For general managers at hotels, the old levers of SEO of keywords, meta tags, link building, etc., are no longer sufficient to ensure visibility.
The rapid advancement of Google’s AI Overviews (previously SGE), conversational AI agents like ChatGPT, and automated recommendation tools means the digital discovery journey is evolving. Travellers may no longer scroll through numerous pages of links to locate their destination; rather, they increasingly look for conversational summaries or curated lists generated by some form of AI. The pressing question becomes: when a person begins their travel journey experience in an AI prompt, will your resort even show up?
What the Academic & Policy Research Says
It is useful to avoid the marketing hype and look at reviewed studies and international policy guidance. These sources don’t promote specific hotels but illuminate the structural forces reshaping visibility.
AI as a Gatekeeper of Visibility & Loyalty
According to a conceptual paper from Florida Atlantic University, AI agents — systems that help choose accommodation, summarise reviews, and make comparisons between offers — will more frequently act as gatekeepers of loyalty. Rather than loyalty being based simply on brand loyalty and guest experience, visibility in algorithmically curated feeds will become a key driver of hotel choice. Hotel operators need to rethink loyalty again, not just from a human perspective but also in relation to the AI systems determining whether their products are selected.
Wide Usage & Perceived Positively by Travellers
Survey-based research published in MDPI’s tourism journals studied the perceived utility of AI tools — chatbots, voice assistants, translation services, search on sites — during the planning phase, while on a stay, and following a stay. Most respondents reported feeling only positive emotions about their interaction with these systems, rather than negative ones. The research suggests that it is the perceived usefulness and positive emotions associated with the AI tool that contributes to the likelihood of it being adopted
Policy Perspectives: Risks, Ethics, Infrastructure
A G7/OECD policy paper on Artificial Intelligence & Tourism from 2024 acknowledges that AI offers considerable opportunities for innovation in tourism, but raises significant challenges: privacy, transparency, bias, and compliance.
The authors caution the sustainability of an AI ecosystem without structures to support small and medium enterprises who may struggle to stay at pace with its rapid pace of change.
Trends in Investment & Personalisation
Industry-academic analysis, like Amadeus’ 2024 investment trends report, demonstrates widened budgets for technology among hoteliers, particularly related to personalisation with data analytics among the three top areas of planned spending. Properties which can quantify and promote a distinct value-proposition inherent in each guest stage of journey tend to have better occupancy levels, especially in a digital age where AI tools prefer specific intent-based content production.
What This Means for GEO
From these insights, a framework for Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) materialises. Resorts wishing to be ‘found’ by way of AI- driven discovery should focus on:
- Structured & Clear Content
Utilise schema markup, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and use descriptive content to answer basic guest questions (ex: What is included in spa access? Can I have my pet?). AI tools prefer clear structures over punctuation or overly succinct, vague phrases.
- Guest Intent & Personalisation
Map the various intents of your guests (wellness, family, romantic, sustainable). House content and values in accordance so the AI capabilities can include your disposition as an accurate property match to queries.
- Host Data Strategy & Guest Feedback
First-party data from bookings and communications are becoming increasingly reliable. Feedback and guest reviews serve as authentic signals of trustworthiness for proper ranking systems in an AI ecosystem as well.
Trust, Ethical, & Privacy Centric
There is little option to consider GDPR, transparency around data usage, and ethics in practice in anyway otherwise. As a report from the OECD warns us, the absence of trust or content tagged misleading will cause damage to visibility in an ecosystem where rank is the result of acceptance and distrust factors into brand reputation.
- Smooth Booking & Flow of Experience
Once an AI-suggested within a pathway leads to your property, the pathway must be frictionless in completion: real time availability, responsive framework & clarity of terms.
A verified example / takeaway
Recent published research produced by Cloudbeds and reported in PhocusWire, demonstrates branded properties often appear more frequently than independent properties in AI suggested hotels. In conclusion, scale or size, reputation, and consistent digital content supply the advantage in visibility of announcements or recommendations by AI systems.
Takeaways: what GMs should do now
To prepare your resort to enable visibility in this new time, here are practical applications achieved through research and media:
Audit Your Content – Ensure websites, booking policies, and descriptions are structured, accurate and up-to-date in turn.
Map Guest Intents – Create offers and landing pages aligned to various traveler personas.
Strengthen Data & Feedback Loops – Cultivate the first-party data via the booking system appropriately; and measure guest sentiment through existing feedback loops already available in options across channels.
Ensure Trust & Compliance – Be transparent in the usage of data; and the message should be a commitment to overall authenticity.Optimise Booking Pathways – Ensure direct booking is easy, clear, and appropriately established via mobile-bookings with the systems that AI conversational agents can reference and enlist.
Final Thought
AI does not add acceptance of sovereignty over search via intended employees nor is this intended to displace others, yet AI already exists closer to making it a mainstream layer of discoverability within the travel sector. For hotel GMs, visibility will take a combination of operational discipline, data applications, and ethical principles. If both operational choices and data attention are comfortable for Generative Engine Optimisation, then you are positioned ineradicably visible or preferred when guests encounter ‘Inspiration’.
