ChatGPT named 6 of Clapham's 13 reformer studios. The FAQ page that gets yours on the list.

I asked ChatGPT for a reformer Pilates studio in Clapham. There are at least 13. It named 6, gave a line about each, and stopped. There's no page 2. 45% of people now ask ChatGPT or another AI for local recommendations, so the other 7 studios lost that client and never found out, because she never saw them.

Getting on that list is about 30 times harder than showing up on Google, and almost nobody is trying yet. The cheapest fix I've found is a page most studios don't have: a proper FAQ page. This guide gives you the page, written in your words, live on your website, with the same answers on Google, and a 10-minute refresh every 3 months. Every click, in order.

Before you start: what you need

• ChatGPT. The free plan works. Plus (about €23 a month) is better because a Project on the paid plan holds more and remembers your voice more reliably.
• The login for your website builder. Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, Momence, whatever runs your site. If someone else looks after it, you don't need the login. Step 3 gives you the exact email to send them.
• The Google account that owns your Google Business Profile (the panel with your photos, hours and reviews when someone Googles you). You need it for step 4. Not sure which account? Go to business.google.com and sign in. If your studio appears, that's the one.
• Time: about 1 hour, once. 10 minutes setup, 15 minutes writing, 20 minutes on your website, 10 minutes on Google. Then 10 minutes every 3 months.
• Cost: €0, unless you choose to pay for ChatGPT.
• If you can send an email, you can do this.

What you'll have at the end

• A FAQ page live on your website, in your words, with the questions AI uses to match you to the right client.
• Your 5 most-asked questions answered on your Google Business Profile, so Google reads the same answers.
• A prompt that refreshes the page in 10 minutes, every 3 months.

Step 1: Set up your ChatGPT studio project (10 minutes, once)

If you've done this in another guide, skip to step 2. If not:

1. Open ChatGPT. Use chatgpt.com in your browser or the ChatGPT app, and sign in.
2. In the left menu click Projects, then New project. Call it My studio and click Create project. A Project is a folder that remembers instructions for every chat inside it, so you never repeat yourself. If you can't see Projects, update the app or use chatgpt.com in a browser.
3. Inside the project, click New chat. Paste this in and press enter. Answer one question at a time, typing the way you actually talk. Don't tidy yourself up.

4. Copy the Brand Voice Guide it writes. At the top of the project, click Instructions (on some screens it's a small settings icon, or Edit instructions). Paste the guide in and click Save.
5. Now give it your website, so it knows your real class times, prices and address instead of guessing. In the same chat, paste this with your web address in the bracket.

6. Fill in any blanks it marked. Open Instructions again and paste the facts sheet underneath the voice guide. Click Save.

You'll know it worked when you open a new chat in the project, type "In 2 sentences, how do I sound, and what's my address?" and it answers in your tone with your real address.

If it doesn't: the instructions didn't save. Open Instructions, check both the voice guide and the facts sheet are there, and click Save. If it says it can't open your website, copy the text of your homepage, timetable and prices pages and paste them into the chat instead, then ask for the facts sheet again.

That's the whole foundation. Every guide on this site starts from this project. Do it once, use it for everything.

Step 2: Write the page (15 minutes)

3 parts go into a good FAQ page, and most studios only do the first one.

1. The questions every new client asks. Beginners, what to wear, parking, prices, how to book, back pain, pregnancy, first-class nerves. Boring. Necessary.
2. The questions only your studio can answer. Your equipment, your specialism, who you're especially good for. This is what AI matches on. It can't recommend what it can't read, and if your site just says "Pilates for all levels", it reads exactly like the studio down the road.
3. Real answers, in your words. What you'd actually say to someone at the door.

This prompt does all 3. Open your My studio project, click New chat, and paste it in. It asks you one question first. Answer it properly. The more specific you are about what makes you different, the better part 2 gets.

It leaves blanks like [your price] for anything it doesn't know. Fill them in. Then read the whole page out loud once. Anything that doesn't sound like you, tell it: "rewrite the parking answer the way I'd actually say it". Copy the finished page (click the copy icon under its reply, or select all and copy).

You'll know it worked when you have 12 to 20 questions, every answer is one you'd say out loud, every blank is filled, and at least 3 questions are about what makes your studio different.

If it doesn't: if it sounds like a hotel, paste in 2 or 3 emails you've actually sent to clients and say "rewrite the whole page in this voice". If it made up a price or a class time, say "only use the facts in this project, leave a blank for anything else".

Step 3: Put it on your website (20 minutes)

It has to be a real page on your site, not a PDF and not a social post. Search reads pages.

