Fair warning. NUOPTIMA wrote this page and we are one of the two agencies in it. Every statement about Tortoise and Hare Software comes from its own website or its Clutch profile, checked on September 27 and 28, 2026, and is linked where it appears.
The short answer on NUOPTIMA vs Tortoise and Hare: if you run a managed service provider (MSP), choose Tortoise and Hare Software when you want to buy search engine optimization (SEO) or pay per click (PPC) advertising from a published price list, with no long-term contract, from a small team. Choose NUOPTIMA when you want SEO, generative engine optimization (GEO), paid media and outbound run as one program by one team.
Both agencies sell artificial intelligence (AI) search work, so that is not the dividing line. Scope is. Tortoise and Hare sells channels you can buy one at a time. NUOPTIMA sells one program across several channels and quotes it after a baseline audit.
We ran the same exercise against a website management firm in our Pronto Marketing comparison. For a wider shortlist, see our best MSP SEO agencies guide or our roundup of NUOPTIMA alternatives.
Tortoise and Hare Software and NUOPTIMA at a Glance
| Buying criterion | Tortoise and Hare Software | NUOPTIMA |
|---|---|---|
| Who it says it fits | Established business to business (B2B) technology brands, "usually with at least 10 employees and 1 million in annual recurring revenue" (source); for AI SEO, managed information technology (IT) service providers, cybersecurity-focused MSPs, IT support companies, cloud providers and compliance-focused IT firms (source) | MSPs that want SEO, GEO, paid media and outbound run as one program |
| Core services | PPC advertising and SEO, with websites, hosting, content, social media and ad management also listed (source) | SEO, GEO, paid media and outbound, run as one program |
| AI search | AI SEO for MSPs, including Google AI Overviews optimization and generative search optimization (source) | GEO: making your firm the name AI assistants give when a buyer asks for a provider, with citations tracked (GEO services) |
| Published pricing | Retainers from $1,500 plus ad spend; SEO retainers at $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000 a month; $175 an hour consulting; fixed-fee projects from $5,000 (source, source, source, source) | Quoted after a baseline audit |
| Contract terms | No long-term contracts; cancellation needs at least one month's notice (source) | Set in the proposal; get them in writing |
| How the work is delivered | Small team with direct access to expert support; copywriters, designers and web developers listed as contractors (source, source) | For GEO, human-written content and about thirty minutes a month of your time (GEO services) |
| Published MSP results | A North Florida MSP with 10x organic search traffic; a South Florida MSP it helped add $60,000+ in monthly recurring revenue in one year via Google Ads (source) | Cortavo: 261 to 10,000 organic visitors a month in 9 months; $403,330 in contracted sales value in 12 months (Cortavo case study) |
| Clutch, September 28, 2026 | 4.3 out of 5 from 6 reviews; 2 to 9 employees (source) | 4.9 out of 5 from 13 reviews |
Scope: Buy One Channel or Run One Program
Tortoise and Hare Software describes itself as a digital marketing agency that works primarily with B2B technology firms such as MSPs, cybersecurity firms and software as a service (SaaS) companies (source). Its services page names PPC advertising and SEO as its core services, and lists web development, hosting, landing pages, conversion rate optimization, AI SEO, local and technical SEO, link building, content marketing and social media marketing around them (source). SEO and PPC are sold as separate retainers (source, source).
That suits an MSP that already knows which channel it needs. If your website converts but too few buyers find it, you can buy SEO on its own and keep everything else in house.
NUOPTIMA sells a different thing. SEO, GEO, paid media and outbound run as one program, so one team decides where the next dollar and the next hour go across all four. The trade is modularity: a program is harder to judge channel by channel in its first months than a single retainer with a single job.
NUOPTIMA also states that it works with one MSP per niche and region (GEO services). Whoever you shortlist, ask whether they work with a direct competitor in your market.
If your real question is whether AI search changes your strategy at all, read SEO versus GEO for MSPs first.
AI Search: Both Agencies Sell It
Tortoise and Hare defines AI SEO for MSPs as improving a firm's visibility across search engines, generative search and AI platforms. Its AI SEO page lists Google AI Overviews optimization and generative search optimization among its services, and says AI SEO pricing is directional and customized to each client (source).
NUOPTIMA calls the same territory GEO and defines it as making your firm the name AI assistants give when a buyer asks for a provider, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok and Perplexity. The method: map the questions buyers ask, engineer what the models retrieve, then track citations and defend the position (GEO services).
Since both sell it, judge them on what each will show you. Ask both for the list of buyer prompts they will track, where your firm appears on those prompts today, and which competitor gets named instead. Our guide to tracking AI citations shows how to check the answers yourself.
Pricing: Tortoise and Hare Publishes Its Numbers
You can build a Tortoise and Hare budget before the first call. Its services page says retainers start at $1,500 plus ad spend, and that most clients spend between $5,000 and $25,000 a month on marketing (source). Its retainer packages page lists three SEO retainers: Dash at $2,500 a month, MegaByte at $5,000 and Aesop at $10,000 (source). Its Dash PPC package page lists a $1,500 retainer and a $3,500 advertising budget, $5,000 a month in total (source).
