Live database

GEO for Hotels

How AI engines choose and recommend hotels today.

We run real buyer prompts against ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity with web search on, and record which hotels they name and which sources they cite. This page is one live view into that dataset - it updates as new probes land.

Run your free AI visibility scanHow we collect this data
Updated Jul 18, 202623 prompts analyzed41 citations111 brands detected
Top cited domain
en.wikipedia.org
11 citations · 27% of all
Most active engine
ChatGPT
88% of citations
Top source type
Other
49% of citations
Data as of
July 18, 2026
trends unlock after two cycles
1

What buyers ask AI

Real questions people put to AI assistants about hotels.

Best boutique hotelFamily resort with kids clubBusiness hotel near the airportAll-inclusive resort reviewsBudget hotel chain comparisonPet-friendly hotelHotel with best breakfastRomantic weekend hotelPlan me a 3-day trip itineraryIs it cheaper to book direct or through Booking?
2

What AI actually recommends

Probed from a United States context · July 18, 2026

Live answers per engine - exactly what each one named, in order.

PromptChatGPTGeminiPerplexity
Best boutique hotels
  1. El Cosmico
  2. Hotel Shangri-La Santa Monica
  3. The Greenwich Hotel
  1. The Ludlow Hotel
  2. The Spectator Hotel
  3. Hotel Valley Ho
  1. The Hoxton
  2. Los Angeles
  3. The Jane
Best family resort
  1. Woodloch Resort
  2. Great Wolf Lodge
  3. Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort
  1. Walt Disney World Resort
  2. Yellowstone National Park
  3. Hotel del Coronado
  1. Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
  2. Walt Disney World
  3. The Broadmoor Resort
Best business hotel
  1. The Benjamin
  2. Willard InterContinental Washington
  3. Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
  1. The Ritz-Carlton
  2. Four Seasons
  3. St. Regis
  1. Entrepreneur
  2. Hotel 43
  3. Hotel Palomar
Best all-inclusive resort
  1. Bungalows Key Largo
  2. Alila Ventana Big Sur
  3. The Green O
  1. The Ranch at Rock Creek
  2. Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa
  3. Little Palm Island Resort & Spa
  1. Bungalows Key Largo
  2. Alila Ventana Big Sur
  3. Castle Hot Springs
Best budget hotel chain
  1. Motel 6
  2. Super 8 by Wyndham
  3. Econo Lodge
  1. Motel 6
  2. Super 8 by Wyndham
  3. Days Inn by Wyndham
  1. Motel 6
  2. Home2 Suites by Hilton
  3. La Quinta Inn & Suites
3

AI ranking factors

Where these engines actually look before naming anyone - citation share by source type.

Other49% · 20
Wikipedia27% · 11
Reviews15% · 6
News / PR7% · 3
Directories2% · 1

Shares are computed from the sources engines actually grounded on in our hotel probes - not an editorial guess. Unknown domains land in “other” and get reviewed monthly.

The United States sources that matter for hotels

TripAdvisortripadvisor.com
Review-theme goldmine; engines quote recurring guest phrases from here.
Booking.combooking.com
Score + amenity data layer engines filter qualifier prompts against.
Google hotel layergoogle.com
Gemini's home advantage - attributes, photos and pricing feed answers directly.
Expediaexpedia.com
Secondary OTA corroboration for scores and availability.
Condé Nast Travelercntraveler.com
Editorial shortlists engines treat as pre-verified for aspirational prompts.
Travel + Leisuretravelandleisure.com
Themed “best hotels” lists with durable citation value.
4

Engine comparison

How differently each engine sources its answers - share of that engine's citations per source type.

SourceChatGPTPerplexity
News / PR★★★★★★★★★★
Wikipedia★★★★★★★★★★
Reviews★★★★★★★★★★
Directories★★★★★★★★★★

Stars are banded from real citation shares in this vertical - hover any cell for the exact number.

5

How hotels win AI visibility

What the data above means in practice - and the playbook that follows from it.

