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Research 8 min read Updated September 26, 2026

What does AI cite when people search for a gym or studio?

In short

On 2026-09-26 we ran five fitness prompts through gpt-5.1 with web search on. It attached 38 citations, 33 of them to gyms', studios' and trainers' own websites. Calgary yoga, Chicago personal training and Dallas pilates were answered almost entirely from studio sites; Vancouver CrossFit was answered from the CrossFit affiliate finder, a regional affiliate site, Reddit and a ratings aggregator; Toronto strength gyms mixed gym sites with two best-of list sites.

Key facts

  • Five prompts were run once each on 2026-09-26 through gpt-5.1 with the web search tool on: best gym for strength training in Toronto, CrossFit gym recommendations in Vancouver, yoga studio for beginners in Calgary, personal trainer in Chicago for weight loss, and pilates studio recommendations in Dallas.
  • The model attached 38 citations; by our sorting 33 were gyms', studios' or trainers' own sites, four were directories or review sites and one was Reddit.
  • The Calgary yoga prompt cited seven hosts, six of them studios' own sites plus a class-booking platform, and named studios by style, heated, non-heated, Iyengar-inspired; the Chicago trainer prompt cited six studio and trainer sites plus a booking marketplace.
  • The Vancouver CrossFit prompt cited crossfit.com, the affiliate finder, crossfitbc.com, reddit.com and trustanalytica.org eleven times between them, and its answer sorted boxes by focus such as Olympic weightlifting or HYROX rather than naming many.
  • The Toronto strength gym prompt cited three gym sites and two best-of list sites, bests.ca and torontobestrated.com; the Dallas pilates prompt cited five studio sites and classpass.com, and grouped studios by classical, group reformer and hot or sculpt formats.

What we asked and how the study works

On 2026-09-26 we sent five fitness prompts, one run each, to gpt-5.1 with its web search tool on, and recorded every URL the model attached to its answer. We sorted each cited host by type with our own rules: a gym's, studio's or trainer's own site, a directory, booking or review site, a news or reference site, Reddit, or social. The sorting is ours; the hosts are what the model attached.

The prompts were written the way a person would ask: best gym for strength training in Toronto, CrossFit gym recommendations in Vancouver, yoga studio for beginners in Calgary, personal trainer in Chicago for weight loss, and pilates studio recommendations in Dallas.

What each prompt cited

Toronto strength: five citations, to backalleybarbell.com, bandofbarbells.com and fortisfitness.ca, three gym sites, and bests.ca and torontobestrated.com, two best-of list sites. The answer described each gym's focus in a what-it-is, why-it's-good format.

Vancouver CrossFit: eleven citations, to crossfit.com, the official affiliate finder, crossfitbc.com, a regional affiliate site, reddit.com and trustanalytica.org. The answer grouped boxes by specialty and asked whether the reader wanted drop-in or membership.

Calgary beginner yoga: eight citations, to mettayogacalgary.com, pozen.ca, soulcentreyyc.com, theyogastudiocalgary.com, yogahavencalgary.com, yogapassage.ca and hoby.io, a booking platform. The answer named studios by style and heat. Chicago weight-loss trainer: seven citations, to bebodyworksfit.com, fultonfithouse.com, homeparkfitness.com, ironminechicago.com, orangeshoe.com, rocksolidhealthchicago.com and booksy.com, a booking marketplace. Dallas pilates: seven citations, to bodybarpilates.com, oakcliffpilates.com, pilates-connection.com, salthousepilates.com, thepilatesspacedallas.com and classpass.com, grouped by format.

The pattern: studios' own pages, plus the platform that fits the discipline

For yoga, personal training and pilates, the model read studio and trainer websites and named the businesses whose pages it read, with a booking platform cited alongside: hoby.io for yoga, Booksy for trainers, ClassPass for pilates. For CrossFit, whose affiliates are listed centrally, it went to the official affiliate finder and a regional affiliate site, then to Reddit and a ratings aggregator, and named fewer boxes. For strength gyms in Toronto it mixed gym sites with local best-of lists.

By our sorting, 33 of 38 citations were own sites, four were directories or review sites and one was Reddit, the second-highest own-site share in the study after online shopping.

What a gym or studio can do with this

The model sorted studios by what they teach and how: heated or not, classical or group reformer, powerlifting or general strength, drop-in or membership. A studio page that states the style, the format, the price and the beginner policy in plain words is what the model read and quoted. Being listed on the booking platform that fits the discipline, ClassPass, Booksy or a yoga booking service, added a second citation path.

For CrossFit boxes the affiliate listing and the regional affiliate site were the sources, so the affiliate profile should be complete and the box's own site should describe its specialty. SearchPod builds those pages for fitness clients, keeps the platform listings consistent, and tracks which prompts cite the studio with a fixed prompt panel.

What this cannot tell you

One model, one run per prompt, one date, five prompts. Another day, model or wording would produce different citations, and the host sorting is ours. The gyms, studios and trainers the model named are recorded only as what it said; nothing on this page verifies or endorses any of them.

Related questions

Sources

one model with web search, one run per prompt, one date; host types are sorted by SearchPod's own rules; names are recorded as the model wrote them and are not verified or endorsed; SearchPod sells AI visibility work.

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