The verdict in three sentences
A New York CEO or operating partner looking for a specialist boutique strategy consultancy no longer always starts with their network: they ask AI assistants like ChatGPT for a short list of credible firms on their issue. The firms that get named are those whose sector expertise is written down, signed and picked up elsewhere: identifiable partners, published points of view, mentions in the business press and at conferences. The work to get there is on quote, measured by a dated record of answers, and no honest agency promises that an assistant will recommend you.
The questions an executive asks before calling a firm
Buyers of strategy consulting in New York share one habit: they want to shorten a list before making a single call. Here are typical questions, and why a firm shows up in the answer or does not.
| Question put to the assistant | Buyer | What gets a firm cited |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy boutiques in New York that specialize in industrial carve-outs | PE operating partner | Dedicated practice pages, signed articles on the topic |
| Alternatives to large consulting firms for a 90-day portfolio review | CEO of a mid-market company | Clear description of engagement format and length |
| Who has published on B2B pricing in medical distribution? | VP of strategy | Dated points of view picked up by third parties |
| Discreet consultancy to prepare a sell-side exit | Founder, board | Approach and confidentiality page, partner profiles |
| Which former partners of large firms started their own practice in Manhattan? | Independent director | Factual biographies, consistent everywhere |
| Pricing strategy experts for vertical SaaS in New York | Scale-up board | Conference talks, podcasts, op-eds |
| What does a growth strategy engagement with a boutique firm cost? | CFO | A page explaining formats, without necessarily listing prices |
Notice that none of these questions names a firm. The point is to be discovered by category, where word-of-mouth referrals no longer cover the whole market.
What makes an assistant name one firm and skip another
In consulting, discretion is a commercial virtue, and that is exactly what keeps many firms invisible. An assistant cannot cite expertise nobody has described in public.
| Signal | Weak version | Version that helps |
|---|---|---|
| Practices | One Services page with six keywords | One page per problem solved, with context and approach |
| Partners | Headshots and job titles | Careers, sectors, publications, links to official profiles |
| Case studies | Logos or nothing | Real, anonymized cases approved by the client |
| Points of view | A blog that stopped in 2022 | Regular, signed, dated articles cited by third parties |
| External mentions | None | Business press, conferences, professional associations |
| Consistency | Different name and address across directories | Same entity description everywhere |
| Freshness | Outdated team page | Visible updates with every arrival or departure |
The sector's constraints come first. Confidentiality agreements limit what you can say about a client: an anonymized case study must stay impossible to re-identify. Published testimonials and reviews fall under FTC rules on endorsements and consumer reviews; website accessibility is a frequent litigation topic under the ADA, with WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA as the usual benchmark. This is not legal advice.
Budget: what the New York market charges
The ranges below are a 2026 ballpark, based on typical quotes from New York agencies focused on B2B and professional services. The market is young and the spread is wide.
| Service | Scope in broad terms | 2026 ballpark (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Answer diagnostic | 30 to 50 questions, citations, accuracy, competitors named | 4,000 to 10,000, one-off |
| Entity and partner consistency | Site, directories, profiles, biographies | 2,000 to 6,000, one-off |
| Practice pages and case studies | 6 to 10 pages rewritten, client approval | 8,000 to 20,000, one-off |
| Thought leadership program | Signed articles, partner ghostwriting | 6,000 to 15,000 per month |
| Media relations and conferences | Partner placements, op-eds | 8,000 to 20,000 per month |
| Dated answer monitoring | Monthly record, report to the partners | 1,000 to 3,000 per month |
A realistic first year for a firm of 10 to 30 consultants sits between 30,000 and 120,000 USD, most of it driven by the editorial effort. At Kolonell, this work is on quote. For context on our professional services work: we built the website of TR Signing Group (trsigninggroup.com), a signing services company in New Jersey.
How to judge progress
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Measurement rests on a method that is easy to audit: the same bank of questions, asked every month, answers archived with their date. You track the share of answers that name the firm, the accuracy of the description (sectors, partners, engagement format), the competitors named instead of you and the sources the assistant mentions. On the commercial side, add one simple question to the first conversation with every prospect: how did you find us?
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Hudson Ridge Advisory, a fictional 14-consultant firm in Manhattan focused on industrial carve-outs. Across 36 questions tested, the firm appears in 4 answers, or about 11%. Plan adopted: diagnostic 7,500 USD, rewrite of 8 practice pages and case studies 12,000 USD, monitoring at 2,000 USD a month for 10 months or 20,000 USD, a total of 39,500 USD. As a market assumption, a boutique engagement of this kind bills between 250,000 and 600,000 USD: the program equals about 16% of a single engagement at the low end of that range, which sets the partners' decision threshold.
FAQ
Do we need to publish our fees to be cited?
No, but a page describing engagement formats, their typical length of 6 to 16 weeks and the deliverables helps assistants answer budget questions. Pricing can stay a direct conversation.
Our clients demand confidentiality: what can we publish?
Anonymized, approved case studies, sector points of view and partner biographies. Two or three well-written cases are worth more than twenty logos.
How long before a visible effect?
As a ballpark, 3 to 6 months for consistency work, 6 to 12 months for points of view to be picked up by third parties. The monthly record prevents hasty conclusions.
Can an agency guarantee that ChatGPT recommends us?
No. No serious provider controls an assistant's answers; it improves the available information and measures the trend.
What is the minimum budget to start?
A diagnostic alone, between 4,000 and 10,000 USD as a 2026 ballpark, is enough to see where you stand against 3 or 4 competitors.
Find out how AI assistants describe your firm. We record how AI assistants like ChatGPT describe your firm, partners and practices against your New York competitors. Request a diagnostic quote: reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
