Pricing and cost pages: how to publish honest numbers

An honest pricing or cost page tells buyers what they will pay, or as close to it as you can stand behind, with what is included, what changes the price and the date the numbers were checked. If you can't publish a single price, publish the things that decide it: cost drivers, ranges from your own past work, and how quoting works.

Cost questions sit at the edge of the decision. People ask "what is it" at the TOFU (top of funnel) stage and "which option" at the MOFU (middle of funnel) stage, but "how much" is often the last question before they contact someone, which puts cost content between MOFU and BOFU (bottom of funnel). A site that dodges the question sends those readers elsewhere to get an answer. This guide covers what to publish, how to keep the numbers honest, and the pricing rules worth knowing.

Why cost pages matter at the decision stage

A reader searching "how much does X cost" has usually decided they need X. They are working out whether they can afford it and who to call. A cost page that answers clearly, then shows the next step, is one of the most useful BOFU pages a service business can have.

It also filters inquiries. A reader who sees an honest range and still gets in touch knows roughly what to expect. Clear numbers also help readers compare you fairly against other options, which is the job of comparison and vs pages; the cost page should link to them, not repeat them.

Three ways to publish pricing

As one public example, eSEOspace lists its combined SEO, GEO and AEO plans on its pricing page. As of October 2026 there are five, billed monthly: Essential at $750, Growth at $1,200, Advanced at $2,500, Pro at $3,000 and Concierge at $4,000, which include up to 5, 10, 20, 25 and 30 dedicated implementation hours per month respectively. The site also says custom web projects are quoted per project. That is the fixed-price approach for repeatable work, and the quote approach for custom work, side by side.

What to publish when you won't publish a price

Many businesses can't give one number. A roofer doesn't know the roof until someone sees it; a law firm's fee depends on the matter. That's fine. You can still answer most of the reader's question:

1. The cost drivers. List the factors that move the price, in order of how much they matter.
2. A range you can stand behind. Base it on your own quotes or invoices from a recent period. If you can't back a range with your records, leave it out.
3. What's included and what isn't. Permits, materials, follow-up visits, travel, taxes. Most pricing complaints start here.
4. How quoting works. Is there a site visit? Is it free? How long until a written quote?
5. Payment terms, if you have them. Deposits, financing, payment plans, insurance billing. Only list what you actually offer.
6. The date. "Ranges based on projects completed January to September 2026."

A hypothetical example shows the shape:

Hypothetical interior painting example with round numbers for illustration; it is not market data. A real page would use the business's own job records.

Avoid invented averages

A common shortcut is to write "the average cost is $X" with no source, or to quote a figure from another site that quoted another site. Don't. If a national figure comes from a first-party source, such as a government agency or the vendor itself, cite it and date it. Otherwise, use your own numbers and say they are yours. A clear "our projects in 2026 ranged from A to B" is more useful than an unsourced national average, and it is true. For keeping those numbers sourced, see research files.

The FTC pricing guidance worth knowing

This is not legal advice; ask an attorney about your own pricing claims. The FTC's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing (16 CFR Part 233, from 1967) contain five guides: former price comparisons, retail or comparable-value comparisons, manufacturer-suggested prices, "free" and similar offers, and miscellaneous practices. The parts that most often touch a pricing page:

• "Was" prices must be real. A former price should be "the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time." Where an inflated price is set up to make a later discount look big, the Guides say "the 'bargain' being advertised is a false one."
• Small cuts aren't sales. The Guides say advertising "Reduced to $9.99," when the former price was $10, "is misleading the consumer."
• "Free" offers need their terms up front. The Guides say "all the terms and conditions of the offer should be made clear at the outset."
• No fake urgency. Don't "make a 'limited' offer which, in fact, is not limited."

The Guides are written around goods sold at retail, with words like "article" and "merchandise." A service business applies them by analogy: a crossed-out "regular price" for a service package should be a price you really charged.

Separately, the FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (16 CFR Part 464) took effect May 12, 2025, and requires the total price to be shown for covered goods and services. Its scope is narrow: it defines them as live-event tickets and short-term lodging. It does not cover a contractor, clinic, agency or software pricing page. State laws can be broader, so check yours. Showing the total price up front is still good practice for any business.

Date your prices and keep them current

Prices change, and an old price on a cost page is worse than no price. Put "as of" dates next to every number, say whether it's billed monthly, yearly or per project, and give each price a recheck date in your content calendar. The process is covered in keeping a content guide current.

Update the page's visible "Last updated" date only when you actually change something. Google's people-first guidance lists "changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh when the content has not substantially changed" as a warning sign, and Google's sitemap documentation says it uses a lastmod value only if it is "consistently and verifiably" accurate.

Price markup: only if it matches the page

schema.org has types for prices: Offer, which it describes as "an offer to transfer some rights to an item or to provide a service," and PriceSpecification. Whether Google shows anything for them depends on the specific Google feature and its own documentation. What applies to all markup is Google's general structured data guidelines:

• "Don't mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page."
• "Your structured data must be a true representation of the page content."
• "Provide up-to-date information."

So if you add Offer markup, it should state the same prices the page shows, and it should change when they change. Don't add a price in markup that you don't show to readers. Google also says "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add." Clear visible prices do more work than markup. Our guide to structuring pricing pages covers layout.

A pricing page checklist

The last row matters. A cost page is often where a reader decides to get in touch, so the call to action belongs right beside the numbers. An existing example of this format is our own guide to what GEO and AEO services cost.

Conclusion

Honest pricing pages answer the cost question as fully as the business can stand behind: real prices or real ranges, the drivers, what's included, the billing basis and a date. Keep discount claims real, keep markup matched to the page, and don't apply rules outside their scope. The TOFU, MOFU, BOFU content strategy pillar shows where cost pages fit in a full plan. If you'd like help writing cost content from your own numbers, see our content marketing services. More guides are in our GEO and AEO Guide.

Frequently asked questions