Are Directories Still Making Money in 2027? The MyPeptideMatch Case Study

Yes, directories are still making money.

One of the clearest examples I’ve found this year is MyPeptideMatch.com, an 8-month-old directory of peptide therapy clinics.

The domain was registered on February 18, 2026.

In June, it was getting almost no traffic from Google.

Ahrefs now estimates it gets almost 20,000 organic visitors a month and over 1,000 total visitors a day.

MyPeptideMatch’s estimated organic traffic. Source: Ahrefs (estimate, October 2026).

The directory itself is a standard setup: over 4,700 clinics across the US, searchable by zip code and treatment.

But much of the traffic goes to 9 free calculators and converters that help patients figure out how to prepare a dose.

The most popular one ends with a “Find a Clinic” button.

Clinics pay $199 a month to stand out in the directory, and Mediavine runs the ads.

Whoever built it decided to remain anonymous.

You can copy this in plenty of other niches: find a young market, use AI to build the tools people are searching for, and use a directory to monetize the traffic.

Below, I break down how the site works, how it makes money, its risks, and how to use it as a blueprint for your next directory.

How I checked these numbers

Everything in this case study falls into 1 of 3 buckets.

Verified

The domain registration date (February 18, 2026, from the public domain record), the 9 free tools, the $199/month Premium price, the Mediavine ads.txt file, and the revenue streams the site lists on its own affiliate disclosure page.

The 4,700+ clinic count is the site’s own figure.

Estimated

Organic traffic (almost 20,000 visits a month), total traffic (over 1,000 visits a day), Domain Rating (around 27), and which pages bring in the most visitors, all from Ahrefs.

These are third-party estimates, reliable for the trend and rough on the exact numbers.

Unknown

Revenue, profit, and who runs the site.

MyPeptideMatch doesn’t publish any of it, so this post doesn’t guess.

All figures checked October 2026.

What MyPeptideMatch is

MyPeptideMatch calls itself an “Independent Peptide Therapy Directory.”

It helps people find clinics that offer peptide therapy, from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like semaglutide to peptides marketed for recovery and anti-aging.

The MyPeptideMatch homepage, October 2026.

The directory works the way you’d expect.

You search by zip code, filter by treatment, and browse clinics state by state, with pages for all 50 states plus DC.

The treatment filters cover 8 categories: weight loss, anti-aging and longevity, tissue repair, hormone optimization, cognitive enhancement, sexual wellness, athletic performance, and immune support.

According to the site, listings come from “public sources, partner data, and clinic submissions.”

Clinics can claim their listing for free.

A “Verified” badge means the clinic confirmed it owns the listing, through its email domain, a code sent to the listed email or phone, or a manual document check.

Clinic results by state. Clinic names blurred.

The site has also built a small content library around the directory: peptide profiles, treatment protocols, a comparison tool, a blog, a “Best Telehealth Clinics” ranking, and a 2026 industry report.

The site has no connection to GeoDirectory or AyeCode.

I picked it because the strategy is worth studying, regardless of what it runs on.

Why peptides make a good directory niche

Peptide therapy is a young market, and it’s growing fast.

Some of the best-known peptides are GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide.

In a November 2025 KFF poll, about 1 in 8 US adults said they were currently taking one.

Clinics and telehealth providers have built whole businesses around those drugs, plus a longer list of peptides marketed for recovery, anti-aging, and performance.

The rules are still being written.

In July 2026, an FDA advisory committee voted 8 to 6 to recommend letting pharmacies compound BPC-157, one of the most popular peptides.

FDA’s own staff had recommended against it.

It’s only a recommendation.

FDA makes the final call.

In the meantime, patients have practical questions: which clinic, how much it costs, how to mix a vial.

The answers are scattered across clinic websites, forums, and Reddit threads.

The 4 signs I look for in a directory niche.

That mix makes a niche good for a directory.

Here are the 4 signs I look for.

Demand is growing

With 1 in 8 adults on a GLP-1 drug, a lot of people are searching for clinics, prices, and answers.

The information is scattered

When answers are scattered across the internet, forums, social media threads, and clinic sales pages, a site that organizes them gets the click.

Businesses pay for customers

MyPeptideMatch’s own FAQ puts peptide therapy at $100 to $500+ a month.

