# The AI consultancy that builds what it recommends.

> The Method Crew is an AI consultancy that builds AI automation, custom AI agents, SEO and GEO programs and websites for companies with 10 to 500 staff.

- Page: https://methodcrew.com/
- Last updated: 2026-10-28
- Publisher: [The Method Crew](https://methodcrew.com/)

You talk to the people who will write the code. The crew that scopes the work ships it and keeps it running after launch.

## Why hire The Method Crew

The Method Crew is an AI consultancy that builds AI automation, custom AI agents, SEO and GEO programs and websites for companies with 10 to 500 staff. Each idea is tested on your own data before you pay for the full build.

- Company size: 10 to 500 staff
- Founded: 2026
- Published prices: All 20 services
- Every engagement: Map, Prove, Build, Run

## Six practices, from first audit to monthly care

Each practice below lists its services. Every service page publishes a starting price and a typical timeline.

### Strategy and advisory

Decide where AI pays off before anyone writes code. Advisory work ends in a ranked list of AI projects, each with a cost, a risk and an owner, and a priced plan for the first build. You can build it with us, with your own team or with another vendor.

- [Corporate AI consulting](https://methodcrew.com/services/corporate-ai-consulting): Use cases ranked by return, the best 1 or 2 piloted on your data, then a costed roadmap. $12,000 to $40,000 per project.
- [AI readiness audit](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-readiness-audit): An assessment that ranks your AI opportunities by return and prices the first build. $3,000 to $15,000 per project.
- [Fractional AI lead](https://methodcrew.com/services/fractional-ai-lead): An AI lead in your leadership meetings 2 to 5 days a month, owning the roadmap and budget. $4,000 to $15,000 per month.
- [AI workshops and team training](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-workshops): Sessions where staff practice on their own emails, documents and spreadsheets. $3,000 to $12,000 per session.

### Automation

Rebuild the copy-paste and inbox sorting your team does every week. We rebuild the hand-offs between your tools so a record entered once reaches every system that needs it. Rules do most of the work. A language model reads the emails and PDFs that rules cannot, and a person checks anything it is unsure of.

- [AI automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-automation): Workflows where a language model reads and sorts, and your existing systems do the rest. $4,000 to $35,000 per project.
- [Business process automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/business-process-automation): One cross-team process, such as client onboarding, rebuilt so the hand-offs run on their own. $5,000 to $40,000 per project.
- [Sales and CRM automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/sales-crm-automation): Leads routed to the right rep within minutes, with a follow-up draft waiting after each call. $5,000 to $25,000 per project.
- [Intelligent document processing](https://methodcrew.com/services/intelligent-document-processing): Invoices, contracts and forms turned into clean, checked data. $12,000 to $40,000 per project.
- [n8n, Make, Zapier and API integrations](https://methodcrew.com/services/workflow-integrations): Records moved between your CRM, inbox and finance tools without CSV exports. $1,500 to $20,000 per project.

### AI systems

Agents, copilots and voice systems built on your own data. We build these when a vendor's built-in AI stops at the edge of its own product. Each system runs on your accounts, reaches only the data and tools its spec allows and is tested against your own cases before launch.

- [Custom AI agents and copilots](https://methodcrew.com/services/custom-ai-agents): Agents that look things up in your CRM or helpdesk and take the next step, with approvals. $15,000 to $90,000 per project.
- [RAG and knowledge systems](https://methodcrew.com/services/rag-knowledge-systems): Your documents turned into an assistant that cites its sources. $15,000 to $75,000 per project.
- [Voice AI and call automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/voice-ai-agents): Phone agents on your existing number that book into your calendar and hand off to staff. $6,000 to $40,000 per project.

### Search and visibility

Technical SEO, plus pages written so AI answers can quote them. We fix what stops Google and AI crawlers reading your site, then rewrite the pages buyers ask about so ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews can quote them. A panel of buyer prompts, run before and after, shows which answers name you.

