Boost Your Visibility

Smart sponsorship that puts your listings and business profile in front of the right pet owners across South Africa.

Four boost tiers, smart bundles, monthly subscriptions and editorial slots: everything you need to grow, with audience targeting that gets sharper as the platform grows.

You have put in the work: registering your business, getting verified, building your reputation. But in a growing marketplace, standing out takes more than just being listed. PetGuru's Sponsorship programme puts your listings and profile front and centre: in the featured carousels, at the top of search results, and on the pages where pet owners spend the most time.

What sets PetGuru apart is smart targeting. We do not just show your listing to everyone, we show it to the right people. Our platform learns what each visitor is interested in and matches your sponsored content to the audience most likely to engage with it. A dog breeder's listing appears on dog-related pages, to users who have shown interest in dogs, and to buyers in your area. That means fewer wasted impressions and more qualified leads.

12×

More views on sponsored listings

Smart

AI-powered audience targeting

From R19

Bump Up, no hidden fees

The Full Promotion Toolkit

PetGuru gives you seven product families to grow your business, from a R19 instant bump to a yearly directory subscription. Mix and match. Use boosts when you've a specific listing to promote; subscriptions for steady visibility; bundles for breeders running litters; AI Polish to make your copy stand out; and editorial / newsletter slots when you want PetGuru's audience to hear from you directly.

Listing Sponsorship

Perfect for breeders and shelters with specific pets to sell or rehome. Your listing appears in featured carousels across the site, marked with a sponsored badge, and is intelligently shown to the most relevant audience.

Featured carousel on the listings index page
Eye-catching gradient-bordered sponsored badge on your card
Priority placement at the top of default search results
Full-width sponsored showcase on every listing detail page
Featured carousel on magazine articles, pet profiles, and success stories
Smart species matching: your dog listing shows on dog-related pages
Audience targeting: shown to users who browse, like, and inquire about your species
More inquiries from serious, qualified buyers

Directory Sponsorship

Ideal for pet stores, vets, groomers, trainers, dog walkers, pet sitters, restaurants, and dog hotels. Your business profile gets premium placement across the platform, intelligently matched to pet owners who need your services.

Featured carousel on the main directory page
Eye-catching gradient-bordered sponsored badge on your card
Priority placement at the top of default directory results
Full-width sponsored showcase on every professional profile page
Sidebar sponsored cards on magazine articles and PetSocial feed
Category targeting: your vet practice shows on vet-related pages
Audience profiling: shown to pet owners based on their browsing behaviour
Increased phone reveals and profile visits

Smart Targeting: Your Ads, Their Audience

Unlike generic advertising platforms, PetGuru understands pets. Our smart targeting system ensures your sponsored content reaches the people most likely to become your next customer, not just anyone with an internet connection.

Species & Breed Matching

Your sponsored listing is automatically matched to the right context. A Labrador breeder's listing appears on Labrador-related pages, dog listing detail pages, and dog breed articles, not on cat or bird pages where it would be irrelevant.

Behavioural Profiling

PetGuru learns what each user is interested in based on their activity: the listings they favourite, the pets they like, the inquiries they send, and the pets they own. A "dog person" sees dog-related sponsors even on generic pages like the magazine or homepage.

Location Awareness

When location data is available, we prioritise showing your listing or profile to nearby pet owners. A vet in Cape Town appears first for Cape Town users, not for someone browsing from Johannesburg.

Multi-Page Presence

Your sponsored content does not live on a single page. It appears across 10+ high-traffic placements: listing pages, pet profiles, the magazine, the directory, PetSocial feed, success stories, and more. Maximum exposure, minimum effort.

Plans & Pricing

Choose the level of visibility that fits your budget. From a quick bump to full premium placement, every tier builds on the one below it, so you get more as you move up. Pricing varies by species category to keep things fair.

Listing Boost Tiers

For breeders and shelters promoting individual pet listings. Each tier includes everything below it.

Bump Up

Instant, one-time push to the top of search results. The simplest way to get eyes on your listing right now. Effect fades naturally as new listings appear.

Moves listing to the top of default sort
No visual change to your card
Instant, no waiting period

Dogs: R39 · Cats: R29 · Other: R19

Highlight: 7 Days

Gold gradient border makes your card stand out in the listing grid. Plus priority placement above regular listings in default search.

Eye-catching gold border on your card
Priority above regular listings in sort
Includes bump to top of results

Dogs: R99 · Cats: R59 · Other: R49

Urgent: 7 Days

URGENT badge with fire icon signals time-sensitive availability. Combined with the highlight gold border and even higher sort priority than Highlight.

Prominent "URGENT" badge on your card
Everything in Highlight included
Higher sort priority than Highlight

Dogs: R129 · Cats: R79 · Other: R69

Top Ad MAXIMUM VISIBILITY

Full premium placement: featured carousels, sponsored badge, showcase on article pages, pet profiles, and success stories. Plus an email blast to our newsletter subscribers and a push + in-app notification to active PetGuru users when you activate.

