Search is no longer just about clicks and keywords. More prospects are opening ChatGPT and asking it to research, compare, and recommend a personal trainer in a single conversation.
In a TZ Collective session hosted by ABC Fitness Senior Content Marketing Manager Taryn Hardes, SEO and AEO expert and Notebook agency founder Steve Toth explained why this shift changes everything.
AI now handles both discovery and decision-making, often without sending people to your website. That means your business is being evaluated based on what AI can find and how clearly it understands your offer.
In this article, we’ll show exactly how to take control of that narrative: what AI learns about your business, how it answers on your behalf, and how you can guide those AI-driven decisions in your favor.
📝 Watch Now: How to Get Found with AI: Attract New Clients with Your Digital Presence
What Do AEO and GEO Actually Mean?
Steve started by grounding everything in what trainers already know: SEO. Traditional search engine optimization focused on ranking for specific keywords in Google. AEO and GEO build on that foundation, but they shift the goal.
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization, while GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. Both focus on how AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and the myriad of others generate answers, not just which pages rank first.
Instead of matching one keyword, these tools take a single question and spin it into dozens of “fan-out” queries behind the scenes. They factor in user context, history, and intent, then assemble an answer from what they can find across the web.
If your content clearly addresses those underlying questions, you are far more likely to be surfaced as the recommendation.
In short, SEO helps people find you. AEO and GEO help AI explain you. So the goal for AEO and GEO for personal trainers is to be that answer, or in the very least, to be included in it.
📝 Read More: Using Content Marketing to Grow Your Fitness Business
Why AEO Matters for Fitness Businesses Right Now
During the discussion, Steve made it clear that buyer behavior has fundamentally changed. Prospects are no longer typing short searches like “personal trainer near me,” clicking a few links, and slowly deciding.
Instead, they are asking AI full, detailed questions and brainstorming with AI. That’s why clicks on Google or other search engines are down.
Think about how you use ChatGPT or other Generative AI chatbots, too. That helps here a lot. For example, in one ChatGPT conversation, someone might spend weeks asking questions about:
- Pregnancy
- Calorie needs
- Recovery timelines
- Postpartum weight gain
- When it is safe to train again
Over time, AI builds context. It understands their life stage, concerns, and constraints. At some point, ChatGPT does what it is designed to do and says something like: this is where working with a qualified professional makes sense.
That is when the question changes to:
- Who specializes in postpartum training?
- Who works with people in my situation?
When that moment happens, AI does not start fresh. It uses everything it already knows about the user and looks for trainers whose online presence clearly matches that context. If your content speaks directly to postpartum clients, recovery timelines, and real outcomes, you are far more likely to be surfaced as the recommendation.
Mind you, that entire journey can happen without your website ever being opened.
For coaches, this means visibility is no longer just about traffic. AI is actively shaping perception by summarizing, comparing, and explaining your business based on whatever information it can find. Even prospects who already know your name may rely on AI to validate their decision.
If your answers to common client questions are unclear, outdated, or scattered across platforms, AI will either pull from the wrong place or invent an answer.
AI SEO: The Opportunity for Niche and Independent Coaches
One of the most encouraging insights from the session was that AI search rewards relevance, not size. Steve explained that when someone asks a question, AI tools do not run one search. They fan that question out into dozens of personalized queries based on who the user is, their history, and their situation.
That is great news for coaches who are specific.
A trainer who clearly serves postpartum clients, busy professionals, or strength athletes does not need massive authority to compete. If your content matches the exact scenario AI is trying to answer, you can surface ahead of larger, more generic businesses.
This reinforces advice coaches already hear often, but now with higher stakes: niche positioning is not just a marketing preference. It directly affects whether AI can confidently recommend you.
A practical next step is to write a one-sentence description of who you help and why. If it feels vague or could apply to anyone, AI will struggle too. Specific language, phrases, and words make it easier to find and easier to choose.
📝 Read More: How to Get Clients for Your New Personal Training Business
How AI Decides Whether You’re a Good Fit: Steve Toth’s Truth Alignment Framework
Steve introduced a critical distinction between discovery and validation. AI might surface your name during discovery, but the real decision happens during validation.