When one patient is worth that much, a clinic can justify $199 a month to get seen.

The market is still young

It’s young enough that a site registered in February 2026 is getting an estimated 1,000+ visitors a day by October.

The traffic strategy: 9 free tools

Next to “Clinics” in the main menu, there’s a tab called “Tools.”

It leads to 9 free calculators and converters:

1. Peptide Reconstitution Calculator (labeled “Most Popular”)
2. Peptide Titration Calculator
3. Peptide Units Converter
4. BAC Water Calculator
5. Semaglutide Reconstitution Calculator
6. Tirzepatide Reconstitution Calculator
7. Retatrutide Dosage Calculator
8. Semaglutide Units Converter
9. Tirzepatide Units Converter

4 of them are marked “New,” so the list is still growing.

The 9 free tools on MyPeptideMatch, 4 of them marked “New.

The problem the tools solve

Many peptides arrive as a powder in a vial.

Patients mix in bacteriostatic water, then have to work out how many units to draw into an insulin syringe.

It’s easy to get the math wrong, and people search for help.

The reconstitution calculator takes 3 inputs: vial size, water added, and dose.

It gives back the number of units to draw.

The site’s most popular tool.

Pages built around search questions

The tools are built around the questions people type into Google.

The units converter’s page title asks “How Many Units Is 1 mg?”

Semaglutide and tirzepatide each get their own calculator page, so each one can show up in searches for that specific drug.

Each tool page also has more than the calculator.

The reconstitution page adds a step-by-step walkthrough with images, a reference chart, storage tips, a glossary of units, and an FAQ.

That gives Google a full page to rank, and gives the visitor a reason to stay.

The tool pages carry a medical disclaimer and say the site doesn’t sell peptides.

In a health niche, that’s the minimum.

Where the traffic lands

According to Ahrefs, pages like these drive a large share of the site’s organic traffic.

MyPeptideMatch’s top pages by estimated organic traffic. Source: Ahrefs (estimate, October 2026).

From calculator to clinic

At the bottom of the reconstitution calculator, there’s a section called “Need a Clinician?” with a “Find a Clinic” button.

The units converter does the same under “Need a prescriber?”

Someone using a peptide calculator is probably on a protocol already, or about to start one.

That’s the patient every clinic in the directory wants to reach.

Every visit to the calculator ends one click away from the directory.

The tools bring in the visitors, and the directory gives them somewhere to go next.

Why tools pull traffic in the AI search era

Google’s AI summaries now answer many simple questions right on the results page.

That’s costing websites clicks.

In a July 2025 Pew Research study, people who saw an AI summary clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits.

Without a summary, they clicked in 15%.

Cyrus Shepard, the founder of our Zyppy List case study, rounded up several more studies pointing the same way.

“What is a peptide?” is the kind of question an AI summary answers right away.

A calculator works differently.

It needs the visitor’s own numbers: their vial, their water, their dose.

So people still click through to use it.

And they have a reason to come back every time they mix a new vial.

That may explain the gap in the estimates: about a third of the site’s traffic doesn’t come from Google search.

AI summaries can answer the question. The calculator still needs a visit.

AI also makes the tools cheap to build

The same AI that’s taking clicks from articles can build the tools.

A calculator like this used to mean hiring a developer.

Today, an AI coding assistant like Claude or ChatGPT can build a working version in an afternoon, ready to paste into a page on your own site.

MyPeptideMatch doesn’t say how it built its tools. But our best guess is that they were build with AI.

For anyone starting a directory now, a set of tools costs an afternoon of work using a coding agent.

How MyPeptideMatch makes money

MyPeptideMatch earns from 4 places, and you can see all of them on the site.

1. Premium listings

Claiming a basic listing is free “forever,” and free listings still get lead notifications.

Premium costs $199/month, with no contract.

It adds photos, a featured badge, priority placement in city and state results, and a monthly analytics report.

Free to claim, $199 a month for Premium.

2. Display ads

The site’s ads.txt file is managed by Mediavine, the ad network behind a lot of the big food and lifestyle blogs.

That means every calculator visit can earn ad revenue, whether or not the visitor ever looks at a clinic.

