🔍 Overview

OTTO sites are activated workspaces where OTTO SEO automates on-page optimizations for a connected domain. Your base plan includes a set number of active OTTO sites. If you need more, you can purchase OTTO site top-ups — additional slots billed on top of your monthly plan fee.

In some cases, customers have reported being charged for top-up slots even after deactivating or removing extra OTTO sites. This article explains why this happens, what to expect, and how to get a resolution.

💡 How OTTO Site Top-Up Billing Works

Each OTTO site top-up adds one extra active site slot to your account and is billed monthly as an add-on charge separate from your base plan.

• Starter plan ($99/mo): Includes 1 active OTTO site.
• Top-up cost: Each additional OTTO site slot is charged at the published add-on rate (e.g., $85 per extra site).
• Billing cycle: Top-up charges are applied at the start of each billing period based on the number of active add-on slots on your account at that time.

For example, if your account had 2 extra OTTO site top-ups active, you would see an additional $170 added to your base $99 plan — resulting in a $269 total rather than the expected $99.

⚠️ Known Issue: Top-Up Charges Persisting After Cancellation

By design, deleting or removing an OTTO site does not cancel the associated top-up charge. Removing a site releases the OTTO slot, but the top-up is a customer-level billing subscription that continues to bill until it is cancelled separately. Deep Freeze also does not cancel the top-up.

To cancel a top-up, go to your Profile avatar → Billing → Services, find the top-up, click the ⋮ menu, and choose Cancel. Alternatively, cancelling your main plan will automatically cancel its top-ups at the end of the billing period.

If you removed OTTO sites but did not cancel the top-up subscription separately, charges will continue. If you believe you were billed in error after cancelling the top-up itself, you are entitled to a review and potential refund.

🛠️ How to Check Your Active OTTO Sites

1. Log in to your Search Atlas account.
2. In the left sidebar, navigate to OTTO SEO → SEO Automation (URL: /seo-automation-v3).
3. Review the list of connected sites. Only sites showing as Active should be incurring a top-up charge beyond your plan's included slot.
4. If you see sites listed as inactive or removed but are still being billed for top-up slots, this confirms the billing discrepancy.

📊 What You Should Expect to Be Charged

Use the table below as a quick reference to verify your expected bill:

• 1 active OTTO site on Starter plan: $99/mo total — no top-up charge.
• 2 active OTTO sites on Starter plan: $99 + $85 = $184/mo.
• 3 active OTTO sites on Starter plan: $99 + $170 = $269/mo.

If you have deactivated extra sites and are still being billed at a higher rate, the difference qualifies for a refund review.

🔄 How to Request a Refund or Billing Correction

Our support team can investigate your billing history, confirm which top-up charges should not have been applied, and process a refund for any overcharges. To get this resolved quickly, follow these steps:

1. Gather the following information before reaching out: your account email, the domain(s) you removed from OTTO, and the approximate date(s) you deactivated those sites.
2. Note the charge amounts you believe are incorrect and which billing period(s) they cover.
3. Open the live chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Our team will audit your billing records against your OTTO site activity and issue a correction or refund where applicable. Refunds are typically processed within 5–10 business days depending on your payment provider.

✅ How to Prevent This Issue Going Forward

• After removing an OTTO site from the OTTO SEO dashboard, also cancel the top-up subscription separately via Profile avatar → Billing → Services → ⋮ menu on the top-up → Cancel, since removing the site does not stop the recurring top-up charge.
• Check your monthly invoice in your account billing settings to verify the number of top-up add-ons matches the number of active OTTO sites you intend to keep.
• If you plan to scale down your OTTO sites, do so a few days before your billing renewal date to allow time for the system to register the change.

🆘 Still Need Help?

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.