- [SEO and GEO](https://methodcrew.com/services/seo-and-geo): Technical SEO plus pages written to be quoted by ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews. $3,500 to $15,000 per project.
- [Answer engine optimization (AEO)](https://methodcrew.com/services/answer-engine-optimization): 10 to 25 pages rewritten so AI answers can quote them, tracked on 30 to 50 buyer prompts. $6,000 to $15,000 per project.
- [Content operations](https://methodcrew.com/services/content-operations): A pipeline from keyword to CMS draft, with an editor approving every piece. $8,000 to $25,000 per project.

### Web platforms

Next.js sites that Google and AI crawlers can read, wired to your CRM. We design and build in Next.js, so every page ships as HTML that Google and AI crawlers can read without running JavaScript. Service pages state scope, price and timeline, and every form writes to your CRM with the campaign that sent the visitor.

- [Web design and development](https://methodcrew.com/services/web-design-development): Custom Next.js sites, server-rendered so search engines and AI crawlers read every page. $18,000 to $80,000 per project.
- [Landing pages and conversion sites](https://methodcrew.com/services/landing-pages): Single-goal pages for campaigns and launches, wired to your CRM and tracked to the lead. $3,000 to $8,000 per project.

### Care and retainers

Monthly plans that watch live systems and keep search work moving. Live automations break when a vendor changes an API or a login token expires. A care plan watches every run and fixes what breaks. Search retainers work the same way, with a written plan at the start of each month and a report at the end.

- [Automation care plans](https://methodcrew.com/services/automation-care-plans): Monitoring, fixes and small changes for the automations you rely on. $1,500 to $6,000 per month.
- [AI ops monitoring and improvement](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-ops-monitoring): Quality checks, cost control and model updates for live AI systems. $1,500 to $5,000 per month.
- [SEO and GEO retainers](https://methodcrew.com/services/seo-geo-retainers): Monthly fixes and new pages, with a report on rankings and AI citations. $3,000 to $8,000 per month.

## Prices on every service

Starting prices for 8 of our 20 services. Each service page shows the full band and what moves a project up or down it. Prices last reviewed October 2026.

| Service | Typical timeline | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| [AI readiness audit](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-readiness-audit) | 1 to 4 weeks | From $3,000 |
| [Corporate AI consulting](https://methodcrew.com/services/corporate-ai-consulting) | 3 to 8 weeks per phase | From $12,000 |
| [AI automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/ai-automation) | 3 to 12 weeks | From $4,000 |
| [Business process automation](https://methodcrew.com/services/business-process-automation) | 4 to 12 weeks | From $5,000 |
| [Custom AI agents and copilots](https://methodcrew.com/services/custom-ai-agents) | 6 to 12 weeks | From $15,000 |
| [SEO and GEO](https://methodcrew.com/services/seo-and-geo) | 6 to 10 weeks | From $3,500 |
| [Web design and development](https://methodcrew.com/services/web-design-development) | 8 to 16 weeks | From $18,000 |
| [Automation care plans](https://methodcrew.com/services/automation-care-plans) | Monthly | From $1,500 a month |

All 20 services and their price bands: https://methodcrew.com/pricing

## Four stages, each ending in a decision you make

Every engagement runs through the same 4 stages, in order. Each one ends with something you keep, even if you stop there.

### 1. Map (1 to 2 weeks)

Find the work worth automating and set the bar it must clear. We interview the people who do the work, watch the tools they use and pull a sample of real data. You get a ranked list of opportunities, each with an estimated time saving, a build cost and the risks we can see. You decide what goes ahead.

What you get:

- Process map of the workflows in scope
- Ranked opportunity list with cost and effort
- Confirmed scope and acceptance test for the build

### 2. Prove (1 to 3 weeks)

A working pilot on your real data before you commit to the full build. We build the smallest version that can be judged on real inputs: last month's invoices, a week of inbound leads, your actual help docs. Then we measure it against how the work is done today. If it misses the bar we agreed during Map, we stop there and you keep the findings.

What you get:

- Pilot running on your data in a sandbox
- Results measured against the agreed baseline
- A written go or no-go decision

### 3. Build (2 to 8 weeks)

Production build with guardrails, tests and documentation. We harden the pilot into a system your team can rely on: error handling, logging, permissions, human approval where the stakes call for it, and tests for every case that broke the pilot. Everything runs on accounts you own. Each week ends with a demo of working software.

