San Francisco sells more AI than anywhere else, and much of it comes from software shops rather than marketing agencies. "Agents now build the campaign, segment the audience, draft the copy, and stage the send. The marketer is the director, not the operator." That is what I rank for below.
1. Traction
1Traction
Adam Kleinberg, CEO & Founder, Traction
- Best for
- Brands wanting AI agents built into the marketing team
- Location
- No office credited: its printed 5214F Diamond Heights Blvd address is a mail drop; at least 9 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- Custom AI Operating System, AI agents on Claude Cowork integrated with Shopify and Klaviyo
Traction built Patiofyre an autonomous marketing engine on Claude Cowork, with AI agents wired into Shopify and Klaviyo, and the case reports 300% ROAS and 200+% revenue growth in the brand's first holiday season. It sells client marketing teams a Custom AI Operating System built from a diagnostic, and says AI plus a new operating model cut a $10B retailer's fees by 21%, without naming the retailer. Its Lenovo campaign made 600K personalized videos, which the case does not describe as AI.
It won Silver for Midsize Agency of the Year at the 2026 ANA B2 Awards and has done client work for Apple since the iPod shuffle. Its printed address, 5214F Diamond Heights Blvd, is a storefront where businesses print box numbers, and at least 9 staff are in the metro on LinkedIn, including CEO Adam Kleinberg.
The pick for a brand that wants an agency to build AI agents into its marketing operation, not just run campaigns.
2. NoGood
2NoGood
Sarah Heidi Pearlstein, Growth Marketing Manager - AEO, NoGood
- Best for
- AI-search work next to paid and social
- Location
- Headquartered in New York; no San Francisco office published; 3 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- AI Marketing Lab
NoGood is a New York growth agency whose AI Marketing Lab sells generative AI consulting, development and implementation, and custom AI-powered analytics, and its team page lists a Machine Learning Engineer, Ahmed Abohegazy. Its headline result is in AI search: a SteelSeries program lifted year-over-year conversions from AI platforms 27x and AI search traffic 23x. That result is visibility in AI answers, not automation in its own delivery.
It runs AEO, SEO, organic and paid social, paid search and CRO from one growth team. It publishes no San Francisco office, and 3 of its staff are in the metro on LinkedIn, including Sarah Heidi Pearlstein, Growth Marketing Manager for AEO. It also ranks on the New York list.
Take it when being cited in AI answers is the channel you most need to win.
3. Evolve Media
Evolve Media
Tommy Maples, Founder & Executive Producer, Evolve Media
- Best for
- AI-made video ads with human finishing
- Location
- San Francisco HQ, per its site; no street address published; 4 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- AI video and image models with human finishing
Evolve Media is a video studio that builds ads, animation and explainers on the latest generation of AI video models, finished by real directors and editors. Its AI work includes an AI-generated user-acquisition spot for a mobile gaming startup, built around an orc named Gorgut, and AI-assisted video and static ads for a mobile interactive fiction startup across eight story genres on Meta, TikTok, YouTube and the app stores. No number is published for the AI work.
Its numbers come from conventional production: a Last War campaign with Antony Starr, 20 commercials that drove 12.5M downloads and made it the most downloaded game in the US. It is based in San Francisco and prints no street address, and 4 of its staff are in the metro on LinkedIn, including founder and executive producer Tommy Maples.
The pick when the bottleneck is video creative and you want AI speed without AI-looking work.
4. Mekanism
4Mekanism
Pete Caban, Co-Founder; Managing Partner, Mekanism AI Superstudio, Mekanism
- Best for
- Consumer brands wanting AI-made campaign content
- Location
- No San Francisco street address printed (map link only); at least 11 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn. Part of Plus Company
- AI stack
- AI Superstudio (in-house AI content studio), Veo3
Mekanism runs an in-house AI Superstudio of AI-content directors, creators, editors, animators and creative technologists, and shows a personalized social and influencer campaign built with Veo3 for Advertising Week New York 2025 and generative-AI prototypes for iHealth Culturelle. Co-founder Pete Caban is Managing Partner of the AI Superstudio. No number is tied to the AI work.
Its numbers sit outside the AI work: a 395% rise in Alaska Airlines bookings during a 5-day promo and Amtrak Trak Suits that beat their sales goal 3.5X and sold out. Mekanism is part of Plus Company, which merged it with Camp Jefferson and Jungle to form Mekanism Canada in April 2025, and runs under its own brand. It prints no street address, and at least 11 staff are in the metro on LinkedIn.
The pick for a consumer brand that wants big-agency creative with an AI content studio attached.
5. Previsible
5Previsible
Jordan Koene, CEO and Founder, Previsible
- Best for
- Brands wanting search and AI-answer visibility
- Founded
- 2020
- Location
- Headquartered in San Francisco; its 3150 18th St address is a micro-office building with no suite printed, so not credited as an office; at least 7 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- Proprietary AI content agents with human review
Previsible is a pure SEO and GEO agency, with no ads and no design, founded in San Francisco in 2020 by Jordan Koene, Tyson Stockton and David Bell. It has built proprietary AI content agents for some of its largest enterprise clients, with a human in the loop on every piece, but it names no client and no number for those agents.