The ads.txt file shows who runs the ads.

3. Consultation requests

Patients can request a consultation through a clinic’s listing.

The site’s own disclosure page lists those requests as a revenue source.

4. Affiliate links

Some peptide pages link out to suppliers, and the site earns a commission when visitors buy.

Why the stack works

Each stream earns from a different kind of visitor:

• Someone who just needs the math sees the ads.
• Someone ready for treatment clicks “Find a Clinic” and can turn into a consultation request.
• A clinic owner who finds their own listing can claim it for free, then upgrade.
• Someone researching a peptide can click through to a supplier.

MyPeptideMatch doesn’t publish revenue, and I’m not going to guess.

What anyone can see is the setup: an estimated 1,000+ visitors a day, a free tier that attracts clinics, and 4 ways to earn from the traffic.

That’s a complete and clever business model on a site that’s 8 months old.

The risks of building a directory like this

MyPeptideMatch is 8 months old, so a lot can still change.

The traffic numbers are estimates

Ahrefs builds its organic traffic estimates from keyword rankings and search volumes.

Only the owner sees the real analytics.

The exact number could be higher or lower.

The part I trust is the trend: from almost no Google traffic in June to almost 20,000 organic visits a month now.

The authority is still low

Ahrefs gives the site a Domain Rating of around 27.

That’s modest for a health niche, where Google leans toward established sites.

Rankings on a young domain can move quickly in either direction, especially after a Google update.

A modest Domain Rating for a site this size. Source: Ahrefs (estimate, October 2026).

The owner is anonymous

There’s no founder, no team page, and no company address.

Google’s quality rater guidelines place heavy weight on knowing who’s behind a health site.

Anonymity also means I can’t confirm any of these numbers with the owner.

The site’s own numbers don’t line up

The homepage says 43 states in one spot and 46 in another, then lists all 50 plus DC.

The clinic count shows up as 4,700+ and 4,758+ on different pages.

It’s small stuff.

On a site that asks people to trust its recommendations, it adds up.

1 FDA decision could reshape the niche

The July 2026 vote was a recommendation, and FDA hasn’t made its final call.

If FDA restricts what clinics can offer, the clinic list, the tools, and the search demand all shrink together.

If it opens things up, they all grow.

The strategy holds up.

The risks are a reason to pick a niche you understand and build trust signals from day 1.

So, are directories still making money in 2027?

Yes.

The ones that work give people something more than a list.

This is the 4th case study in the series, and each directory makes money differently.

Sayulita Life: be the most useful site in town

Ian and Kerry Hodge launched SayulitaLife.com in 2004, years before Airbnb.

Today it lists 600+ villas and 350+ businesses, and it outranks Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO in searches for its town.

The lesson: build something people want to use, and Google will help them find it.

Read the Sayulita Life story.

Atlas Obscura: let users add the listings

Atlas Obscura’s users built a database of about 30,000 strange and wonderful places.

In 2025, the company did $18.3 million in revenue and turned its first annual profit.

The lesson: get users to add the listings for you, build the traffic, and monetize it.

Read the Atlas Obscura case study.

Zyppy List: turn expertise into a trusted filter

Cyrus Shepard, an SEO with 15 years of experience, built a directory of marketing companies that turns down 20 to 30% of applicants.

It sits on the same website as his own consultancy.

The lesson: use your industry expertise to build a trusted directory that works for the business you already run.

Read the Zyppy List story.

MyPeptideMatch: let tools bring in the traffic

It’s an 8-month-old directory with 9 free calculators, an estimated 1,000+ visitors a day, and 4 ways to make money.

The lesson: find an emerging niche, use AI to build the tools people need, and turn that traffic into a directory business.

4 directories, 4 ways to make money.

What they have in common

Google’s AI can summarize an article in a second.

It has a much harder time replacing the guide a whole town uses, a community that keeps adding places, a filter you trust, or a tool that needs your own numbers.

Directories built on that kind of value are still making money, and new ones are still breaking through.

The playbook for your niche

MyPeptideMatch’s model breaks down into 4-5 steps, and each one works outside peptides.

The MyPeptideMatch model in 1 picture.

Step 1: Find a growing niche with scattered information

Look for a market where demand is climbing, answers are spread across forums and sales pages, and businesses pay real money for new customers.