Travel is where AI answers are most conversational - people don’t just ask for “a hotel”, they ask for an itinerary, a vibe, a trade-off - and the engines answer by leaning on the review-aggregation giants: TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Google’s hotel layer, Expedia. These platforms hold exactly what a recommendation needs (scores, review volume, price bands, amenity data), so they dominate the citation mix in our probes. For an individual property the consequence is the same as ranking inside those platforms, with a twist: engines read review text, not just scores, and they quote the recurring themes - “consistently praised for its breakfast and rooftop bar” is assembled from dozens of guest reviews.

Editorial travel media is the second pillar, and it behaves differently from directories. “Best boutique hotels” prompts pull heavily from Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and destination guides, because engines treat curated lists as pre-verified shortlists. Placement in one credible editorial list often outweighs hundreds of additional reviews for the aspirational prompt shapes (boutique, romantic, design). This makes travel PR a measurable GEO lever: one earned inclusion propagates into AI answers for the whole list’s theme, and stays there as long as the article stays live.

01

Excel inside the platform layer

TripAdvisor, Booking, Google hotel profiles complete, photo-rich and actively earning reviews - engines quote themes from review text, so what guests repeat becomes your pitch.

02

Earn editorial placements

Pitch credible travel media for themed lists (boutique, family, design). One earned inclusion feeds AI answers for that theme durably.

03

Make amenities machine-readable

Consistent, structured amenity data everywhere - pet policy, kids club, shuttle, workspaces. Qualifier prompts filter on exactly these fields.

04

Publish destination content

Neighborhood guides and “where to stay” content put your property inside itinerary-shaped answers - the rare platform-free channel.

05

Respond to reviews visibly

Management responses signal an operated, current property; engines factor recency and responsiveness into “is this still good” judgments.

06

Track your theme prompts

Run the traveler prompts monthly for your market, watch which platforms and articles get cited, and target the exact lists you’re missing from.

Engineer your review themes
Engines summarize what reviewers repeat. If you want to be “the rooftop-bar hotel”, make the experience remarkable AND nudge mentions - signage, staff prompts, post-stay emails naming the feature.
Win one theme list at a time
“Best family resort” pulls from family-travel lists; “best design hotel” from design media. Pick the theme that matches your property truthfully and concentrate PR there.
Keep Google’s hotel layer pristine
Gemini answers lean on Google’s own hotel data - photos, attributes, pricing. Treat your Google hotel profile as a first-class surface, not an afterthought.
Feed the itinerary engines
Publish a genuinely useful “3 perfect days near us” guide. Itinerary prompts quote such content and name the hotel that wrote it - direct discovery without OTA commission.
6

FAQ

Answers to common questions about this report.

How do I do SEO for a hotel in the AI era?
The center of gravity moves from your website to the evidence layer engines cite: platform profiles and review text, editorial travel lists, structured amenity data and destination content. This page shows which of those sources engines actually use.
What is the best AI strategy for the hotel industry?
Excel inside TripAdvisor/Booking/Google, earn themed editorial placements, make amenities machine-readable, and publish destination content that gets you into itinerary answers - then track your market’s prompts monthly.
Which sources do AI engines cite for hotels?
In our probes: the platform layer (TripAdvisor, Booking, Google), editorial travel media, and destination guides - see the live source mix above for the current split.
Why don’t the prompts include a city?
Engines localize to the person asking, so we probe with country-qualified prompts. Your own city and neighborhood visibility is what a brand-level scan measures for your property.
How can my hotel get started?
Run a free AI visibility scan with your property name or website. In about two minutes you’ll see where you appear across engines, which sources cite you, and what to fix first.

See where your property appears across all AI engines.

The data above is the industry view. Run a free scan to get the same report for your property: where you show up, who outranks you, and what to fix first.

Run my free scanHow to track your brand in AI
Zene dashboard: a brand's AI visibility score, the next automatic scan, and per-engine cards for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity