What you are paying for
The cost sits in three places: coming up with an angle that stands up, producing the asset behind it, and the outreach hours to place it. Outreach is the largest line and the least glamorous.
A campaign built on original survey data costs more because the data has to be commissioned, cleaned and interpreted before anyone pitches anything.
Retainer or campaign
Retainers suit brands who want a steady drumbeat of commentary and reactive coverage. Campaigns suit brands with a specific launch or a link target.
Most brands do better on a retainer with one bigger campaign built in per quarter, because reactive work needs constant attention and campaign work needs concentrated effort.
How to judge value
Ignore volume of coverage. Ask what the links did to your rankings, whether the coverage sits on sites your buyers read, and whether your brand now appears in the AI answers for your category. Those three are the outcomes worth paying for.