How hotels can improve their visibility in AI assistants

Why structured data and direct connectivity may become as important as traditional SEO

As travelers increasingly use AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to research and plan trips, hotels are asking how they can improve their visibility within these platforms. The answer is more complex than traditional search engine optimization because AI assistants rely on multiple information layers when generating responses. Hotels need to think beyond rankings and focus on how their information is discovered, understood, and accessed by AI systems throughout the traveler journey.

Key takeaways

• Three visibility layers exist: Hotels can appear through a model's existing knowledge, through web search results that assistants retrieve in real time, or through direct connections to live hotel systems and databases.
• LLM visibility is difficult to control: AI models are trained periodically on large volumes of public information and are not updated in real time. Hotels can support visibility through strong brand presence, authoritative mentions, and consistent information across channels, but there is no direct way to influence how a model remembers a hotel.
• Traditional SEO remains important: When AI assistants perform web searches, they rely on websites, reviews, media coverage, and other online sources. Fast, crawlable websites with clear content and structured data remain critical for visibility.
• Specific content outperforms generic marketing language: Hotels that clearly describe their location, amenities, audience, and experiences provide stronger signals to AI assistants than broad promotional statements. Detailed, descriptive content is easier for AI systems to match with traveler queries.
• Real-time data is becoming a competitive advantage: When travelers ask about availability, rates, cancellation policies, or room features, AI assistants increasingly need access to live data rather than static web pages. This shifts importance toward connected booking systems and structured databases.
• Hotels should prepare for AI-driven transactions: The article argues that future booking journeys may occur partly within AI assistants. If direct hotel channels are not connected to these ecosystems, OTAs may become the primary sources of inventory and booking information.
• A single source of truth is essential: Hotels should organize rates, inventory, policies, and operational information into structured, queryable systems rather than scattered spreadsheets, PDFs, or disconnected databases. This will improve their ability to support AI-driven discovery and booking.
• Visibility requirements change throughout the funnel: AI model knowledge plays a larger role during inspiration and discovery, while search visibility becomes more important during evaluation. As travelers move closer to booking, direct access to authoritative, real-time hotel data becomes increasingly critical.

Source: Mirai

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