What you get:

- Production system on your own accounts
- Runbook and architecture notes
- Training for the people who use it

### 4. Run (Monthly, for as long as it helps)

We watch it, fix it and improve it, or hand it over completely. Live systems drift. A vendor retires an API version, or your team starts selling a product the workflow has never seen. On a care plan we monitor every run, fix failures, tune prompts and send a short monthly report. If you would rather run it in-house, we hand everything over and stay on call for questions.

What you get:

- Monitoring and alerts on every workflow
- Monthly report on runs, failures and cost
- An improvement backlog you prioritize with us

The full approach: https://methodcrew.com/approach

## See the wiring before you buy the system

A blueprint is a system designed in full before anyone builds it: every step, the tools it runs on, where a person signs off and what it costs. We adapt it to your systems and volumes.

### An agent that qualifies and routes every inbound lead

Every form fill, inbound email and chat transcript is enriched, scored against your ideal customer profile, assigned to the right rep and answered with a draft the rep approves. Built in n8n or Make on your own CRM and accounts.

- Build time: 4 to 6 weeks
- Price: $12,000 to $25,000 per project
- Built with: n8n (cloud or self-hosted) or Make, HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive, Clay or Apollo for enrichment, OpenAI or Anthropic API, Gmail or Microsoft 365 Outlook, Slack, Postgres (Supabase or your own server)
- Steps: 7

Read the blueprint: https://methodcrew.com/blueprints/inbound-lead-qualification-agent

### Three more blueprints

- [AI receptionist voice agent](https://methodcrew.com/blueprints/ai-receptionist-voice-agent): An AI receptionist that books appointments on the call. 5 to 7 weeks, from $12,000.
- [Invoice processing pipeline](https://methodcrew.com/blueprints/invoice-processing-pipeline): Supplier invoices matched to POs before anyone retypes them. 6 to 9 weeks, from $15,000.
- [Support knowledge assistant](https://methodcrew.com/blueprints/support-knowledge-assistant): Drafted, cited answers inside your helpdesk. 6 to 12 weeks, from $20,000.

All 8 blueprints: https://methodcrew.com/blueprints

## What you can hold us to

Nine terms that hold on every engagement, from a $1,500 care plan to a $90,000 agent build. Check for them in any proposal we send.

- **5 working days.** From the scoping call to a written scope with a fixed price for each phase. You decide after each phase whether the next one goes ahead.
- **1 working day.** The longest you wait for a reply to any message, including when the answer is that someone else fits the job better.
- **A demo every week.** Each week of a build ends with a demo of working software on your data.
- **Rules before models.** If rule-based automation does the job, we build that instead. It is cheaper to run.
- **You own everything.** Code, workflows, prompts, accounts and data. We build on your accounts from the first commit.
- **Usage at cost.** OpenAI, Anthropic, Twilio and vector database bills are passed to you with no markup. Changes outside the scope are $175 an hour, quoted first.
- **A pass mark up front.** Every pilot is measured against a bar we agree first. If it misses, we stop and you keep the findings.
- **Runbook at handover.** Documentation, a runbook and training for the people who will use the system.
- **Three things we turn down.** Consumer apps, cybersecurity audits and general digital marketing. We will point you to someone who does them.

## Where AI pays off first, by industry

Each industry page lists the first systems worth building there, the rules your data has to follow and the blueprints that fit.

- [Professional services](https://methodcrew.com/industries/professional-services): Precedent and clause search across past matters
- [Ecommerce and retail](https://methodcrew.com/industries/ecommerce-retail): Order-status and returns agent
- [Healthcare and clinics](https://methodcrew.com/industries/healthcare-clinics): After-hours call answering and booking
- [Real estate](https://methodcrew.com/industries/real-estate): Instant lead response and qualification
- [Insurance and financial services](https://methodcrew.com/industries/financial-services): Application and statement extraction
- [SaaS and technology](https://methodcrew.com/industries/saas-technology): Comparison and alternatives pages

## Written for the person who approves the budget

What AI work costs and how to tell whether it paid off, with the prices and sources left in.

