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Search has always been at the heart of hospitality marketing. Guests use it to plan holidays, book hotels, and check reviews. But the rules of visibility have changed.
For years, the task was simple. Rank high on Google. Get onto page one and you stood a chance. That focus is no longer enough.
People don’t just use Google now. They ask Siri for weekend breaks. They build itineraries with ChatGPT. They check reviews surfaced in Maps. They trust Perplexity to compare destinations. Instead of being shown a list of links, they get conversational answers. If your hotel, resort, or attraction is not part of those answers, you might as well not exist.
This shift is especially tough for hospitality brands. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Booking.com and Expedia already dominate traditional search. Add AI into the mix and it becomes even easier for them to steal the mention that could have been yours.
At Koozai, we call this new reality Search Everywhere. Visibility is no longer about a single channel. It is about showing up consistently, credibly, and clearly wherever customers are asking questions.
Your audience is still out there. They still want a romantic weekend in the Cotswolds, a dog-friendly lodge in Cornwall, or a summer break in the Lakes. What has changed is how they find those options.
This whitepaper is your playbook for that change. Inside you will find:
If you take one thing away, let it be this. Customers no longer search in one place. Your brand cannot afford to show up in just one place.
For years, we talked about SEO. You optimised web pages, built backlinks, and targeted keywords. Success was measured by ranking above your competitors.
Then came AEO: Answer Engine Optimisation. With featured snippets and voice search, the goal shifted. You wanted to be the answer, not just one result in ten.
Next came GEO: Generative Engine Optimisation. With Google AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, search engines began creating answers. Content now needs to be structured in ways that machines can parse and reference.
These labels are helpful but risk adding confusion. Busy hospitality marketers don’t need a new acronym every year. What matters is the principle behind all of them.
Instead of chasing acronyms, focus on one goal. Make your brand the trusted answer wherever customers ask questions.
That could mean:
Search Everywhere means stopping the habit of treating Google rankings as the finish line. Visibility today is a wider system that includes AI engines, voice assistants, and zero-click answers.
Hospitality and travel marketers face pressures that other industries do not. Here are the big ones.
UK hospitality brands are even more exposed because of the staycation boom. Domestic travellers use prompts tied to local seasons and culture. Think “bank holiday deals Cornwall” or “Christmas markets in York”. These are areas where local brands can beat OTAs if their content is prepared properly.
So how does this play out?
AI engines need clarity. Structure content with:
Think of it as writing for guests and machines at the same time.
Travellers don’t type “accommodation providers UK”. They ask specific questions.
Examples:
Match real prompts with content formats and make them answer-ready.
AI engines look for trust. That means:
In hospitality, reputation is authority.
Think of prompts as the new version of keywords. Instead of focusing on short phrases like “hotels Manchester”, look at the clusters of real questions people are asking.
These are closest to a booking.
These highlight a feature or need.
Driven by seasons and events.
Local context matters here.
For each cluster, create a content module. That could be a seasonal blog, an FAQ block, a landing page, or even an interactive map.
Many hotels still rely on one generic “Our Rooms” or “Our Hotel” page. AI engines do not parse that as a clear answer. Create prompt-matched pages that respond directly to how people actually ask.
Your website is more than a shop window. It is the data source AI engines pull from. If the structure is not clear, you will not be cited.
Schema is structured data that tells search engines what your content means. The most relevant types for hospitality are:
AI engines prefer concise and clear snippets. Aim for:
You don’t need to rebuild your site to get results. Start with your top 20 booking pages and add schema, summary boxes, and FAQs. This is quick to implement and immediately improves AI visibility.
Think of your website like a menu in a good restaurant. If the menu is tidy, clear, and easy to follow, both diners and chefs know what’s available. AI engines work in the same way.
AI engines decide which brands to trust based on signals of authority. Even with the best-structured site, you will not be cited without them.
Get featured in respected outlets. A list of “Top ten spas in Kent” in a national paper gives you credibility and visibility.
Create content with a newsworthy hook. A campaign on “Britain’s most dog-friendly beaches” can generate links, citations, and coverage in both travel and lifestyle press.
Showcase guest reviews and photos, marked up with schema. Authentic voices are powerful signals for AI engines.
Appear in tourism board directories, regional guides, and Google Business profiles. These are often pulled directly into AI-generated answers.
Do not let OTAs do the talking for you. If Booking.com is the only site with a clear explanation of your offer, AI engines will cite them instead. Make your content equally direct, structured, and reference-ready.
Traditional keyword tracking no longer gives the full picture. In AI search, the key question is simple: Did AI mention us?
Don’t only measure clicks. Mentions build trust and visibility even if the user does not click through. That presence is often the difference between being seen as credible or not.
Hospitality teams are busy. You need a plan you can actually act on. Here is a phased roadmap for the next three months.
The future of search is not about one ranking. It is about being present across every place where travellers ask questions.
For hospitality brands, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge comes from OTAs dominating citations and AI often favouring big names. The opportunity lies in local nuance, seasonal prompts, and being the specific answer that OTAs cannot be.
Brands that adapt now will win more direct bookings, rely less on third-party platforms, and build long-term visibility in a world shaped by AI search.
At Koozai, we help hospitality and travel teams take the practical steps to do just that. From audits and content retrofits to prompt mapping and digital PR, we make sure your brand shows up where it matters.
Next step: Book a discovery call. We’ll map your top prompts and give you three practical fixes you can make right away.
Let’s make sure your brand is the one people hear, see, and book. Everywhere.