White label SEO and GEO for web designers: how it works and what you earn
White label SEO lets you offer SEO and AI visibility under your own name while a specialist does the work. Here's how it differs from referral, what a good partnership looks like, what you earn and which red flags to avoid.
By Etienne Rozenblad · Founder & CEO, Tjenno AIFacts checked on 10 October 2026 · 16 sourcesOn this page
- What white label SEO is, and how it differs from referral and reselling
- Why "SEO" now includes ChatGPT and Google's AI answers
- Referral, white label or doing SEO yourself
- How a good white label SEO partnership works
- What white label SEO costs, and what you earn
- Red flags when you choose a white label SEO agency
- How the Tjenno AI partner programme works
- How to start
- FAQ
The short answer
White label SEO means you sell SEO to your own clients under your own name, while a specialist team does the work in the background. You set the price, send the invoice and keep the relationship. The lighter option is referral: you introduce the client, the specialist signs and invoices them, and you receive a fee. Both beat saying "sorry, we don't do SEO", and both are easier than building an SEO team yourself.
The question has also grown. Clients no longer ask only about Google; they ask whether ChatGPT and Google's AI answers mention them. So choose a partner that does SEO and GEO, lets the client own every account and every bit of data, and never promises a #1 position.
What white label SEO is, and how it differs from referral and reselling
If you build sites in WordPress, Shopify or Webflow, you know the question that comes after the launch: "Can you also make sure we get found?" You have three honest ways to say yes without becoming an SEO agency.
- Referral. You introduce the client to a specialist. The client signs with the specialist and pays them, and you receive a referral fee. You stay the client's web person; the SEO is visibly someone else's job.
- White label. You sell SEO under your own brand. You invoice the client, the specialist invoices you at a partner price, and the reports carry your name and style. Semrush describes it the same way: an agency offers SEO under its own brand while a third party does the work.
- Reselling. "SEO reseller" is often used as another word for white label. In practice the term usually points to fixed packages: the same work every month, sometimes measured in hours, which you mark up and sell on. You buy a product, not a team that plans with you.
The label matters less than three practical questions: who owns the client relationship, who owns the data, and who checks the work. We come back to all three below.
Why "SEO" now includes ChatGPT and Google's AI answers
Search has changed shape. OpenAI said in February 2026 that ChatGPT has more than 900 million weekly users. In May 2026 Google said AI Mode, its conversational search, had passed one billion monthly users, and in the Netherlands it has been available in Dutch since October 2025. When Google shows an AI summary, people also click less: in a Pew Research Center study that tracked the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025, users clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without one.
As a result, clients ask a broader question: not only "are we on page one?", but also "does ChatGPT mention us?". The work behind the second question is called GEO, generative engine optimisation: making sure AI assistants can read a site, understand what the business does, and find it mentioned in the sources they cite.
The good news: GEO builds on SEO, it doesn't replace it. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode; the usual SEO basics apply. What changes is the work outside the site (being mentioned in reviews, comparison articles and forums) and the way you measure. We explain both in our guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT.
So when you choose a white-label partner in 2026, ask what they do for AI visibility and how they measure it. In our SEO and GEO work, every plan tracks a fixed set of AI questions (10 on Found, 25 on Grow, 50 on Dominate), so you can show a client whether they're being named, not just where they rank. For Slaapkops, one of our clients, Search Console counted 63.7K impressions in Google's AI features since mid-May 2026 (see the case).
Referral, white label or doing SEO yourself
Each model suits a different kind of studio. This is who does what:
| Referral | White label | Doing it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sells | You introduce, the specialist sells | You, under your brand | You |
| Who invoices | The specialist | You | You |
| Who talks to the client | The specialist; you stay involved if you want | You, or you and the specialist together | You |
| Your margin | A referral fee | Your price minus the partner price | Everything, minus your hours and tools |
| Your effort | Low: one introduction | Medium: you sell, invoice and present the reports | High: strategy, content, links, AI tracking and reporting, every month |
| Who answers for results | The specialist | You | You |
Doing it yourself looks like the best margin until you count the fixed costs. Tools alone add up: Ahrefs' pricing page lists its Lite plan at $129 a month, and that plan includes only a small allowance for tracking AI answers. More tracking in Brand Radar, Ahrefs' tool for brand mentions in AI answers, is a paid add-on. Then there's the work itself: new pages, links, a monthly check of the AI answers, a report, and keeping up with how Google and ChatGPT change. If SEO is a side service for you, those costs land on very few clients.
Referral suits you if you want nothing to do with marketing. White label suits you if the client relationship is the heart of your business and you want SEO to feel like part of your own offer.
How a good white label SEO partnership works
White-label deals go wrong on the things nobody wrote down. Agree on these five before the first client:
- Who owns the client. The client is yours. The partner never approaches your clients, and you don't approach theirs. Put it in a partner agreement, not in an email.
- Who talks to the client. Decide per client: you alone, or you together with the partner's specialist. A joint first call works well when the client has strategy questions; after that you can take over.
- Whose name is on the reports. In white label, yours: your logo, your colours, your tone. More important is that the report is short and says what was done, what it changed and what comes next.
- What happens every month. Write it down in units, not adjectives: how many pages are written or improved, how many links, how many AI questions are tracked, what's in the report. With us that's 1 page a month on Found and 3 pages plus 1 link on Grow, with a monthly report on both (see pricing).
- Who checks the work. Ask how quality control works. In our way of working, AI does the legwork and a person checks every result. Nothing goes live on a client's site without the client's okay.
Two pieces of paperwork people forget. Privacy first: if the specialist processes personal data for your client, such as analytics, contact forms or webshop orders, the GDPR requires a processing agreement. The Dutch data protection authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) points out that a processor may not bring in a sub-processor without the client's prior written permission, which you can arrange in that agreement. So in that paperwork, white label doesn't make the specialist invisible. Then ads: if Google Ads is part of the package, Google's third-party policy applies to anyone who buys or manages Google ads for a client. If you charge a management fee, you have to tell new clients in writing before the first sale and mention the fee on your invoices, and you have to give clients their Google Ads customer ID when they ask.
What white label SEO costs, and what you earn
Reliable public data on white-label margins is thin. Many figures online come from vendors that sell white-label SEO themselves, often without a source, so we won't repeat them. For what SEO providers charge in general, one of the few published surveys is Ahrefs', and it is dated: published in December 2023, updated in August 2024, with no survey date and two different respondent counts on the same page (439 and 350). The most common monthly retainer was $501 to $1,000, and agencies charged an estimated $3,209 a month on average. Treat that as a rough range in US dollars, not a benchmark.
Our own prices are public, so you can do the maths. They're per month, excluding VAT, and never include ad budget.
Source: Tjenno AI partner programme and prices on tjenno.ai, October 2026.
Referral. You receive 10% of what the client pays us in the first 12 months. A Found client pays €749 a month, so that's about €900. A Grow client pays €1,995 a month, so that's about €2,400. You don't invoice the client and you don't carry the account.
White label. You set your own price. For Grow and for projects you buy in at 15% below list price; Found you buy at list price (€749), so your margin there is whatever you add on top. An example calculation for one Grow client: your buy-in is about €1,696 a month (€1,995 × 0.85 = €1,695.75). Sell it at list price and you keep about €299 a month, roughly €3,590 a year (€299.25 × 12 = €3,591). Charge more and the difference is yours too. Grow includes Google Ads management; the ad budget itself (€2,000 to €3,000 a month) is paid by the client on top.
So the choice is about your time more than the percentage. Referral pays less but costs you one introduction. White label pays more, but you invoice, carry the relationship and present the report every month.
Red flags when you choose a white label SEO agency
Your name is on the work, so their mistakes become yours. Walk away if you see any of these:
- Bulk links. "50 backlinks a month" sounds concrete, but buying links for rankings, automated link building and low-quality directory links are all listed as link spam in Google's spam policies. A good partner earns a few relevant links; it doesn't sell them by the bundle.
- No access to data. The client should own their Search Console property, GA4 and any ads account, and give the partner user access. In Search Console only an owner can add or remove users, so the owner should be the client. If a partner keeps the accounts in its own name, ask why.
- Lock-in. Domain, content and accounts must stay the client's. If leaving the partner means losing the content or starting the data history from zero, that's a trap for your client and for you.
- Reports nobody reads. Forty pages of automated charts and no explanation. Ask for a sample report. If you can't explain it to your client in five minutes, they won't read it either.
- Promises of #1. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO is blunt: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, and if someone does, find someone else. The same goes for "guaranteed in ChatGPT".
