Found on Google. Cited by AI. Chosen in Putney.
GYMPODS rents private gym PODs by the hour in Dalston and Putney. No crowds, no contract. We rebuilt how it gets found: a site Google can finally read, pages ChatGPT now quotes, and a Google profile seen more often every month. Unpaid Google search now brings in more new members than our ads do. Paid social and a CRM sit on top, so every new member arrives with a source attached.
- Google keywords ranking, up from 73 (top-3 rankings: 3 to 14)
- 170
- more views of Putney's Google Business Profile (direction requests doubled)
- 2.7×
- ChatGPT answers that name GYMPODS, up from 21 in June (the same 100 customer questions)
- 56/100
- more visitors from ChatGPT
- 5.6×
- Client
- GYMPODS
- Sector
- Boutique fitness, two London sites
- Locations
- Dalston (E8) and Putney (SW15)
- Engagement
- Growth Partner, March 2026 to now
- Focus
- SEO, AI search, local SEO, then paid social, CRM and email
The challenge
A great product, hiding in plain sight.
GYMPODS had already solved the hard part. Private PODs you book by the hour. Train alone, with a friend or with a PT. No crowds, no queues, no contract.
Putney opened in November 2025 and needed members. But the people searching for exactly this weren't finding it:
A website search couldn't read
The website loaded in the browser, so Google struggled with it and AI assistants saw an almost empty page. There were no pages for what people actually searched for, like reformer Pilates or personal training in Putney.
Thin on the map
The Google Business Profiles had no products listed, and Dalston's listed no services, so Google had little to match when people nearby searched for a private gym.
Spend and sign-ups in a black box
Google Ads ran as one Performance Max campaign, and sign-ups arrived with no source attached. Nobody could say which search, ad or post produced which member.
Scattered activity. No compounding.
That's what we were brought in to change.
What we did
Three ways to be found. One system behind them.
- SEO
Google search: rebuilt so Google could read it
We redesigned and rebuilt the site so every page is served as readable HTML, with structured data for both locations, a sitemap, AI-friendly robots rules and an llms.txt file. We added the pages people were already searching for: Reformer Pilates in Putney, personal training hubs for each site, a Find a Pro directory, gym space to rent for trainers, and a franchise page. When Google dropped the Putney page from its index, we found out why and got it back. Every page in the sitemap is now indexed. Non-brand search, people looking for a gym rather than for GYMPODS by name, now shows the site almost twice as often.
170Google keywords ranking, up from 73
+88%non-brand search impressions
39%of new sign-ups come from unpaid Google search, more than from our ads (23%)
Result: 170 keywords ranking, up from 73. Top-3 rankings up from 3 to 14, and top-10 rankings from 15 to 33. Non-brand search impressions up 88%. Seven new pages earning 15,800 search impressions in their last three months. Unpaid Google search is now the biggest single source of new sign-ups: 39%, against 23% from paid social.
- AI search (GEO)
AI search: from invisible to cited
AI assistants couldn't read the old site. So we measured it. In June we asked ChatGPT 100 questions a prospective member, personal trainer or franchisee would ask (“Where can I do reformer Pilates in Putney in a private room?”), then built and fixed the pages that answer them. In November we asked the same 100 again. ChatGPT now names GYMPODS in 56 of them, up from 21, three times as often as any other gym. On private reformer Pilates it went from never naming GYMPODS to joint first. Gemini and Google AI Mode cite the site too, and ChatGPT sends 5.6 times as many visitors. The people AI assistants send are about twice as likely to sign up as the average visitor. One personal trainer found GYMPODS by asking ChatGPT and became a client.
“Six months ago it wouldn't have worked.”
Mike, on a personal trainer who found GYMPODS through ChatGPT 56/100ChatGPT answers that name GYMPODS, up from 21 in June
5.6×more visitors from ChatGPT
2×as likely to sign up as the average visitor
Result: named in 56 of 100 ChatGPT answers, up from 21. Most-named business on 5 of 7 topics, up from 3. 5.6× more visitors from ChatGPT, even though the later figure only counts people who accepted cookies.
- Local SEO
Google Maps: found by the people nearby
We filled out both Google Business Profiles with services and products, so Google has more to match when someone nearby searches for a private gym, a PT or a reformer. Putney's profile has been viewed more often every month since February. In October, its best month since opening, it was seen 2.7 times as often as in February and March, and direction requests doubled. In Google's local results, GYMPODS is now top 3 for “Putney gyms” and “gyms in Putney”, up from 42nd and 51st in February. For “private gym”, GYMPODS now shows in the top 20 map results across 61% of the area around Putney, up from 12%.