The rest of the list: consulting at $175 an hour, fixed-fee projects from $5,000, an AI Powered Content Marketing package at $5,000 a month, a managed website build at a $15,000 one-time fee and hosting at $250 a month (source, source, source). AI SEO is priced per client (source).
If you want to know your likely spend before you talk to anyone, that is a real point in Tortoise and Hare's favor.
NUOPTIMA quotes after a baseline audit, so this page gives you no NUOPTIMA figure to set beside those. To compare the two fairly, send both agencies the same brief and ask each to price it line by line:
- Which channels are included, and which cost extra?
- Is ad spend inside the fee or on top of it?
- How much content a month, and who writes and approves it?
- Which numbers will be reported as activity, and which as pipeline?
Contracts, Cancellation and Who Owns the Work
Tortoise and Hare's Doing Business With page says it has no long-term contracts, and that cancellation notice must be given no less than one month before cancellation. The same page says fixed-fee projects are billed 50% at the start and 50% at completion unless agreed otherwise (source).
If leaving on a month's notice is your first requirement, Tortoise and Hare has put that in writing on its site. NUOPTIMA sets its terms in the proposal. Get them in writing and set them beside that page before you sign.
Ownership is the question to ask everyone. Who owns a client's website and content after an engagement ends is not addressed in Tortoise and Hare's published terms (source), so ask, and ask NUOPTIMA the same thing. From any agency, get the answer in the contract, along with who holds the admin logins for your domain, analytics and ad accounts when you leave. Our framework for vetting an MSP SEO agency has the full checklist.
Proof: What Each Agency Publishes
Tortoise and Hare's homepage says that since 2018 it has helped brands generate more than 35,000 leads and more than $10 million in marketing-sourced revenue. It lists MSP results, including a North Florida MSP that more than doubled revenue in under two years and saw 10x organic search traffic, and a South Florida MSP it helped add $60,000+ in monthly recurring revenue in one year via Google Ads (source).
NUOPTIMA's published MSP case is Cortavo. Cortavo went from 261 to 10,000 organic visitors a month in 9 months. Over 12 months, the case attributes $403,330 in contracted sales value to organic and AI search, a 4.6x return on the $88,500 invested, and records 8 new clients closed against a target of 5.
On Clutch, as of September 28, 2026, Tortoise and Hare shows 4.3 out of 5 from 6 reviews (source) and NUOPTIMA shows 4.9 out of 5 from 13. Both are small samples. Read the individual reviews, not the averages.
No published result does your diligence for you, ours included. For any case study, ask for the starting baseline, the timeframe, the spend, how revenue was attributed, and how many leads became signed clients.
Who Does the Work
Tortoise and Hare's about page names Hunter Nelson as President and Founder and Kyla Rehberg as Cofounder, and lists its copywriters, designers and web developers as contractors (source). Its AI SEO page describes a small team approach that gives an MSP direct access to expert support throughout the engagement (source). Clutch lists 2 to 9 employees (source).
If direct access to specialists matters most to you, that is what Tortoise and Hare says its model is built to give.
For its GEO work, NUOPTIMA states that the content is human-written and that your input is roughly thirty minutes a month (GEO services).
Whichever agency you shortlist, ask for the named person who owns each channel and what happens to your account if that person leaves. A good first call ends with names and a 90-day plan. If you only get a deck, keep asking.
Verdict: Choose Tortoise and Hare, NUOPTIMA or Neither
Choose Tortoise and Hare Software if you are an established B2B technology company or MSP (its best-fit clients usually have at least 10 employees and 1 million in annual recurring revenue), you want to buy SEO or Google Ads management as a single retainer from a published price list, and you want the option to leave on one month's notice. Its best-fit description also names firms that have grown through referrals or founder-led hustle and want a more sustainable system (source). If you want a website build at a published price, it lists that too (source).
Choose NUOPTIMA if you want SEO, GEO, paid media and outbound run together by one team, and you would rather judge one program than manage several vendors. NUOPTIMA runs paid media too, but inside that program. If Google Ads management is the only thing you want, a standalone PPC retainer like Tortoise and Hare's is the simpler purchase.
Choose neither yet if you cannot define a qualified lead, do not know your close rate, have no customer relationship management (CRM) discipline, or cannot name the one service line you most want to sell. Fix those first. Otherwise the agency conversation turns into a budget argument instead of a growth decision.
For another head-to-head, read NUOPTIMA vs Ulistic. If you want to see where your firm shows up in search and AI answers today before you choose anyone, book a call.
Sources
- https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ about/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ services/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ msp-marketing-services/ search-engine-optimization/ ai-seo/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ pricing/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ pricing/ marketing-retainer-packages/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ pricing/ hourly-marketing-consulting/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ pricing/ fixed-fee-marketing-projects/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ pricing/ marketing-retainer-packages/ dash-package/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://tortoiseandharesoftware.
com/ doing-business-with-tortoise-and-hare-software/ (accessed September 27, 2026) - https://clutch.
co/ profile/ tortoise-hare-software (accessed September 28, 2026) - NUOPTIMA's Clutch rating was read from its Clutch profile on September 28, 2026
- /generative-engine-optimization-geo-services (accessed September 28, 2026)
- /case/cortavo-msp-case-study (accessed September 28, 2026)