Featured carousel on the listings page
Sponsored badge + purple gradient border
Showcase on 10+ pages across the site
AI-powered audience targeting
Broadcast to our newsletter subscribers + app users via email, push, and live in-app notification
Everything in Urgent included

Dogs: R249 (7d) / R429 (14d) / R699 (30d)
Cats: R149 (7d) / R249 (14d) / R449 (30d)
Other: R99 (7d) / R179 (14d) / R299 (30d)

Directory Sponsorship Plans

For pet stores, vets, groomers, trainers, and other pet professionals.

Basic: R249

30 days of directory promotion. Great for testing the waters or promoting a seasonal campaign.

30 days featured in your category
Sponsored badge on profile card
Priority placement on directory pages

R8.30 per day

Premium: R699

90 days of sustained visibility. Ideal for established businesses that want consistent presence in the directory.

Everything in Basic
90 days of continuous promotion
6% savings vs 3× Basic

R7.77 per day, save R48

Annual: R2,499 BEST VALUE

365 days, a full year of premium directory presence at the best possible rate. For businesses committed to long-term growth on PetGuru.

Everything in Basic + Premium
Year-round featured placement
Massive 16% savings vs monthly

R6.85 per day, save R489

Always-On Top: Recurring Subscription

For breeders who consistently have a flagship listing and want it pinned to Top Ad without re-buying every month.

Dogs: R349/mo

One specific dogs listing stays on Top-Ad placement for as long as you keep the subscription active. The renewal charge happens every 30 days.

Top-Ad tier visibility, every cycle
Auto-renews monthly until cancelled
Cancel anytime, no commitment

Cats: R269/mo

One specific cats listing stays on Top-Ad placement for as long as you keep the subscription active. The renewal charge happens every 30 days.

Top-Ad tier visibility, every cycle
Auto-renews monthly until cancelled
Cancel anytime, no commitment

Other: R199/mo

One specific other listing stays on Top-Ad placement for as long as you keep the subscription active. The renewal charge happens every 30 days.

Top-Ad tier visibility, every cycle
Auto-renews monthly until cancelled
Cancel anytime, no commitment

Credit Packs & Litter Bundles

Pre-purchase boosts at a discount. Apply credits whenever you list a new pup or refresh an old one. Perfect for breeders with multiple listings or whole litters.

Bump 5-Pack & 10-Pack

Save up to 30% on bumps when you buy in bulk. Credits don't expire, work across any of your listings of the matching species, and can be redeemed instantly from your dashboard.

From R59 per pack

Litter Pack

Built for breeders listing a whole litter at once: 8 bump credits + 1 Top-Ad credit (7 days). Apply the Top Ad to your hero pup, drip the bumps as the rest of the litter goes live. One purchase, weeks of visibility.

From R499 per litter

AI Insight + Polish

Two products that work together. Free AI Insight scores your listing 1-10 and tells you what to fix. Paid AI Polish credits rewrite the title and description for you, addressing each flagged issue.

AI Insight: Free

The AI grades your listing on clarity, completeness, trust signals, SA context, and call-to-action strength. You get a 1-10 score plus a critique of the top issues to fix. Advisory only, no automatic rewriting. Use it pre-publish on the create form, or post-publish on any listing you own.

1-10 quality score
Top issues to fix, by severity
5 free audits per day

AI Polish: Credits

One credit rewrites a listing's title + description in PetGuru's tone of voice. If you ran the free AI Insight first, the rewrite addresses every flagged issue point-by-point. Side-by-side review before it overwrites your live copy. Use credits at create time or post-publish.

Reads your AI Insight critique for context
Side-by-side review before applying
Volume discount on bigger packs

5-Pack: R99

5 polish credits. Apply each one to a listing, pre-publish on the create form, or post-publish on any listing you own.

5 polishes, never expire
Each polish reads your AI Insight
R20 per polish

15-Pack: R249

15 polish credits. Apply each one to a listing, pre-publish on the create form, or post-publish on any listing you own.

15 polishes, never expire
Each polish reads your AI Insight
R17 per polish save 16% vs 5-pack

50-Pack: R699 BEST VALUE

50 polish credits. Apply each one to a listing, pre-publish on the create form, or post-publish on any listing you own.

50 polishes, never expire
Each polish reads your AI Insight
R14 per polish save 29% vs 5-pack

Buyer-Lead Packs

Reverse the search. Verified buyers post what they want (species, breed, region, budget, timeline) and you pay credits to unlock contact info on the ones that match.

10-Pack: R299

10 unlock credits for the buyer-lead board. Each credit reveals the contact info on a single buyer lead: full description, email and phone.