2.7×more views of Putney's Google Business Profile
+74%actions on the profile: website clicks, calls and directions
Top 3on Google for “Putney gyms”, up from 42nd in February
Result: Putney's Google Business Profile seen 2.7× as often, with direction requests doubled (143 to 290 a month): October was its best month since opening. Top 3 on Google for “Putney gyms”, up from 42nd.
The system behind them
Paid social on top, and a CRM that names the source of every sign-up.
Paid media: test hard, cut fast
We cut Google non-brand search at £112 a sign-up and moved the budget to Meta, in a tight 3 km radius around Putney. Video now brings in sign-ups for under £10 each.
Result: Putney sign-ups up 63% a day while Dalston (no ads) dipped 7%. Cost per sign-up down 85%, from £112 to £16.
Systems: every sign-up has a source
A single customer view on top of the booking database, so every sign-up records the search, ad or referral it came from. Ad tracking fixed, server-side conversions and revenue tracking on, and a compliant cookie consent system in place.
Result: £53,600 of purchases tracked in one quarter, where none had been visible before.
Conversion: fewer leaks after the click
A five-step sign-up flow with an instant “you already have an account” check, a fix that put the missing 1 in 12 sign-ups back on the email list, redesigned member emails and a free PT session campaign.
Result: sign-up errors down 80%. 15 free PT sessions claimed in the campaign's first week.
“Most marketing is scattered activity that never compounds. This is what it looks like when it does.”
Results
The numbers.
Seven months of compounding search, with five weeks of paid social on top. Every number below is measured, and the method is at the bottom of the page.
Show the data
| Business | June 2026 | November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| GYMPODS | 21 | 56 |
| Next most-named gym | 18 | 18 |
| Topic | Questions | June 2026 | November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private gym PODs | 32 | 7 (22%) | 23 (72%) |
| Private personal training | 15 | 1 (7%) | 7 (47%) |
| Private reformer Pilates | 13 | 0 (0%) | 4 (31%) |
| Pay-as-you-go, no contract | 12 | 2 (17%) | 6 (50%) |
| Gym anxiety | 11 | 4 (36%) | 6 (55%) |
| PT studio rental | 9 | 3 (33%) | 6 (67%) |
| Franchise opportunities | 8 | 4 (50%) | 4 (50%) |
Show the data
| Keywords | Mar 2026 | Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| All | 73 | 170 |
| Top 10 | 15 | 33 |
| Top 3 | 3 | 14 |
Show the data
| Quarter | Visitors from ChatGPT |
|---|---|
| Feb to Apr 2026 | 27 |
| Aug to Oct 2026 | 150 |
2.7×
more profile views: 784 a month in February to March, 2,142 in October.
- +74% actions on the profile: website clicks, calls and direction requests
- Direction requests doubled, 143 to 290 a month
- October: Putney's best month since opening
On Google Maps: in the top 20 map results for “private gym” across 61% of the area around Putney, up from 12%.
Show the data
| Month | Profile views |
|---|---|
| February 2026 | 716 |
| March 2026 | 852 |
| April 2026 | 868 |
| May 2026 | 872 |
| June 2026 | 1,009 |
| July 2026 | 1,034 |
| August 2026 | 1,271 |
| September 2026 | 1,384 |
| October 2026 | 2,142 |
On top of search
Five weeks of paid social in Putney.
Sign-ups a day: Putney 2.74 to 4.47 (+63%). Dalston, with no ads, 3.35 to 3.11 (down 7%). Before: 1 Feb to 22 Sep. After: 23 Sep to 28 Oct.
Show the data
| Site | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putney | 2.74 | 4.47 | +63% |
| Dalston (no ads) | 3.35 | 3.11 | down 7% |
| Week starting | Putney sign-ups |
|---|---|
| 2 Feb | 29 |
| 9 Feb | 23 |
| 16 Feb | 19 |
| 23 Feb | 16 |
| 2 Mar | 21 |
| 9 Mar | 16 |
| 16 Mar | 21 |
| 23 Mar | 21 |
| 30 Mar | 17 |
| 6 Apr | 27 |
| 13 Apr | 17 |
| 20 Apr | 15 |
| 27 Apr | 20 |
| 4 May | 11 |
| 11 May | 23 |
| 18 May | 11 |
| 25 May | 14 |
| 1 Jun | 28 |
| 8 Jun | 21 |
| 15 Jun | 21 |
| 22 Jun | 18 |
| 29 Jun | 16 |
| 6 Jul | 18 |
| 13 Jul | 16 |
| 20 Jul | 21 |
| 27 Jul | 22 |
| 3 Aug | 31 |
| 10 Aug | 9 |
| 17 Aug | 17 |
| 24 Aug | 23 |
| 31 Aug | 21 |
| 7 Sep | 16 |
| 14 Sep | 11 |
| 21 Sep | 27 |
| 28 Sep | 23 |
| 5 Oct | 27 |
| 12 Oct | 29 |
| 19 Oct | 47 |
Show the data
| Channel | Cost per sign-up |
|---|---|
| Google non-brand search | £112 |
| Meta, all ads | £16 |
| Meta, UGC video | under £10 |
Proof, one member at a time
Ad click to paying member in nine days.