Good signs: a rising curve in Google Trends, Reddit threads full of the same questions, and lots of businesses advertising with few sites comparing them.

Step 2: Use AI to build the tools people need

Start with the questions that need the visitor’s own numbers.

How much will it cost me? How many do I need? How much will I save?

Each of those questions can become a calculator, converter, or estimator.

An AI coding assistant can build a working version in an afternoon.

Then build a full page around it, the way MyPeptideMatch does: a short walkthrough, a reference chart, and an FAQ.

Step 3: Let the tools bring in organic traffic

Name each tool page after the exact question people type, like MyPeptideMatch’s “How Many Units Is 1 mg?” page.

When one product or service gets a lot of searches on its own, give it its own version of the tool.

MyPeptideMatch built separate calculators for semaglutide and tirzepatide.

Expect a few quiet months.

MyPeptideMatch was registered in February, and its estimated organic traffic only started climbing after June.

Step 4: Put a directory behind every tool

End every tool with a clear next step: “Find a Clinic,” “Find an installer near you,” “See rental yards nearby.”

Someone who just ran the numbers is often 1 step away from hiring someone.

The directory gives them that step.

Step 5: Monetize with listings, ads, and referrals

Use free listings to fill the directory, and let businesses claim them.

Then sell premium visibility to those who want more.

Add display ads once the traffic is there, so every tool visit earns something.

Add referral fees and affiliate links next, where they fit the niche.

What it looks like in other niches

• A solar installer directory with a savings estimator: roof size and power bill in, estimated savings out, then “Find an installer near you.”
• An equipment rental directory with a sizing calculator: project details in, the right machine out, then the rental yards nearby.
• A longevity clinic directory with a cost comparison tool: treatments in, typical monthly costs out, then clinics in your area.

It’s the same pattern every time.

The tool answers a question with the visitor’s own numbers, and the directory answers the next one: who can do this for me?

Build yours with GeoDirectory

MyPeptideMatch runs on a custom build.

You can get the same setup on WordPress.

GeoDirectory handles the directory side: location search, categories, listings businesses can claim, and paid listing packages for the ones that want more visibility.

You can add the tools to the same site via a custom plugin or shortcode.

Build each one with an AI coding assistant, drop it into a page, and point its “Find a ___” button at your directory search.

You own all of it: the site, the listings, the traffic, and the relationships with the businesses on it.

FAQ

Are directory websites still profitable in 2027?

Yes, when they give people a reason to visit beyond a list of names.

Atlas Obscura did $18.3 million in revenue in 2025, and MyPeptideMatch built 4 revenue streams in its first 8 months.

How do directory websites make money?

Common streams include premium or featured listings, display ads, lead and referral fees, affiliate links, and memberships.

Most successful directories stack 2 or more.

What free tools bring traffic to a directory?

Calculators, converters, estimators, and cost comparison tools work best, because they need the visitor’s own numbers.

MyPeptideMatch has 9, and its reconstitution calculator is the most popular.

How long does a new directory take to get traffic?

Expect a few quiet months.

MyPeptideMatch was registered in February 2026, and its estimated organic traffic started climbing after June.

Can I build a directory like MyPeptideMatch on WordPress?

Yes.

GeoDirectory covers listings, location search, and paid packages, and you can host your tools on pages on the same site.

Sources

• MyPeptideMatch.com: homepage, Tools, Claim Your Listing, About, Affiliate Disclosure, ads.txt (checked October 2026)
• Verisign domain record for mypeptidematch.com
• Ahrefs: organic traffic, total traffic, Domain Rating, and top pages for mypeptidematch.com (estimates, October 2026)
• Google, “Search Quality Rater Guidelines: General Guidelines” (September 2025)
• Adweek, “Atlas Obscura Turns First Annual Profit in 16-Year History” (January 2026)
• KFF, “Poll: 1 in 8 Adults Say They Are Currently Taking a GLP-1 Drug” (November 2025)
• RAPS, “FDA advisory committee backs two controversial peptides” (July 2026)
• Pew Research Center, “Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results” (July 2025)
• Zyppy, “How AI Overviews Shift Traffic From Publishers to Google”