Travel is one of the categories where AI is changing discovery fastest. People now ask an AI engine to plan the trip, shortlist the hotels and compare the flights. The answers draw on a recognisable set of sources, and in most cases the airline, hotel or tourism board is not the main one.
These findings come from the travel and tourism studies in the GEO Compass benchmark: about 40,000 AI answers, concentrated in Singapore, with India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the UK, the US and Australia.
Platforms write the travel answer
Share of answers with sources that cite each site. GEO Compass benchmark, travel and tourism.
Tripadvisor is the travel reference for AI engines, appearing in more answers than any airline, hotel or tourism board website. Marketplaces and aggregators supply 13% of all travel citations, four times the benchmark average. The online travel agencies own the price questions: Trip.com, Skyscanner and Kayak each appear in close to 30% of price-related travel answers.
Social content matters more than usual
Social and user-generated content supplies 11% of travel citations, above the 8% average. Facebook and Instagram both appear among the most-cited sites. The engine matters: Google AI Mode leans on Instagram and social posts heavily, while ChatGPT cites YouTube in about 1% of travel answers. If AI Mode matters to your audience, social content is a direct input.
Every market has its own platforms
| Market | Most-cited travel sites |
|---|---|
| Singapore | Tripadvisor, Trip.com, Expedia, Reddit, Skyscanner, Klook, Kayak, Facebook, Traveloka |
| India | Tripadvisor, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, airline sites, Quora, YouTube |
| Indonesia | Traveloka, Tripadvisor, Time Out, Trip.com, YouTube, TheSmartLocal, Hotels.com |
Excluding the masked group of focus brands' own websites.
In Indonesia, Traveloka is cited in more than a third of travel answers, ahead of Tripadvisor. In India, social platforms and Quora rank higher than in Singapore. A regional travel brand needs a market-by-market view of the platforms that shape AI answers.
Brands are recommended, and described positively
Travel is one of the more positive categories for brands: 44% of travel answers that discuss brands frame them positively, against 39% across the benchmark. Travel brands are named in 28% of unbranded answers, and their own sites cited in 14%, slightly above the benchmark averages. AI engines are willing to recommend; the question is whether they recommend you.
What travel brands should do
- Treat Tripadvisor and the OTAs as GEO channels. Listings, photos, descriptions, review volume and responses on Tripadvisor, Trip.com, Expedia, Traveloka, Klook and Agoda all feed AI answers.
- Publish the specifics on your own site. Location, how to get there, prices, opening hours, facilities, accessibility, and what makes you different, in plain text with structured data (Hotel, TouristAttraction, LocalBusiness, Event).
- Get into local guides and lists. Time Out, The Urban List, The Honeycombers, TheSmartLocal and similar titles are cited for "best of" questions.
- Use social and video for Google's AI surfaces. Instagram and YouTube content with clear captions, locations and question-led phrasing reaches AI Mode and AI Overviews.
- Keep names consistent. Hotels, attractions and destinations often appear under several names. Use one official name everywhere, and tag partners and tenants consistently.
See all travel and tourism figures on the industry page, or filter the explorer by market.
Frequently asked questions
- Which websites do AI engines cite for travel questions?
- In the GEO Compass benchmark, Tripadvisor is the most-cited site in travel answers (22% of answers with sources), followed by travel brands' own sites, Trip.com, Reddit, Expedia, Facebook, Skyscanner, YouTube, Kayak, Klook and Traveloka.
- How can a hotel or destination appear in ChatGPT's recommendations?
- Be well represented on the platforms AI engines cite for travel (Tripadvisor, the online travel agencies, local guides and social media), keep listings accurate and rich, and publish clear, specific information on your own site about location, prices, facilities and what makes you different.
Figures marked as GEO Compass data come from the anonymised GEO Compass benchmark of AI answers collected by We AI & Data Advisors. Related: AI search in Australia · AI search in Singapore · AI search in Indonesia · AI search in India · Travel & Tourism