One Putney member, start to finish, every step visible in the CRM.
Sign-up record · mock-up, details changed
- Member
- Hidden
- Home site
- Putney
- Source
- Ad
- Squat static ad, Putney
- First purchase
- Taster Pack
- Day 0Clicks one of our Putney ads.
- Day 1Signs up, buys the Taster Pack and books a first session, all within 12 minutes.
- Days 2 and 6Trains.
- Day 9Buys a 12-credit pack and books a third session that evening.
That's what “full-funnel” means to us: not just clicks, but a named person, the exact ad that found them, and what they did next.
I do think we're in a much, much better place since you came on board.
The biggest gap left in ChatGPT is price and value questions, so the next pages answer them directly. On Google Maps, the next target is the broad “gym” searches around Putney, not just “private gym”. And the sign-ups that search and paid social now bring in get a faster member dashboard and follow-up emails matched to where they came from.
How we measured
Keywords: Semrush, UK database, March 2026 vs October 2026.
Non-brand search: Google Search Console impressions for searches that don't include the GYMPODS name or a misspelling of it, 29 Jan to 29 Apr 2026 vs 29 Jul to 27 Oct 2026.
Search impressions on new pages: Google Search Console, 29 Jul to 27 Oct 2026.
Sign-up sources: the source stored on every new GYMPODS sign-up, 12 Oct to 5 Nov 2026 (209 sign-ups, test and staff accounts excluded). Unpaid search (Google and Bing, no ad click) 82, paid social (Meta ads) 49.
ChatGPT answers: Veyl's AI search tracker. The same 100 questions a prospective member, personal trainer or franchisee would ask, in seven topics, put to ChatGPT with web search on 18 Jun and 5 Nov 2026. A question counts when the answer names GYMPODS. One run on each date, on one assistant, and ChatGPT was updated in between, so single questions are noisy; the overall shift (40 questions won, 5 lost) is not. The June baseline came three months into the engagement, so the change since March is likely larger.
AI citations: Semrush AI visibility, October 2026.
ChatGPT visitors: Google Analytics sessions from chatgpt.com, 29 Jan to 29 Apr 2026 vs 29 Jul to 27 Oct 2026. The later period only counts visitors who accepted cookies, so the real increase is larger.
AI assistant visitors: Google Analytics "AI Assistant" channel (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot), 14 May to 4 Nov 2026. 6.8% of visits ended in a sign-up, against 2.9% across the site. Visitors who accepted cookies only.
Google Business Profile: Google's own performance data for GYMPODS Putney, read through Semrush and matching the profile's Performance view. February to March 2026 monthly average vs October 2026. Actions are website clicks, calls and direction requests.
Google Maps coverage: Semrush Map Rank Tracker, a 49-point grid around the Putney site, scanned weekly. 8 Mar vs 1 Nov 2026.
Local rankings: Semrush Position Tracking, Google UK, 25 Feb vs 5 Nov 2026. Positions include Google's local (map) results.
Sign-ups: registrations in the GYMPODS database by home site, excluding test, staff and trainer accounts. Before: 1 Feb to 22 Sep 2026. After: 23 Sep to 28 Oct 2026, when the Meta ads were live. Dalston, which ran no ads, is the control.
Cost per sign-up: both platforms count only visitors who accepted cookies, so the comparison is like for like. Google non-brand search, 18 May to 4 Sep 2026: £2,519 for 22.5 sign-ups. Meta, 23 Sep to 27 Oct 2026: £985 for 60 sign-ups (7-day click, with an early double count removed). UGC video: £381 for 39 sign-ups.
Revenue tracked: Google Analytics purchase revenue, 29 Jul to 27 Oct 2026, from visitors who accepted cookies.
Sign-up errors: server errors as a share of people who started the sign-up form, 17 Aug to 12 Oct vs 16 to 28 Oct 2026.
Related services
Want numbers like these?
Thirty minutes. No pitch deck. We'll tell you where your marketing leaks, and which lever to pull first.