Local SEO & AI Search Optimization

WNY Tennis

How a Western New York tennis and pickleball club grew organic visibility year over year and became one of the first local sports clubs cited by AI search engines

The Challenge

Local sports facilities like tennis and pickleball clubs compete on a narrow set of high-intent local searches — “tennis club near me,” “pickleball courts Williamsville,” “tennis lessons WNY.” Winning that competition takes more than a listed Google Business Profile. It takes consistent local SEO fundamentals plus, increasingly, visibility inside AI-generated answers, since a growing share of local discovery now happens through AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Mode rather than the traditional ten blue links.

WNY Tennis needed both: a Google Business Profile strong enough to win the local 3-pack, and a technical and content foundation that AI systems could confidently cite and recommend.

The Strategy

Dexora applied its standard AEO/GEO implementation framework across the WNY Tennis web presence and Google Business Profile:

●        Local SEO fundamentals — on-page optimization, location and service pages, citation consistency

●        Google Business Profile optimization — the most authoritative AI entity signal for a local business, kept current with photos, hours, services and review management

●        AI crawler access — robots.txt permissions confirmed for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot

●        Content structured for AI citation — question-based headings and self-contained answers that AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Gemini can quote directly

●        Organization/LocalBusiness schema — with sameAs links tying the Google Business Profile and web presence together as one verified entity

The Results

Search visibility (Google Search Console, trailing 3 months, Search type: Web)

●        59,400 total impressions and 6,790 clicks at an average position of 8.4 — placing WNY Tennis on page one for the bulk of its tracked search volume.

●        An 11.4% average click-through rate, well above typical local-service benchmarks, reflecting strong title and description alignment with searcher intent.

●        In the most recent 28 days alone: 2,200 clicks (up 10% period-over-period) and 19,100 impressions (up 8%) visibility is still compounding, not plateauing.

Organic traffic trend (SEMrush, all-time)

●        Organic sessions grew from near-zero through the mid-2010s to roughly 3,100 monthly visits by 2026, with the steepest climb concentrated in the past two years — the signature curve of compounding local SEO work rather than a one-time spike.

AI search visibility (SEMrush AI Visibility)

●        AI Visibility Score: 28, with 32 total mentions across AI platforms and 27 distinct pages cited.

●        ChatGPT: 10 mentions across 16 cited pages — the widest page spread of any platform tracked.

●        AI Mode: 10 mentions across 13 cited pages.

●        Gemini: 10 mentions across 5 cited pages.

●        Google AI Overview: 2 mentions, 1 cited page — an emerging channel with room to grow as AEO work continues.

●        Generative AI feature impressions in Google Search Console nearly tripled over the trailing 3 months, from roughly 150/week to over 450/week, for a 3-month total of 4,420 impressions — direct confirmation that AI search surfaces are increasingly showing WNY Tennis to searchers.

Local trust signals (Google Business Profile)

●        4.6-star average rating across 116 Google reviews for Village Glen Tennis & Pickleball in Williamsville, NY reviewers specifically highlight well-maintained courts and modern facilities, reinforcing the local-authority signal AI systems weigh when recommending a business by name.

Why It Matters

WNY Tennis is now visible in two search environments at once: it holds page-one average positioning in traditional Google search, and it is one of a small number of local sports facilities already being cited across ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, and AI Overviews. As AI-generated answers take a growing share of local “near me” queries, that dual visibility — verified in Google Search Console and SEMrush AI Visibility, not claimed is the asset that keeps WNY Tennis discoverable regardless of where a searcher starts.

The trajectory also matters as much as the snapshot. Impressions and clicks are both climbing period-over-period rather than holding flat, generative AI impressions have nearly tripled in a single quarter, and the all-time organic curve shows compounding growth rather than a plateau indicating the current results are a waypoint in an ongoing engagement, not a ceiling.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long did it take WNY Tennis to see local SEO results?

Organic growth followed the typical local SEO curve: modest early gains as the site’s technical foundation and Google Business Profile were corrected, followed by a visible acceleration over the past two years as content, citations, and review volume compounded. The clearest sign is the traffic trend itself a slow build followed by a steep, sustained climb rather than a short-lived spike.

What does an average position of 8.4 actually mean for a local business?

Position 8.4 in Google Search Console means WNY Tennis’s tracked keywords rank, on average, near the top of page one. For a local sports facility, that range typically sits alongside or just below the Google Maps 3-pack, which is exactly where high-intent searchers like “tennis club near me” are looking first.

Why is an 11.4% click-through rate considered strong?

Most local service businesses see CTRs in the 2-5% range even when ranking on page one, because generic titles and descriptions fail to match what the searcher actually wants. An 11.4% CTR means the page titles and meta descriptions are doing real work matching search intent closely enough that a meaningful share of people who see the listing choose to click it.

What is AI Visibility Score and how is it measured?

AI Visibility Score is a SEMrush metric estimating how often and how prominently a brand appears across AI-generated answers including ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, and Gemini. WNY Tennis scores 28, based on 32 tracked mentions across 27 distinct cited pages, giving a verifiable benchmark rather than a subjective claim.

Why does ChatGPT cite more pages than Google AI Overview for this business?

ChatGPT and Google AI Overview pull from different indexes and apply different citation logic. ChatGPT tends to cite a broader spread of a site’s content when the content is structured in clear, self-contained answers, while AI Overview is more selective and still maturing for local, service-based queries which is why WNY Tennis shows 16 cited pages in ChatGPT versus 1 in AI Overview today.

