Media Engine's ¥1.2m AI Search Pilot: What's Included?

Media Engine's new AI search pilot starts at ¥1.2 million.

What should a business expect to learn from that investment?

On September 29, 2026, the Japanese marketing company announced a pilot option for its AI search optimization service.

The published packages cost ¥1.2 million for two articles or ¥1.95 million for five, including initial setup.[1]

Article count is an easy starting point for comparison.

The more useful question is what evidence the project will leave you with—and whether that evidence will help you decide what to do next.

Below, we separate the announced terms from our editorial suggestions for evaluating a proposal.

All prices remain in Japanese yen.

Media Engine adds an AI search optimization pilot

This is a service and pricing announcement, rather than a case study reporting increased traffic or revenue.

What changed in the September 29 announcement

The new pilot gives businesses a limited initial engagement alongside the provider's ongoing support options.[1]

Before contacting a provider, identify the problem holding your own team back.

Are you unsure which customer questions to target?

Or do you know the questions but lack the people to create useful content?

Those situations call for different work.

Questions your sales team regularly receives can be a useful starting point.

If you already have relevant articles, bring their URLs too.

That makes it easier to discuss whether new content is actually needed.

What an AI search optimization service does

AI search optimization—often called AIO or GEO—aims to make business information easier for an AI system to find, understand and use when answering a question.

Media Engine provides content and marketing services.[2]

For a project of this kind, it helps to look at the writing deliverables together with the analysis before and after production.

Replace a broad goal such as “appear in AI answers” with a specific audience and information need.

A coffee wholesaler, for example, might want buyers looking for small orders to understand its minimum order and delivery conditions.

Pilot pricing: ¥1.2 million for two articles, ¥1.95 million for five

The announced pilot prices are shown below.[1]

Articles	Published price	Initial setup
Two	¥1.2 million	Included
Five	¥1.95 million	Included

The release does not specify tax treatment or the pilot's duration.

Both belong on your quotation checklist.

Both prices include initial setup

Comparing these figures directly with a writing-only quote would mix different scopes.

Ask which line items cover research, planning, production and reporting.

The following is our suggested comparison worksheet, not a specification of Media Engine's deliverables.

Area	Information to request
Before production	Pages, competitors and customer questions to be examined
Content production	Article count, revision scope and publishing responsibilities
After production	Review timing, measures and report format

Use the same worksheet for other proposals.

It helps you discuss whether a price difference reflects a different amount of work.

Choose a scope before choosing an article count

Our suggestion is to list the customer questions first, then consider how many articles they need.

For the coffee wholesaler, “Can I place a small order?” and “Can I arrange recurring deliveries?” are different questions.

One clear page might answer both; complicated conditions might justify separate pages.

Choose additional articles because they address distinct information needs.

That gives your team a way to review proposed topics beyond whether the package seems cheaper per article.

What is included in the AI search pilot?

The listed scope covers analysis, keyword planning, SEO/AIO content, reporting, questions and meetings.[1]

The points below explain what we suggest asking about those activities.

Current-state analysis and keyword planning

Be specific about the questions being investigated.

An answer to a query naming your company tells you something different from an answer to a category recommendation question that does not mention it.

The first can show how the business is described.

The second can show whether it appears among the options.

Explain which question is closer to your commercial problem.

Prepare your main service URL, intended audience, common customer questions and a short list of competitors.

Ask the provider to specify which AI services and how many questions the proposal covers; the release does not give those details.

Content designed for SEO and AI search

When reviewing an article, look beyond whether it contains a target keyword.

Can a reader use it to decide whether your offer fits?

Eligibility, prices, exclusions and the next step are often information your own team must supply.

Google says established SEO practices also apply to its AI search features.

It does not require a special AI text file or dedicated schema, and appearance is not guaranteed.[3]

Assign someone to check the facts in each draft.

Polished writing cannot compensate for outdated delivery conditions or inaccurate pricing.

Reports, questions and meetings

Ask whether you can see a sample report before signing.

Our preference would be a format that lets you inspect the underlying questions, answers, dates and referenced pages alongside the aggregate results.

If a report says the business appeared more often, you need to know whether the questions or AI services changed between checks.

Otherwise, the comparison may be difficult to interpret.

Use meetings to ask what to continue, what to change and what to stop.

Confirm the report and meeting frequency directly with the provider.

How the pilot differs from ongoing AI search support

The announcement also lists two ongoing plans, with technical work and PR/social activity among their support areas.

That does not establish that those activities are included in the pilot.[1]

Ongoing plan	Starting monthly price	Minimum term
Total	¥775,000	10 months
Custom	¥900,000	6 months

Total plan: from ¥775,000 a month, at least 10 months

Review the time commitment as well as the monthly price.

Budget approval may need to cover more than one accounting period, and renewal decisions need an owner.

Ask for an indicative schedule showing when research, content production and follow-up reviews would occur.

Your own team's capacity to supply information and approve drafts will affect whether that schedule is practical.

If you start with the pilot, ask whether its analysis and content carry over into ongoing support.

The published price alone does not tell you whether any work or fees would be repeated.

Custom plan: from ¥900,000 a month, at least six months

The label “custom” does not by itself mean a lower total cost.

List the work your team will do and the work you need a provider to handle, then check what remains in the proposal.

For example, a company may have writers but no one responsible for measurement or technical reviews.

Explain that existing setup when discussing a tailored scope.

Whenever work moves in-house, name the person responsible.

Otherwise, a proposal can accumulate “client to handle” items that nobody has the time to complete.

What to agree before commissioning an AI search pilot

A useful pilot should leave you with evidence for your next decision.

The following questions are our editorial suggestions for discussing this new service.

Align the AI services, questions and review period

Make a one-page brief and discuss it with the provider.

Blank fields are useful too: they show what still needs to be agreed.

Field	What to record
Purpose	The audience and question you want to address
Scope	AI services and a list of questions
Conditions	Dates, repetitions and the environment used
Period	When to compare before and after the work
Decision	What you need to learn before considering more budget

AI answers can vary.

Rather than judging success from a single response, ask the report to document the checking method and its limitations.

Separate mentions, visits and inquiries

A company appearing in an answer, a person visiting its website and an inquiry reaching the sales team are different events.

We suggest reviewing them separately.

• Visibility: Did the company or relevant page appear for the selected questions?
• Visits: Within the limits of your analytics, could you identify traffic from AI services?
• Actions: Did visitors submit an inquiry or application?

Some visits and actions cannot be attributed reliably.

Ask the report to distinguish observed results from unknowns, rather than treating every improvement as an AI-driven outcome.

Confirm deliverables and additional charges

Use these questions to clarify conditions that the announcement leaves open:

1. Do the prices include tax, and which additional fees could apply?
2. What is the schedule from kickoff to the final report, including post-publication checks?
3. Who uploads and publishes the articles, and what revisions are included?
4. Can we review the AI services, question count, checking frequency and a sample report?
5. If we continue after the pilot, how do the deliverables, contract and fees carry over?

Before using the official inquiry form linked in the announcement, prepare a service URL and one customer question you want the project to address.

For broader comparisons, see our guides to AI search optimization costs and choosing an AIO provider.