# I'm not a marketer, who can get my app into AI recommendations for me?

A freelancer, an agency or a one-time service can do it for you. What each costs, what to ask them, and when not to hire us.

By Dasha. Updated November 4 2026. https://heardofyou.io/who-can-get-my-app-into-ai-recommendations

A freelancer, an agency or a one-time done-for-you service can do this for you, and you do not need to become a marketer first. For a small app without a marketing budget, start with a free check to see whether there is a problem, then buy a fixed piece of work with a written list of targets rather than a monthly retainer.

The job has a plain description: get your app genuinely mentioned on the pages AI assistants read when someone asks for a recommendation. Those are mostly other people's pages. For US software questions, 72.7 percent of the sources AI search engines cited were earned media, not the brand's own site. So whoever you hire should spend most of the time on outreach to those pages, and should be able to name them.

## Who does this, and what it costs

Prices checked October 2026, except ours, which are current. They change often.

| Who | Typical price | What you get | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer or gig seller (Fiverr, Upwork) | About $65 to $100 for a basic package, a few hundred for premium | Usually page rewrites or a link package. A few are decent | You can vet sellers, write a brief and judge the output |
| Agency | About $1,500 to $5,000 and up a month, usually for three to six months | Full service, quoted rather than published | You have the budget and a person to manage them |
| One-time service (us: Heard of You) | $799 once | 25 named lists and sites pitched with two follow-ups each, 3 pages written, 2 review profiles, a founder-led Reddit plan, re-checks at day 30, 60 and 90 | You have real customers and want one fixed job with an end |
| A tracker, plus you | About $29 to $95 a month | A dashboard. It tells you where you stand. The outreach stays with you | You have evenings for outreach, so you are not really hiring anyone |

A tracker is on the list because it often gets sold as the answer to this question. It is not. It measures, and it does nothing about what it finds.

## Five questions to ask anyone you might hire

1. **Which pages will you try to get me onto?** They should be able to name them, from the citations in real answers for your category. "High-authority sites" is not a name.
2. **Do you charge per placement, or pay publishers?** Placement fees of $100 to $500 are common. Ask who pays them, and whether the mention is disclosed as paid.
3. **How will we measure it?** The same questions, asked several times each on several AIs, before and after. One screenshot proves nothing, because the same list comes back twice less than one time in a hundred.
4. **What exactly is promised?** Good answer: a list of deliverables and a date. Bad answer: a guaranteed mention or a ranking in ChatGPT.
5. **Have you done this for an app like mine?** Ask to see real answers, before and after. Ask us too. Our answer today is no, see below.

## What we would do, if it is us

Heard of You is a done-for-you service for solo founders, at a fixed price.

- **Day 0.** We agree 25 buyer questions and take a baseline.
- **The work, over about eight weeks.** We pitch 25 named lists and sites, write your story page, one honest comparison and one alternatives page, set up 2 review profiles and give you a Reddit plan to use under your own name.
- **Re-checks at day 30, 60 and 90.** The same questions, with every answer saved.
- **The promise.** Every deliverable ships within 90 days or you get your money back. If you miss the day 60 target, we keep working at no charge until day 120. Details on the [guarantee page](/guarantee).

Dasha runs it, reads every report and answers for the result. Nothing goes out in your name without your say.

What you do: about an hour at the start, a list of real customers we may politely ask for a review, a yes or no on anything under your name, and a way to publish three pages.

Not sure? Pay [$149 for the audit](/audit) ($99 for the founding 20) and get the plan first. The fee comes off the project if you start one within 30 days. All prices are on the [pricing page](/pricing).

## When not to use us

- **You have no customers yet.** Get ten first. Honest reviews need real users.
- **You run a local business.** Listings and maps matter more there, and we are not set up for that.
- **Your app is only found in the App Store.** If your buyers search the store and never ask an assistant, you want an app store optimization specialist, which is a different job.
- **You want proof first.** Fair. There are no paying customers yet, so there is no before and after to show you. My own service was named in 0 of 422 answers as of November 4 2026. An agency with case studies you can verify is a reasonable choice over me.
- **You have evenings and enjoy writing emails.** The [how-to for the lists](/guides/get-into-best-x-lists-ai-cites) is free.

Start with the [free check](/check) either way: 5 buyer questions, 3 runs each, on 5 AIs. It costs nothing, and if you are already named plenty, we tell you so.

## Questions

**Who can get my app recommended by AI if I am not a marketer?**

Three kinds of seller will do it for you: a freelancer or gig seller (about $65 to a few hundred dollars for a narrow job), an agency (about $1,500 to $5,000 a month), or a one-time service. Heard of You is a one-time service: $799 once for 25 lists and sites pitched, 3 pages written, 2 review profiles and re-checks at day 30, 60 and 90.

**Can anyone guarantee an AI will recommend my app?**

No. Answers change from run to run and model to model. What can be promised is the work and an honest measurement before and after. Treat a guaranteed mention as a reason to leave.

**Do I need to do anything myself if I hire someone?**

A little. With Heard of You it is about an hour at the start, a list of real customers who may be asked for a review, a yes or no on anything that goes out under your name, and a way to publish three pages on your site.

**Should I hire anyone if my app has no customers yet?**

No. Reviews need real users, and lists want something to point at. Get your first ten customers, then come back. A free check will tell you where you stand in the meantime.

**Are Heard of You's results proven?**

Not yet. It launched in October 2026 and has no paying customers so far. Its own name came up in 0 of 422 answers as of November 4 2026, and that number is published.


## Sources

- Fiverr Generative Engine Optimization category (https://www.fiverr.com/categories/online-marketing/generative-engine-optimization)
- WebFX: how much does generative engine optimization cost (https://www.webfx.com/blog/ai/generative-engine-optimization-cost/)
- Web Aloha GEO services pricing (small-business agency range) (https://webaloha.co/geo-services-pricing/)
- Otterly.AI pricing (https://otterly.ai/pricing)
- Peec AI pricing (https://peec.ai/pricing)
- SparkToro: same brand list less than 1 time in 100 (https://sparktoro.com/blog/new-research-ais-are-highly-inconsistent-when-recommending-brands-or-products-marketers-should-take-care-when-tracking-ai-visibility/)
- Chen et al., University of Toronto: 72.7% of AI sources for US software queries are earned media (2025) (https://arxiv.org/html/2509.08919)