Is Google AI Overview citation something Dexora can influence directly?

Yes, though it is the most selective of the four AI surfaces tracked. The same signals that improve ChatGPT and Gemini citation FAQPage schema, Organization/LocalBusiness schema, and clearly structured question-and-answer content also improve AI Overview eligibility over time, even though its selection criteria are narrower.

What role did the Google Business Profile play in these results?

Google Business Profile is treated as the single most authoritative AI entity signal for a local business. A 4.6-star rating across 116 reviews, consistent hours, current photos, and accurate service listings give AI systems and Google Maps confidence to recommend WNY Tennis by name rather than describing it generically.

Did WNY Tennis need a new website to achieve these results?

No. The engagement focused on optimizing the existing wnytennis.com presence technical SEO fixes, content structure, schema markup, and Google Business Profile management rather than a rebuild. Most local businesses do not need a new site to become AI-search visible; they need the existing site structured so AI systems can read and trust it.

What is robots.txt access for AI crawlers, and why does it matter?

robots.txt is the file that tells automated crawlers which parts of a site they may access. If GPTBot, ClaudeBot, or PerplexityBot are blocked there, a business becomes invisible to the AI systems built on those crawlers regardless of how good its content is. Confirming access was one of the first technical checks in the AEO/GEO framework applied here.

What is Organization/LocalBusiness schema and what does it change?

It is structured data added to a website that explicitly tells search engines and AI systems the business’s name, address, services, and critically sameAs links connecting it to its Google Business Profile and other verified profiles. This consistency is what lets AI systems treat the website and the Google listing as the same trusted entity rather than two unrelated sources.

How often is Google Business Profile activity reviewed under this engagement?

GBP is managed as an ongoing, monthly part of the retainer rather than a one-time setup monitoring for review responses, keeping hours and photos current, and watching for the kind of profile drift that quietly erodes local ranking over time.

Why do generic SEO claims fail for a business like WNY Tennis?

A generic claim like “we do great local SEO” gives an AI system nothing concrete to repeat. A specific, verifiable statement “4.6 stars across 116 Google reviews” or “page-one average position across tracked keywords” gives both human readers and AI systems a fact they can cite with confidence.

What is the difference between AEO and GEO, and does WNY Tennis need both?

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) focuses on structuring content so it can be quoted directly by AI answer engines. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) focuses on entity and trust signals schema, citations, and profile consistency that influence whether an AI system recommends a business at all. WNY Tennis’s results reflect both working together: content structured for citation, backed by an entity AI systems trust.

How is AI Mode different from a standard Google search result for WNY Tennis?

AI Mode generates a conversational, synthesized answer rather than a list of links, and it draws from a narrower, more selectively cited set of sources than standard search. WNY Tennis appearing in 13 AI Mode-cited pages indicates the site’s content is trusted enough to be pulled into these conversational answers, not just ranked in a list.

Could a competitor tennis or pickleball club match these AI citation numbers quickly?

Only by matching the same underlying signals crawler access, schema, review volume, and citation-ready content and even then, AI systems tend to favor sources with an established trust history. That head start is part of why early, verified AI visibility compounds similarly to traditional domain authority.

What is the significance of the 3-month generative AI impressions nearly tripling?

Google Search Console’s Generative AI features report is still in beta and reflects how often a site’s content is surfaced within AI-powered search experiences. Impressions climbing from roughly 150 to over 450 per week over three months signals that Google’s own AI-driven search surfaces are increasingly pulling in WNY Tennis content an early and measurable sign of AEO work taking hold.

Does a 4.6-star rating with 116 reviews compare well for a facility like this?

For a local sports and recreation business, a rating above 4.5 with more than 100 reviews sits well above the volume most competitors accumulate, and it clears the threshold where review count itself becomes a meaningful trust and ranking signal rather than a minor detail.

What ongoing work does WNY Tennis’s SEO retainer include after these results?

The retainer continues month to month: monitoring Google Search Console and SEMrush AI Visibility for shifts, expanding content coverage, maintaining schema and technical health, and managing the Google Business Profile the same fundamentals that produced this trajectory, sustained rather than treated as a one-time project.

Can these AI visibility numbers be independently verified?

Yes, All figures in this case study are pulled directly from Google Search Console and SEMrush AI Visibility, both of which WNY Tennis and Dexora can access and screenshot on demand. Dexora’s positioning is built specifically on not making claims that can’t be traced back to a named tool and a specific date.

Is this approach specific to tennis clubs, or does it apply to other local businesses?

The AEO/GEO framework crawler access, schema, Google Business Profile optimization, and citation-structured content is applied consistently across Dexora’s local business clients, from home services to healthcare to recreation. WNY Tennis’s results demonstrate the framework working in a competitive, review-driven local category.

How can a business start a similar engagement with Dexora?

Businesses typically start with a free SEO and AI search audit that benchmarks current Google Search Console and AI visibility data, identifies the highest-impact fixes, and outlines a monthly retainer scope. Reach out at ahmad@dexoradigital.com to request one.

By Taqweem Ahmad | Founder, Dexora Digital | AI-First SEO Agency | 7+ Years | 500+ Audits

Dexora Digital — Full-stack SEO and AI Search Optimization | dexoradigital.com