee learns your product deeply, sits inside legal review, and stays after the first 90 days. The cost is salary, tools, and the months before they are effective.

How AI Solo is bought

AI Solo starts from a signed plan, a 72-hour kickoff when capacity allows, and a bench that already runs this workflow. You do not own the method the way you own an employee.

Before you sign either side

When is An internal hire the better fit?

Hire in-house when AEO is a permanent function and you can wait to recruit. This note is qualitative. Verify scope, pricing, and regions on their public site before you sign.

When is AI Solo the better fit?

Use AI Solo to start the function now, or to cover it until the hire is productive. Our published plans include Growth at 25 articles per month and Scale at 50, with prompt reporting and no citation guarantee.

Are these feature claims verified line by line?

No. The comparison matrix is qualitative and dated. We do not copy competitor feature grids or invent win rates. Check each vendor’s site and contract before you buy.