10 unlocks, never expire
Filter open leads by species + region
R30 per unlock

25-Pack: R649

25 unlock credits for the buyer-lead board. Each credit reveals the contact info on a single buyer lead: full description, email and phone.

25 unlocks, never expire
Filter open leads by species + region
R26 per unlock

50-Pack: R1,199 BEST VALUE

50 unlock credits for the buyer-lead board. Each credit reveals the contact info on a single buyer lead: full description, email and phone.

50 unlocks, never expire
Filter open leads by species + region
R24 per unlock

Both slot types now ship with PetGuru AI Drafter included

After you buy an Editorial or Newsletter slot and fill in your brief, PetGuru AI generates a polished draft in our tone of voice (a 600-800 word article for editorial, headline + body + CTA variants for newsletter). Apply with one click, edit if you want, save. Up to 3 generations per booking included in the slot price, no extra cost.

Marketing Placements

Branded content slots in the PetGuru magazine and weekly newsletter, written and scheduled by our marketing team.

How It Works

Getting started with sponsorship takes less than five minutes.

1. Get Verified

Create your PetGuru account and complete verification. We verify every breeder, shelter, and professional to ensure only legitimate businesses appear on our platform.

2. Choose a Plan

Navigate to the Sponsorship section in your dashboard. Select the listing or business profile you want to sponsor, choose your plan duration, and proceed to payment.

3. Pay Securely

Pay securely with your credit or debit card. Your sponsorship activates as soon as payment is confirmed.

4. Go Live

Your listing or profile is immediately promoted to the featured carousel, search results, and category pages. Watch the views, inquiries, and phone reveals climb.

Where Your Sponsored Content Appears

Your sponsorship is not limited to a single page. PetGuru places your content across the highest-traffic areas of the platform, and each placement is contextually targeted to maximise relevance.

Listings & Directory Index

Featured carousel at the top of the page. Sponsored badge on your card. Priority in default sort order.

Detail Pages

Full-width showcase carousel below every listing and professional profile, species-matched to the page content.

Magazine Articles

Sidebar cards and full-width carousel on every article, matched to the article's pet species when available.

Pet Profiles & PetSocial

Sponsored carousel on pet profile pages and sidebar placement on the PetSocial community feed.

Success Stories

Featured carousel between the highlighted story and the story grid, reaching engaged, emotionally invested visitors.

Homepage

Featured professionals section visible to every visitor, the highest-traffic page on PetGuru.

Who Should Sponsor?

Breeders

You have a litter ready and need to find the right homes, fast. Listing sponsorship puts your puppies or kittens in front of thousands of qualified, verified buyers who are actively searching on PetGuru.

Shelters & Rescues

Every day an animal spends in a shelter is a day too long. Sponsoring your adoption listings dramatically increases visibility and helps rescue animals find loving homes sooner.

Vets & Clinics

Pet owners search PetGuru when they need a vet, especially in emergencies. Directory sponsorship ensures your clinic appears first, building trust before the first phone call.

Pet Stores & Services

Groomers, trainers, pet sitters, dog walkers, pet stores, dog-friendly restaurants, and dog hotels: if pet owners need to find you, directory sponsorship makes sure they do.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Bump Up, Highlight, Urgent, and Top Ad?

They are four tiers in a hierarchy, each includes everything below it:

Bump Up (from R19): instant one-time push to the top of search results. No visual change, just reordering.
Highlight (from R49, 7 days): gold gradient border on your card so it stands out, plus sort priority above regular listings.
Urgent (from R69, 7 days): "URGENT" badge with fire icon + highlight styling + even higher sort priority. Great for time-sensitive listings.
Top Ad (from R99, 7 to 30 days): full premium: featured carousels across the site, sponsored badge, AI-powered audience targeting, plus an email blast to newsletter subscribers and a push/in-app notification to active users.

How does the newsletter blast + push notification work for Top Ad?

When you activate a Top Ad, we automatically broadcast your listing to our audience across three channels:

Email: a featured listing email to every active PetGuru newsletter subscriber (with a direct link to your listing).
Push notifications: Firebase push to every verified user with the app installed and marketing notifications enabled.
Live in-app: a real-time notification in the PetGuru dashboard for active users.

To keep the experience fair for subscribers, we throttle these blasts to a maximum of one per 24 hours across the whole platform. The first Top Ad to activate in that window wins the broadcast slot. Your Top Ad still receives all other visibility benefits regardless.

Why do prices differ by species?

Dogs are the most searched category on PetGuru, so dog listings get more exposure per rand spent. Cat listings are priced slightly lower, and other species (birds, rabbits, fish, etc.) are the most affordable. This keeps pricing fair, so you pay in proportion to the demand in your category.

Can I sponsor multiple listings at once?

Yes! Each listing can be boosted independently. If you have three litters available, you can boost all three, each with its own tier and duration.

