AI Consulting Services
Artificial intelligence consulting, priced and scoped like real work.
Most AI consulting starts with a discovery call and ends with a deck. This starts with a free 3-minute review that tells you where AI actually pays in your business, and only then talks about building anything.
What do AI consulting services actually include?
Four things: a readiness review that finds where AI pays, an implementation roadmap, the build and integration of the chosen workflows, and training so your team keeps using them. Generative engine optimisation is a separate programme for businesses that also need to be found by AI search.
| Service | What it is | Typical time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Readiness Review | A 6-question assessment that returns an instant, industry-specific report naming the two or three workflows with the highest payback in your business. | 3 minutes, instant report | Free |
| AI implementation roadmap | The review turned into a sequenced plan: what to build first, what it touches, what it should save, and what has to be true before it works. | About a week | Scoped after the review |
| Workflow build and integration | Building the chosen workflows into the systems you already run, then testing them against real jobs rather than demo data. | 2 to 4 weeks per workflow | Scoped after the review |
| Team training and handover | Showing the people who will use it how it works and where it fails, so adoption survives the first awkward week. | Half a day per team | Included in implementation |
| Generative engine optimization | Getting the business cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI when buyers ask for a recommendation in your category. | 21 working days | EUR 6,500 to EUR 7,500 |
Why does the engagement start with a free review?
Because most AI projects fail on the choice of project, not the technology. Picking the wrong first workflow costs more than building the right one slowly.
The review asks six questions about how your business runs, not about AI. It returns an instant report naming the workflows with the shortest path to a measurable result in your industry, with rough hours saved per week and time to first result. If nothing in it is worth building, that is a legitimate outcome and it has cost you three minutes.
Only after that does anything get scoped or priced. There is no discovery call to sit through first, and no obligation attached to the report. If you would rather see the mechanics before starting, the AI readiness checklist covers the same ground manually.
Which businesses are these services built for?
Established owner-managed businesses with roughly 5 to 50 staff, where repetitive admin is eating the owner's week and there is real revenue to protect.
In practice that means construction and trades, professional services such as accounting, legal and recruitment, ecommerce and retail, manufacturing and distribution, and marketing agencies. There are worked examples by sector on the industry pages, and a version of this page written for smaller owner-run firms at AI consulting for small business.
It is not built for pre-revenue startups, for businesses that want a custom model trained from scratch, or for anyone looking for a research engagement. Those are real needs and they are somebody else's speciality.
How is this different from an AI automation agency?
A consultancy decides what is worth building and why before anything gets built. An automation agency usually starts from a tool you have already chosen and wires it up.
Both are legitimate. If you already know exactly which process to automate and which platform you are using, an automation agency will get there faster and cheaper. If you are not sure which of fifteen annoyances is actually costing you money, choosing first is the whole job, and choosing wrong is what makes AI projects fail.
Clever Merchants does both halves, but always in that order. Where AI search visibility is the goal rather than internal time saved, that is a separate programme run by our generative engine optimization side.
Has this been done on a real business?
Yes. The methodology was implemented on Shamrock Electrical, an Irish electrical wholesaler owned by the same founder, before it was offered to anyone else.
That business was cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google Gemini across four separate buyer questions within 72 hours of implementation. The full write-up, including what did not work, is in the Shamrock Electrical case study.
Questions people ask about AI consulting services
What do AI consulting services actually include?
Four things: a readiness review that finds where AI pays, an implementation roadmap, the build and integration of the chosen workflows, and training so your team keeps using them.
How are AI consulting services priced?
The review is free. Implementation is scoped after it, because the price depends on how many workflows you run and what systems they touch. The GEO programmes have fixed public prices.
How long does an AI consulting engagement take?
The review takes about three minutes and reports instantly. A first workflow is usually live within two to four weeks. The GEO programmes run to a fixed 21 working days.
Do you provide AI consulting services remotely?
Yes. Everything is delivered remotely, so a firm in Boston or Brisbane gets the same engagement as one in Dublin. Most of the work happens in your own tools.
What is the difference between AI consulting and an AI automation agency?
A consultancy decides what is worth building and why before anything gets built. An automation agency usually starts from a tool you have already chosen and wires it up.
Which businesses are these AI consulting services not for?
Pre-revenue startups, and businesses wanting a research project or a custom model trained from scratch. The work suits established firms with repetitive admin and real revenue.
Find out where AI pays in your business
Six questions, about three minutes, an instant report for your industry, and a personal follow-up from Ger within 24 hours. Free, no card, no obligation.
Take the free AI Readiness Review