Once a prospect is aware of you, they ask deeper questions:
- How much does it cost?
- Who is this for?
- What results do people get?
- Is this the right fit for someone like me?
AI answers those questions on your behalf using whatever information it can retrieve across your website, FAQs, videos, reviews, and profiles.
If those answers are missing or inconsistent, AI does not stop. It fills the gaps.
Steve called these “deal-breaker questions” because they directly determine whether someone chooses you or moves on.
So the risk here is not being invisible, it’s being misrepresented. That’s why you need to drive the narrative around your services and brand by creating content that will be picked up by Gen AI whenever someone asks for your services.
One of the most practical frameworks Steve shared was Truth Alignment. The idea is to measure the gap between how you would explain your business in a real sales conversation and how AI currently explains it for you.
The process starts by documenting your sales-grade answers to common questions. These are the answers you already give confidently when someone asks about pricing, program length, outcomes, or who your coaching is for. This becomes your source of truth.
Next, you ask AI those same questions about your business. What comes back often surprises people. Sometimes it is incomplete, outdated, or even simply wrong. The most important focus is on deal-breaker questions. These are the questions that determine whether someone chooses you or a competitor.
When AI lacks clear information, it will pull from other sources or hallucinate an answer. That misalignment quietly costs you clients before you ever hear from them. More on this below!
No Website? Start With Your Trainerize.me Profile
A common concern Steve addressed indirectly is not having a website. The reality is you still need a clear source of truth online, but it does not have to start with a full site.
Your Trainerize.me profile can serve that role. When set up correctly, it communicates who you help, what you offer, and how clients work with you. Those details matter just as much for AI as they do for prospects.
Clear descriptions, defined services, and consistent positioning give AI something reliable to reference. This is especially useful for newer coaches who are still building their digital presence.
If you are unsure how to structure your profile, ABC Trainerize has a walkthrough video that shows how to use your Trainerize profile as a strong foundation for visibility and credibility.
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Your AEO Homework: What to Do This Week Based on Steve Toth’s Truth Alignment Framework
#1: Write your “AI sales answers” (30–45 minutes)
Open a doc and answer these questions exactly how you would on a sales call:
- Who is my coaching for?
- Who is it not for?
- What problem do I specialize in solving?
- How does my program work?
- How long does it take?
- What results do clients typically get?
- How is this different from other trainers?
#2: Ask ChatGPT about you (10 minutes)
Now copy those questions into ChatGPT and ask:
“Based on what you can find online, answer these questions about [my business name].”
Compare the answers. You can do the same for Gemini, Peplexity, Grok, and others. The more the merrier.
#3: Put those answers somewhere AI can find them (30 minutes)
You do not need a complete website. Choose one place to update today:
- Your homepage
- A simple FAQ page
- Your Trainerize.me profile
- A plain-text “About” page
#4: Answer one deal-breaker on video (15 minutes)
Record one short video answering one real client question. Post it in full on YouTube or Instagram and chop it up for shorter videos.
#5: Do a quick consistency check (15 minutes)
Make sure your business name, bio, and offer description match across:
- Google Business Profile
- Trainerize.me
- Website (if you have one)
📝 Watch Now: How to Get Found with AI: Attract New Clients with Your Digital Presence
Conclusion: How ABC Trainerize Helps You Stay Discoverable
AEO is not about gaming AI or chasing trends. As Steve Toth emphasized, it rewards businesses that clearly explain who they help, how they work, and why they are a good fit.
ABC Trainerize supports that by giving you a centralized place to communicate your services, positioning, and value.
Instead of information being scattered across tools and platforms, Trainerize.me helps you present a consistent, professional presence that AI and prospects can understand. That consistency reduces misrepresentation and strengthens trust during the decision-making phase.
Small steps, like documenting deal-breaker answers, cleaning up your online presence, and answering fundamental questions consistently, can dramatically improve how AI represents you. Those changes compound over time.
If you want to go deeper, watch the full TZ Collective interview with Steve Toth for real-world examples and practical guidance. And if you are ready to strengthen your digital foundation, explore the tools available through ABC Trainerize to stay visible as search continues to evolve.
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