Guide 5 · GoogleApril 2026

Your Google Business Profile is losing you clients.

This one is for you if you have a physical studio. If you are online only, skip to Guide 1. But if you have a real space that clients walk into, this is probably the highest-impact thing you can do today.

Quick note before we start: this guide is specifically for studio owners with a physical location. If you run an online Pilates business, Google Business Profile is not really designed for you and you can skip this one. But if you have a studio that clients walk into, read on.

When did you last log into your Google Business Profile?

If the answer is "when I set it up" or "I'm not sure I ever did" then this guide is for you.

For a physical studio, your Google Business Profile is the single most important thing you can do for your visibility right now. More important than Instagram. More important than your website. Because when someone searches "Pilates studio near me" on Google or asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, this is what they see first.

And if yours is out of date, incomplete, or just sitting there untouched since 2021, you are handing clients to the studio down the road.

What Google Business Profile actually does

When someone searches for a Pilates studio in your area, Google shows a map with three listings. That's it. Three. Not ten, not twenty. Three studios get the spotlight and everyone else is buried.

The studios that appear in those three spots are not necessarily the best ones. They are the ones with the most complete, most active, most trusted profiles. Google is making a judgment call about which businesses are real, active, and worth recommending. Your profile is the evidence it uses to make that call.

ChatGPT uses the same information. When someone asks an AI tool to recommend a Pilates studio, it pulls from Google Business data, your website, and mentions of your business across the web. If your Google profile is thin or outdated, you will not show up there either.

The five things to fix today

Go to business.google.com and work through these one by one. None of them take more than ten minutes. Together they make a real difference.

Make sure your basic information is complete and accurate

Your business name, address, phone number, and website. Check that every single one of these is correct and that they match exactly what is on your website. Not roughly match. Exactly. If your address on Google says 'Street' and your website says 'St', fix it. Google and AI tools look for consistency across the web as a trust signal. Inconsistencies make them less likely to recommend you.

Update your opening hours

Are your hours accurate right now? Not last season. Now. If you run different hours in summer and winter, update them when they change. An out of date hours listing is one of the most common issues I see. If someone shows up when Google says you are open and you are not, that is a bad experience and it hurts your reputation. While you are in there, add your holiday hours too.

Write a proper description

Your Google Business description is 750 characters and most studio owners either leave it blank or write something vague like 'We offer Pilates classes in a friendly environment.' That is not enough. Write a description that includes the type of Pilates you offer, your location, who your classes are for, and what makes you different. Use the words people actually search for. 'Reformer Pilates for beginners in Bristol' is more useful than 'a welcoming Pilates studio'. Be specific.

Add photos and keep them recent

Profiles with photos get significantly more clicks than those without. Add photos of your studio space, your equipment, your classes in action. You do not need a professional photographer. Your phone is fine. The key is that the photos look real and recent. A profile with photos from 2019 looks like a business that has not been paying attention. Aim to add at least one new photo a month. It takes two minutes.

Get more reviews and reply to every single one

Reviews are one of the biggest factors in where you appear in local search. The number of reviews matters. The recency matters. And whether you reply to them matters. Google sees replies as a sign of an engaged, active business. Start asking your clients to leave a review. Not in a pushy way. Just a genuine ask at the end of a class or in a follow-up message. And when reviews come in, reply to them. Thank people by name. It takes 30 seconds and it signals to Google that you are paying attention.

One more thing: Google Posts

Inside your Google Business Profile there is a feature called Posts. You can publish short updates, offers, or news directly to your profile. They appear in your listing when people find you on Google.

Most studio owners have never used this. Which means if you start using it, you immediately stand out from the studios around you.

You do not need to post every day. Once a week is plenty. A quick update about a new class, a seasonal offer, a tip for beginners. It keeps your profile looking active and it gives Google more content to associate with your business.

How long does this take?

The first time you go through all of this properly, set aside a couple of hours. It is not complicated but there is a lot to check. After that, maintenance is maybe 20 minutes a month. New photos, a post or two, reply to reviews as they come in.

I set a reminder in my calendar for the first Monday of every month. It has become a habit. And it is one of the things that has made the biggest difference to how often new clients find me.

The Pilates industry is growing fast. More studios are opening every year. The ones that get found are not always the best ones. They are the ones that show up. This is how you show up.

Start here

Open a new tab and go to business.google.com. Log in with the Google account you used to set up your profile. Work through the five things above. If you get stuck or want a second pair of eyes on it, come find me on Instagram at @coreandcode.ai and send me a message.

— Victoria