Its case studies report $17M in incremental revenue for Etsy across 25+ markets and a 270% rise in Squaremouth's ChatGPT-driven revenue in six months. Squaremouth is optimization for AI search, not AI in delivery. Its team of 70 spans 10 countries. Its 3150 18th St address is ActivSpace micro-offices, with no suite printed, and at least 7 staff are in the metro, including CEO Jordan Koene.
The pick for a brand whose growth depends on search and AI answers, from a specialist that uses its own content agents.
6. iCrossing
6iCrossing
Janice Neff, Director, Delivery Solutions, iCrossing
- Best for
- Enterprise brands wanting governed GenAI content at scale
- Location
- States a San Francisco office but prints no street address; at least 5 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn. Hearst-owned
- AI stack
- Governed GenAI content and metadata workflows, AI-assisted editorial operations
iCrossing publishes the most specific AI delivery numbers on this list. A governed GenAI workflow optimized 130 Shell Eco-marathon pages and saved 50 hours, with 50% more clicks and 63% more impressions. AI-assisted editorial operations gave a hospitality brand 10X more articles and 68% more organic traffic, and a governed AI content workflow raised a healthcare client's output 50% and cut development time 70%. Shell is the only named client among them.
It is a Hearst-owned digital marketing and technology agency, full-service rather than specialist. Its San Francisco page opens "From our San Francisco office" but prints no address, and at least 5 staff are in the metro on LinkedIn. It also ranks on the New York and Chicago lists.
The pick for an enterprise brand that wants governed GenAI content workflows with published time savings.
7. First Page Sage
7First Page Sage
Evan Bailyn, Founder & CEO, First Page Sage
- Best for
- SEO and AI-answer visibility
- Location
- No San Francisco office published; 4 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
First Page Sage is an SEO and GEO agency, and its AI work is getting clients recommended by AI assistants. One campaign grew a plastic surgeon's AI recommendation share from 11% to 64% across 31 key queries, for an estimated $2.3M in incremental revenue, and another had AI assistants describing a client as an enterprise communication platform in 78 percent of tracked answers, up from 19 percent. Neither client is named. It also sells Agentic Search Optimization.
Its content is created by in-house experts, and it names no automation in its own delivery. It was founded by Evan Bailyn. It publishes no San Francisco office, and 4 of its staff are in the metro on LinkedIn.
Take it when the goal is to be the answer AI assistants give, backed by content written by people.
8. WebFX
8WebFX
Fern Minicker, Web Designer, WebFX
- Best for
- Full-service marketing on a proprietary revenue platform
- Location
- Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with a Spaces coworking floor at 95 Third St and 3 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- OmniSEO, RevenueCloudFX
WebFX is a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania agency of 750+ digital marketing experts working with an in-house technology suite. Its AI sits in its own software: OmniSEO is its proprietary platform for AI visibility tracking, and its RevenueCloudFX reporting software is described as powered by IBM Watson. No AI-in-delivery result is published.
It runs SEO, PPC, social, web design and revenue reporting for small and mid-size businesses, so it is not a specialist. It lists a Spaces coworking floor at 95 Third St, and 3 of its staff are in the metro on LinkedIn. It also ranks on the Atlanta and Columbus lists.
Take it when you want a large agency and one platform that ties marketing to revenue, and can live without a big San Francisco team.
9. Brightter
9Brightter
Raj T., Co-Founder & Sr. Director, Digital Strategist, Brightter
- Best for
- Service businesses wanting ready-made AI agents
- Location
- No office credited: its 2 Embarcadero Center, 8th Floor studio is a WeWork floor; 5 staff located in the San Francisco metro on LinkedIn
- AI stack
- Front-desk AI agent, Claims triage agent, Speed-to-lead agent
Brightter sells small businesses ready-made AI agents: a front-desk agent that answers calls and books appointments, a claims-triage agent and a speed-to-lead agent. It publishes no client result for that work, and the only clients it names are Oracle and Chase, on its homepage. Branding, Webflow builds and nearshore developers sit alongside marketing, so it is not a specialist.
5 staff are in the metro on LinkedIn, including co-founder Raj T. and VP of Delivery Oleg Chernyak. Its San Francisco studio at 2 Embarcadero Center, 8th Floor is a WeWork floor.
The pick for a small service business that wants an AI front-desk or lead-response agent without hiring a big agency.
Also worth knowing
These San Francisco firms were considered and are not ranked.
Several have real AI in delivery and no San Francisco team. Siege Media uses AI for outlines, line editing, image editing and keyword research and employs a Director of Automation, with 2 metro staff, and the building directory for 490 Post St lists Suite 500 for other businesses. Beyond the Arc does NLP work on 45,000 utility regulatory filings, and its only address is a WeWork floor. Roboto Studio runs named agentic workflows, prints a virtual street address at 2021 Fillmore St and has no metro staff. Terra and Moburst are New York firms, 2POINT is in San Diego, and AI Automation 360 prints a Mail Box Plus address and names no clients.
