How to hire an AI consultant for your small business — without getting burned.

The AI consulting market is flooded. Everyone with a ChatGPT subscription and a Canva template is calling themselves an AI consultant. Here's how to tell who actually knows what they're doing — from someone who does this work every day.

What a real AI consultant actually does

A real AI consultant doesn't just tell you what's possible. They understand your operations, identify where AI creates real leverage, build the system, deploy it in production, and make sure your team can operate it. The deliverable is a working system, not a slide deck.

Red flags

Vague deliverables. If they can't tell you exactly what you're getting, they don't know what they're building.

No production examples. If everything they've built is a demo or a proof of concept, they haven't done real implementation work.

Can't explain it simply. If they hide behind jargon and buzzwords, they're either selling you something you don't need or they don't understand it well enough to explain it.

No business background. Technical skills aren't enough. If they can't understand your operations, they can't build the right system.

Green flags

Track record. Real projects. Real clients. Systems running in production.

Specific examples. They can show you exactly what they've built and explain how it works in plain English.

Honest about limitations. If they never say "that's not a good fit for AI," they're selling, not consulting.

Business + technical. They understand operations, not just code. They can read a P&L and tell you where you're leaking money.

What to pay

Strategy work: $2,500–$5,000 for a real audit with a usable deliverable. Full builds: $8,000–$50,000 depending on complexity. Ongoing support: $1,500–$5,000/month. If someone is quoting you $500 for an "AI strategy," you're getting a template. If someone is quoting you $200K, you're paying for overhead. See our pricing page for transparent numbers.

Questions to ask before you hire anyone

1. "Can you show me a system you've built that's running in production right now?"

2. "What happens after you build it? Who maintains it?"

3. "Can you explain what you'd build for my business without using any technical jargon?"

4. "What would you tell me NOT to build?"

5. "What does the first week of working together look like?"

Here's what we'd tell you to look for — and yes, we think we fit the description. Start a conversation and see for yourself.