- [What AI consulting costs in 2026: rates, packages and price drivers](https://methodcrew.com/insights/ai-consulting-cost) (Strategy, published 2026-10-28, 11 minute read): AI consulting in 2026 is mostly sold as fixed-fee phases. A readiness audit costs $3,000 to $15,000, a strategy phase $12,000 to $40,000 and a single automation $4,000 to $10,000. Custom agents and RAG knowledge systems run $15,000 to $90,000. A fractional AI lead costs $4,000 to $15,000 a month. Published hourly rates range from under $100 to $500, and model usage, hosting and monitoring are billed on top.
- [How to get your company cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews](https://methodcrew.com/insights/get-cited-by-chatgpt-perplexity-ai-overviews) (Search, published 2026-10-28, 10 minute read): To get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, first let their search crawlers in: Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot, with every word in the server-rendered HTML. Then publish pages that answer buyer questions directly, with sourced numbers, tables and plain definitions. Keep your company name and description identical everywhere, earn real mentions on pages these tools already cite, and track impressions, citations and AI referrals every month.
- [GEO vs AEO vs SEO: what is actually different](https://methodcrew.com/insights/geo-vs-aeo-vs-seo) (Search, published 2026-10-28, 9 minute read): SEO earns rankings and clicks in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) shapes pages so a search feature or assistant can lift a direct answer. GEO (generative engine optimization) aims to get your content retrieved and cited inside AI-written answers in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. Most of the work is shared, and Google says optimizing for its AI features is still SEO. What differs is the scoreboard, the query shape and the weight of off-site mentions.

All articles: https://methodcrew.com/insights

## Common questions

Short answers on scope, ownership, data and search. The full list has 24, grouped by topic: https://methodcrew.com/faq

### What happens in the first 2 weeks?

It starts with a 30-minute scoping call, followed by a written scope and a fixed price. If you go ahead, the first 1 to 2 weeks are the Map stage: we interview the people who do the work, watch the tools they use and pull a sample of real data. You finish with a process map, a ranked list of opportunities with cost and effort, and the confirmed scope and acceptance test for the build.

### What happens if the pilot does not work?

We stop, and you keep everything we learned. During Map we agree a pass mark with you, such as an accuracy rate on last month's invoices or the share of support questions answered correctly. The Prove stage runs a pilot on your real data for 1 to 3 weeks and measures it against that bar. If it misses, you get a written no-go decision with the reasons, and you never pay for a full build that was not going to work.

### How does your pricing work?

Each phase of a project has its own fixed price, set in the written scope before anything starts, and it holds unless you approve a change. The figure comes from the band published on that service page, and the scope names what placed your project where it sits in the band. Ongoing work, such as care plans and SEO retainers, is a flat monthly fee.

### Who owns the code, workflows and prompts?

You do. The work lives in your n8n or Make workspace, under your OpenAI or Anthropic API keys, in your cloud and in your code repository. Code, workflows, prompts, test sets and data all belong to you, and the contract says so. Nothing sits behind a platform we control or a license we charge for. If you end the relationship tomorrow, you keep a working system and the documentation to run it.

### Do we need clean data before we start?

Not for most automation work. Workflows that read emails, forms or invoices cope with the mess you already have, and we build checks for the cases that break them. A knowledge system that answers from your documents (RAG) is different: it needs those documents in one place we can read, with outdated versions removed. The Map stage measures how much cleanup that takes and puts a price on it before you commit.

### Will our data be used to train AI models?

Not through anything we build. We use the business API tiers from OpenAI and Anthropic, and both state that they do not train on API inputs or outputs by default. Consumer chat apps have different terms, so client data never goes through personal accounts. Data stays on your accounts, each person gets only the access they need, API keys live in your secrets manager, and personal details are masked before they reach a model wherever the task allows.

### How is GEO different from SEO?

SEO gets your pages ranked in search results. GEO (generative engine optimization) gets your company cited inside AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. The two overlap heavily: Google says AI Overviews draw on its normal ranking systems, so technical SEO still comes first. GEO adds pages written to be quoted, with direct answers, named sources and specific numbers, plus the same facts about your company everywhere it appears online.

## Contact

Request a 30-minute scoping call: https://methodcrew.com/contact. Or email contact@methodcrew.com. We reply within 1 working day.