Several have a real metro team and no AI in delivery. H/L Agency, based in Oakland with 11 metro staff and a VP of Engineering and AI, describes no AI in its own delivery; its AI mentions are marketing for an AI client. LQ Digital has 6 metro staff, and its AI is answer-engine service copy. Wpromote, of El Segundo, sells AI-search audits and has 4 metro staff.
Others sell AI for search or AI as a service line. Victorious prints box #41895 at 548 Market St, a mail drop. Blackbird sells ChatGPT placement as a service. Scalero offers a free subject-line generator. LoudFace is based in Dubai and prints a 2261 Market St virtual mailbox. Clear Digital is headquartered in San Jose, Marketri is a Philadelphia firm, Bonfire uses Adobe Firefly as a production technique, and Growth Marketing Pro, TheorySF, EnlightWorks, Opollo, Adverio, Cintra, Landis, Propane, Born & Bred, RankScience and Burst sell AI search or list AI without a delivery workflow.
GThree, Lucrative and Ranxy have no named clients or case studies, and Web Design Vibe prints a Spaces coworking suite while its real address is in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
herodigital.com now serves Huge's site, firewoodmarketing.com serves Monks, and 3Q Digital is part of DEPT.
Software, IT, consulting, staffing and other firms that surface in San Francisco marketing searches are not marketing agencies and are not assessed here.
How to choose between them
A brand that wants AI agents built into its own marketing operation should start with Traction, the only firm here with a numbered result from agents it built. A consumer brand that wants big-agency creative with generative video attached has Mekanism. A brand whose growth depends on search and AI answers has Previsible, which does nothing else, or NoGood, if it wants paid and social run by the same team. A brand that mostly needs to be the provider AI assistants recommend has First Page Sage. A brand or app publisher whose bottleneck is video ads has Evolve Media, which makes them with AI and finishes them by hand. An enterprise that wants governed GenAI content at scale, with time savings it can show a CFO, has iCrossing. A small business that wants search, ads and revenue reporting on one platform has WebFX. A clinic, trade or professional firm that wants an AI agent on the phones and the inbox has Brightter.
My view is that AI agents are already better than people at the follow-up half of marketing, because they read everything and never miss one. So ask each of these firms which steps its agents run and which its people run. Ask which metro people will do the work.
How this list is ranked
How this list is ranked
I score every marketing agency here on four criteria, for a total out of 50: AI automation out of 20, and specialization, published evidence and a real San Francisco team, each out of 10. Each card links the sources behind its score.
Nitrosend, which I co-founded, publishes this page. It is an email platform for agencies, not a marketing agency, and is not ranked.
FAQ
Traction, because it builds AI agents into client marketing teams and publishes a result from them: an autonomous marketing engine for Patiofyre with 300% ROAS. NoGood and Evolve Media tie for second, NoGood for AI search and Evolve Media for AI-made video ads. Mekanism and Previsible follow, Mekanism for AI-made campaign content and Previsible for search and AI answers. iCrossing has the most specific AI time savings, First Page Sage and WebFX suit search-led buyers, and Brightter suits small service businesses.
The difference shows in what each one publishes. Traction documents the Patiofyre agent build. Mekanism describes its AI Superstudio. iCrossing shows its Shell metadata workflow. Read those pages and you will know which one describes your business.
Between $5,000 and $25,000 a month on retainer for most agency work, before ad spend, with solo SEO consultants from $1,200 a month. Among the ranked firms, Brightter prints a price for its AI work: a first AI use case typically starts from $5000. The rest of these figures come from firms that publish them.
Stackmatix, a growth agency, puts San Francisco startup retainers at $8,000 to $25,000 a month plus media spend, and startup SEO retainers at $5,000 to $15,000, with at least $7,000 for technical SEO, content and links; it states no San Francisco office. Charly Agency, registered in San Francisco, prices CRO work at $2,500 to $20K a month. Brimar, a solo SEO consultant based in San Francisco, starts monthly plans at $1,200 with no contract. Three more publish prices but print only a mail drop here: Victorious's budget tiers start at $5,000 to $10,000 a month and run to $20,000+, LoudFace, based in Dubai, starts at $5k a month, and Marketri, based in Philadelphia, says its smallest client pays $7,500 a month and most pay $10,000 to $20,000.
San Francisco agency postings print salaries, which shows what the people cost. An H/L Agency account executive in Oakland earns $72,000 to $90,000, a Goodby Silverstein & Partners account manager $90,000 to $115,000, an AKQA content creator or senior art director $75,000 to $180,000, and a DEPT group account director $190,000 to $240,000.
Look for one of four things: a named tool with a described function, a named workflow, a person with an AI or automation role on the team, or a case study that ties automation to a number. A banner is not evidence. In San Francisco much of what gets sold as AI is AI search visibility, which gets a firm cited by ChatGPT but does not automate any work.
Every AI point on this page links to one of those. iCrossing names the client and the numbers for its Shell metadata workflow. Previsible's 270% ChatGPT revenue result for Squaremouth is search optimization, and Traction's $10B-retailer fee cut names no client.
On four criteria: AI automation out of 20, and specialization, published evidence and a real San Francisco team, each out of 10, for a total out of 50. Each card links the sources behind its score.