- AI-generated responses now appear at the top of search results with five to seven hotel recommendations
- Hotels not appearing in AI-generated lists become effectively invisible to consumers
- Q&A sections on hotel websites significantly improve visibility on AI platforms
- Online travel agencies are outspending hotel companies on AI integration for trip planning
- AI agents will soon proactively book travel based on user preferences and loyalty programs
Hoteliers have been updating their websites to improve visibility on AI platforms as consumers increasingly use large-language model tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini for travel planning. Google has integrated its Gemini AI assistant into its search engine, placing AI-generated responses at the top of search results, with suggested trip itineraries or hotel recommendations appearing in a paragraph format containing five to seven hotels. Hotels not appearing in those lists become effectively invisible to users, according to Michael Goldrich, founder and chief adviser of Vivander Advisors and president of HSMAI New York.
Visibility on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and other AI tools depends on how streamlined hotel websites are for search engine optimisation, answer engine optimisation and generative engine optimisation. A Q&A section on a hotel’s website goes a long way toward better visibility on AI platforms, with AI systems particularly favouring Reddit for its question-and-answer format. Uniform marketing messages across websites, listings, reviews, PR and YouTube channels are essential, with mixed signals creating confusion for AI systems attempting to reconcile the best answer for user queries.
Online travel agencies such as Expedia and Booking.com are currently ahead of hotel companies in integrating AI into their trip-planning tools, spending aggressively in this space. Hoteliers risk being disintermediated again in ways that may be hard to recover from as an industry. The next evolution involves AI agents that will collect user preferences from asking just a couple of questions and then book airfare, hotel and rental car on a person’s behalf, moving from reactive to proactive AI assistance that knows schedules, affinities, loyalty programs and budgets.
Michael Goldrich, founder and chief adviser of Vivander Advisors, shared: “Now people are putting into this search box instead of keywords a question, and instead of 10 blue links you’re getting one answer in a paragraph with five to seven hotels, and if you’re not in that list you’re invisible.”
Sam Trotter, head of digital marketing at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, shared: “AI is getting information from your website, your listings, your reviews, PR and YouTube, so if you tell everybody on your website you’re the most romantic hotel and everybody in the reviews talks about how it was great for kids, that’s mixed signals.”
Priya Chandnani, executive vice president of commercial strategy at Sage Hospitality Group, shared: “The brands are not keeping up at this point, and OTAs are way ahead of the game having invested highly effectively in that space.”
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