- Secrecy. Google also warns against SEOs that are secretive or won't explain what they intend to do. Semrush's guide adds two more: reluctance to send samples of earlier work, and any hint in their answers of tactics that break search engine guidelines. You'll need clear explanations the day your client asks.
How the Tjenno AI partner programme works
We built our programme for freelance developers, designers and small studios who build sites but don't sell marketing. It starts small: one client, one analysis.
- Step 1Introduction
A 20-minute call about your studio, your clients and which model fits you: referral or white label.
- Step 2Pick one client
Choose a client who has asked about SEO, or one you think is missing out.
- Step 3Free analysis
Within two working days we make a free analysis for that client, under your name or together with you.
- Step 4You send it
If the client says yes, our team does the work. If not, the analysis stays a gift from you.
There are two models. In referral the client signs with us and you receive 10% of what they pay in the first 12 months. In white label you sell under your own name, buy in at 15% below list price for projects and Grow (Found at list price), and the reports come in your style. Either way, you keep the client contact if you want to, nobody approaches the other's clients, and it's all fixed in a partner agreement.
An example. In October 2026 a freelance developer asked us for free analyses for two of his clients: a construction company in Turkey and a B2B software company in Canada. Neither is in the Netherlands. That's how we'd recommend starting: real clients, a concrete piece of work to send them, and no commitment on either side.
How to start
Book a 20-minute call: email hello@tjenno.ai with the subject "Partner call". Have one client in mind, ideally one who has already asked about SEO or ChatGPT. We'll tell you which model fits, and once you've picked the client, you'll have the analysis within two working days.
Sources
- Semrush, What Is White Label SEO? A complete guide to SEO Outsourcing, 28 April 2023
- OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone, 27 February 2026
- Google, A new era for AI Search (Google Search's I/O 2026 updates), 19 May 2026
- Google Nederland, De AI-modus komt naar Google Zoeken in Nederland, 8 October 2025
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, 22 July 2025
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website, last updated 10 December 2025
- Slaapkops: Google Search Console for slaapkops.nl, read 25 September 2026
- Ahrefs, Pricing, consulted 10 October 2026
- Ahrefs, Brand Radar, consulted 10 October 2026
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, Verwerkersovereenkomst, consulted 10 October 2026
- Google Ads policies, Third-party policy, consulted 10 October 2026
- Ahrefs, SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost? 439 People Polled, 17 December 2023, updated 15 August 2024
- Tjenno AI, Pricing, consulted 10 October 2026
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, last updated 28 August 2026
- Google Search Console Help, Managing owners, users, and permissions, consulted 10 October 2026
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?, last updated 5 June 2026
Facts checked on 10 October 2026.
Etienne runs SEO and GEO for clients such as Slaapkops and Wrap je Keuken, and tests every tactic on Tjenno AI's own sites first. Former agency owner with a bachelor's in Commercial Economics.
Meet the team →What is white label SEO?
White label SEO means you sell SEO to your clients under your own brand while a specialist team does the work in the background. You set the price and invoice the client; the specialist invoices you at a partner price, and the reports carry your name.
What is the difference between white label SEO and referral?
With referral, the client signs with the specialist and pays them, and you receive a fee for the introduction. With white label, you sell and invoice under your own name and the specialist stays in the background. Referral costs you less time; white label takes more work, but you set your own price and keep the difference between your price and the partner price.
How much can a web designer earn with white label SEO?
That depends on your price and the partner price. In the Tjenno AI partner programme you buy Grow at 15% below its €1,995 list price, so if you sell it at list price you keep about €299 a month per client (an example calculation). With referral you receive 10% of what the client pays in the first 12 months: about €900 on Found and about €2,400 on Grow.
Should a white label SEO partner also do GEO?
If your clients ask about ChatGPT and Google's AI answers, yes. Google says no special optimisation is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, so GEO builds on solid SEO, but it adds work outside the site and a way to measure whether the client is named in AI answers.
Do I have to tell my client that someone else does the SEO?
Your reports can carry only your name. But if the specialist processes personal data for your client, the client has to give prior written permission for that sub-processor, which you can arrange in the processing agreement. And if Google Ads is included, Google's third-party policy requires you to tell the client about any management fee and to mention it on your invoices.
What are the red flags when choosing a white label SEO agency?
Bulk link packages, accounts held in the agency's name instead of the client's, content or data the client loses when leaving, long automated reports nobody reads, and any promise of a #1 ranking. Google itself says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking.