SEO, AEO and GEO for Pilates studios: how do clients find you?

First, what do those letters mean?

SEO means search engine optimisation. It’s the work that helps search engines such as Google find and understand your website.

AEO means answer engine optimisation. People use it to describe making information useful for tools that answer questions directly.

GEO means generative engine optimisation. It usually refers to getting a business included in answers from AI tools such as ChatGPT.

There’s overlap. You don’t need to treat them as 3 separate website projects. Google says its existing SEO fundamentals still apply to its AI search features.

Does your website answer a new client’s questions?

Can beginners join? What does a first class cost? Where are you? Which class should someone book? You answer these questions every week. But are the answers on your website, or only in your WhatsApp messages?

Put short, specific answers beside the relevant classes and prices. If visitors are arriving but not enquiring, read why Pilates website visitors might not be booking.

Your results might not be what a new client sees

You’ve probably searched for your studio and opened your own website hundreds of times. Seeing yourself come up isn’t enough to know whether someone new will find you.

Google can personalise some results using search history. Location also affects what appears. If you’ve discussed your studio with ChatGPT, it may use that conversation and relevant memories, when enabled, to shape searches. It doesn’t automatically know your entire browsing history.

Try the questions a new client would ask, without naming your studio. Record the question, date, location and sources. A private browser window can reduce some personal context, but it doesn’t make every result universal.

Can Google and ChatGPT access your pages?

A website can look lovely and still have settings that get in the way of search. Check whether important pages can be crawled and indexed. For ChatGPT search, OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot needs access; this is separate from allowing model training.

If you built the site yourself, start with these checks before paying someone to fix your website. If you’re considering a rebuild, first ask whether you actually need a new website.

Is your website still talking about last summer?

An expired introductory offer. A workshop that happened months ago. A timetable that doesn’t match your booking system. Open your website as a new client would and follow the journey to booking. Check the details along the way.

Want a hand?

Tell me what you’re trying to improve and which website platform you use.