1. Log in to your website builder and add a new page called FAQ. On Wix: click Pages & Menu in the left bar, then + Add Page, then Blank. On Squarespace: Pages, then the + next to Main Navigation, then Blank Page. On WordPress: Pages, then Add New Page. Anything else: Google "[your builder] add a new page" and follow the first result from the builder itself.
2. If your builder asks for a web address (sometimes called a slug or URL), make it /faq.
3. Paste the questions and answers in. Make each question a heading: click on the question, then pick Heading 2 from the text style dropdown. Leave the answer as normal text underneath. If your builder only offers a click-to-open "accordion" FAQ block, it's fine to use, but plain headings are easier for search to read.
4. Check the words reformer and your town appear naturally in a few answers. That's how search knows what you teach and where.
5. Find the page's SEO or page settings (Wix: the 3 dots next to the page name, then SEO basics; Squarespace: the cog next to the page name, then SEO; WordPress: the page's settings panel on the right). Set the title to Reformer Pilates FAQ [your town] | [your studio name]. Make sure "Hide this page from search engines" is off.
6. Add the page to your menu and your footer. On most builders it lands in the menu automatically when you create it. A page nobody links to is a page search doesn't trust.
7. Click Publish (top right on Wix and Squarespace, top right on the WordPress page editor).

If someone else runs your website, paste your FAQ into an email to them with this: "Please add this as a new page called FAQ at /faq, linked from the main menu and the footer, with each question as a Heading 2 and the answer as normal text underneath. Page title: Reformer Pilates FAQ [town] | [studio name]. Please don't hide it from search engines." It's about 30 minutes of their time. Ask for it within the week.

You'll know it worked when you open a private window on your phone (Safari: the 2 squares icon, then Private; Chrome: the 3 dots, then New Incognito tab), type your website address followed by /faq, and the page loads with no login, questions as headings, and a link to it in your menu.

If it doesn't: the page is still a draft, or you closed the editor without clicking Publish. Go back in, open the page, publish again. If it loads but isn't in the menu, open Pages and check the FAQ page isn't marked hidden.

Step 4: Tell Google the same things (10 minutes)

Your Google Business Profile has a Questions & answers section almost nobody fills in. You're allowed to ask and answer your own questions there, and Google reads them.

1. On a computer, make sure you're signed in to the Google account that owns your profile (check the round profile picture, top right of google.com).
2. Google your exact studio name. Your panel appears on the right. Scroll it until you see Questions & answers and click Ask a question. If you can't see it, click See all questions or open the panel's About section.
3. Type your most-asked question exactly as a client would ask it, and click Post.
4. Click on the question you just posted, click Answer, paste your answer from the FAQ page, and click Post. Because you're signed in as the owner, Google marks it as the owner's answer.
5. Repeat for your 5 most-asked questions. 2 minutes each.

Same words, second place they get read. Google usually shows the top 2 questions on your panel to everyone who searches for you.

You'll know it worked when you Google your studio in a private window a day later and the questions show on your panel with an Owner label on the answer.

If it doesn't: you're signed into the wrong Google account, or your profile isn't verified yet. Go to business.google.com: if you can't see your studio there, claim it first (my Google profile guide walks you through it). Questions and answers also only show on the full Google search result, not always in the Maps app, so use a computer.

If something goes wrong

• ChatGPT says it can't open your website. Copy the text of your homepage, timetable and prices pages, paste it into the chat, and ask for the facts sheet again.
• The answers sound like a hotel. Paste in 3 emails you've actually sent to clients and say "rewrite the whole page in this voice".
• Your builder only has an accordion FAQ block. Use it. Put the question in the title field and the full answer in the box. Search can still read it.
• The page isn't in Google after 3 weeks. Open the page's SEO settings and check "hide from search engines" is off, then check the page is in your menu. Google normally finds a new linked page within 1 to 2 weeks.
• You can't find Questions and answers on your Google panel. Use a computer, not the Maps app, and Google your exact studio name. If it's still missing, your profile probably isn't verified yet.

Keep it alive

10 minutes, every 3 months. Prices change. You add a class. Someone asks something new every week. Put a reminder in your calendar for the 1st of every 3rd month, open your My studio project and paste:

Paste the new answers onto the page, publish, and add any new question to your Google Q&A too. If you've connected your inbox (the email guide), go further: "Look at my inbox for the last 3 months. What questions did people ask that aren't on my FAQ page?" It'll find them. Those are your next answers.

The 3 answers most worth getting right

1. Back pain. The most-asked question about reformer Pilates. Answer it honestly, from what you've seen in class.
2. "Is this for me if I'm a complete beginner?" Say exactly what the first class looks like. Fear of the first class loses more bookings than price does.
3. What makes you different. Your equipment, your specialism, your people. This is the one that gets you on the shortlist.

Why I'm telling you this

When I moved studios I found my own website hadn't been touched in years and my Google listing was in tatters. I spent 12 years in tech before 9 years running my studio, so I dusted that off and fixed the basics, starting with writing down the answers I gave out loud 20 times a week. In 12 months my studio went from not listed to named by ChatGPT, and from No. 3 to No. 1 on Google Maps. New clients now say "I found you on Google" or "ChatGPT recommended you" before I've asked. It's a page. It takes an hour. It works while you're teaching.

Put "FAQ" in the subject and your studio's website address in the email. I'll reply with what it costs and when I can start. No call to book.

Victoria, Core and Code