Can I upgrade from Highlight to Top Ad mid-boost?

Not while a boost is active. You can only have one active boost per listing at a time. Once your current boost expires, you can purchase a higher tier. If you need Top Ad urgently, contact us and we can help arrange an upgrade.

What happens when my sponsorship expires?

Your listing or profile reverts to the standard (non-sponsored) view. It remains on the platform; it just loses the featured placement and sponsored badge. You can renew at any time from your dashboard.

Can I cancel or get a refund?

Sponsorships are non-refundable once activated, as the promotional placement begins immediately. However, if you experience any issues, please contact us and we will do our best to help.

Do I need to be verified to sponsor?

Yes. Sponsorship is only available to verified breeders, shelters, and professionals. This ensures that promoted listings and profiles meet our quality and trust standards. Learn about verification →

How does the smart targeting work?

PetGuru uses three layers of targeting. First, context matching: your listing appears on pages related to its species and breed (a dog listing on dog pages). Second, behavioural profiling: we learn each user's interests from their favourites, likes, inquiries, and owned pets, then show them relevant sponsors even on generic pages. Third, location awareness: nearby sponsored content is prioritised when location data is available. All of this happens automatically, so you just sponsor your listing and we handle the rest.

Will my listing only show to one species audience?

Your listing primarily targets users interested in its species, but it also appears in general placements across the site. Our system uses a backfill approach: first it fills slots with the most relevant matches, then fills any remaining spots with a broader audience. This means your listing gets maximum exposure while still prioritising the most qualified viewers.

How do I track the performance of my sponsorship?

Your dashboard shows views, inquiries, and phone reveals for each listing. Compare sponsored vs non-sponsored periods to see the impact directly.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard) via our secure online payment gateway. Sponsorship activates immediately on successful payment.

How is Always-On Top different from a 30-day Top Ad?

A 30-day Top Ad is a single purchase that expires. Always-On Top is a recurring monthly subscription: your listing stays on Top-Ad placement for as long as you keep the subscription active. Each cycle spawns a fresh 30-day Top Ad automatically. Cancel any time; the current cycle stays live until its 30 days are up. Best for breeders with a flagship listing they want pinned permanently.

How do bump credits work?

Buy a Bump 5-Pack or 10-Pack and the credits sit in your account. Open Your Boost Credits from your dashboard, pick any of your active listings, and one credit redeems for one Bump Up, exactly the same effect as buying a single Bump. Credits don't expire, but they're locked to the species group you bought (a Dogs pack can't bump a Cat listing).

What's in a Litter Pack?

A Litter Pack grants 8 bump credits + 1 Top-Ad credit (7 days), all locked to the species you chose. The typical use: spend the Top-Ad credit on your hero pup so the litter announcement gets maximum reach, then drip the 8 bumps as each individual pup goes live. One purchase, weeks of coverage.

Does the AI Drafter cost extra on Editorial / Newsletter slots?

No. Up to three AI draft generations are included in your slot price (R1,499 for Editorial, R499 for Newsletter). After you fill in a brief on the slot booking page, click Generate AI Draft and PetGuru AI returns a polished draft in our editorial voice that you can apply with one click and edit before saving. The cap is per booking, so each slot you buy carries its own three generations.

How does AI Listing Polish work?

You buy AI Polish for one specific listing. Our AI rewrites your title and description using PetGuru's tone of voice, tightened for clarity, warmth and SEO. The result lands in your dashboard for review: you see your original copy and the polished draft side by side, and explicitly accept before anything overwrites. Nothing happens to your listing without your approval.

What's involved in a Sponsored Editorial?

You buy the slot, then submit a brief from Your Slot Bookings: what you want covered, the angle, key facts, link-out URL. PetGuru's editorial team writes the article in our house style and publishes it in the magazine with a sponsored disclosure. The article is evergreen: never expires, picked up by search engines, surfaces in our magazine's related-reading recommendations.

How do Buyer-Lead Packs work?

The buyer-lead board is a reverse marketplace: prospective pet owners post what they're looking for (species, breed, region, budget, timeline, why they want that breed). All breeders see the soft criteria, but contact info (email + phone) is hidden until you spend a credit to unlock that specific lead. Once unlocked, you keep the contact info forever, no time limits, no re-charges. It's how you reach buyers who haven't found the right listing yet.

How does a Sponsored Newsletter slot work?

You supply the creative (image, headline, link-out) and our marketing admin schedules it into the next outgoing PetGuru newsletter. Single-send: it reaches every opted-in subscriber once, in the next scheduled blast. Best paired with a Top Ad on the same day for maximum reach.

Ready to Reach the Right Audience?

Join hundreds of South African breeders, shelters, and pet professionals who use PetGuru's smart sponsorship to reach qualified buyers and grow their business, with targeting that gets smarter the more people use the platform.