Last updated: August 2026
There is a very specific kind of scepticism that kicks in once a place has caught someone’s eye. It is not doubt exactly, more a quiet need to double-check. An AI assistant just told them this beach town is quiet and family friendly. Fine. But is that actually true, or is it repeating something a marketing team wrote five years ago?
So they go looking for the unfiltered version.
The sniff test
This is where the questions turn practical, and a little wary:
“Is this safe?” “Are the photos real?” “Do reviews match what the AI said?” “Is this hotel actually good for families?”
Nobody answers these questions from a single source. In the space of a few minutes, someone might check Google AI Overviews, then flick through Maps reviews, then open TripAdvisor, then search Reddit for the destination name plus “worth it” or “avoid.” They are cross-referencing, looking for the point where the polished version and the honest version either line up or fall apart.
This is the moment a brand either gets confirmed as trustworthy, or quietly ruled out, often without ever knowing it happened.
Why press coverage carries more weight here than you might expect
Research from Muck Rack’s Generative Pulse study found that roughly 27 percent of the links AI tools cite in their answers come from journalism, rising to around 49 percent when the question implies a need for something current. Travel questions are full of exactly that kind of implied urgency: is this area still safe, is the trail still open, is this the same place it was last year.
A well-placed piece of press coverage, a comment on a destination trend, a mention in a “hidden gem” round-up, a quote in a safety piece, does more than raise awareness. It becomes one of the sources an AI tool is willing to repeat, which is a very different kind of value from a standard advert.
What actually earns trust at this stage
A steady drip of recent, specific reviews beats a high star rating that has not moved in a year. Consistency across platforms matters just as much: a glowing TripAdvisor page next to a lukewarm Google profile creates exactly the kind of doubt that stalls a booking.
Genuine local knowledge reads differently to generic destination copy, and people, and AI tools, can usually tell the difference between someone who has actually walked the route and someone who has written it up from a press release.
Replying to reviews, especially the difficult ones, with a clear and calm explanation, signals accountability rather than polish, which matters more than it sounds like it should.
None of this needs to be perfect. It needs to be consistent. The gap between what the AI said and what real people are saying is the thing travellers are actively hunting for, and it is the thing that quietly decides whether you make the next shortlist. Our AI Marketing team can help you build the kind of review and PR presence that survives this kind of scrutiny.
Next: once a shortlist starts forming, how does AI actually pick a winner? Read “Why AI Recommends Some Travel Brands and Not Others”
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