Why AI Engine Optimisation is Important for Travel Organisations
- Vivian
- Dec 5
- 4 min read
Consumers Moving to AI Search for Travel
The Shift from Google to AI Assistants
Travel B2C behaviour is evolving fast: more and more travellers start their journey by asking an AI rather than typing short keywords into a search bar. A 2025 Travala.com report estimates that around 40% of travellers already use AI at some point in their planning or booking, and over 60% are willing to rely on AI assistants for tasks like itinerary design and destination comparisons. Instead of juggling a dozen open tabs, travellers now ask a single assistant to handle inspiration, shortlisting, and rough budgeting in one conversation.
AI- based Travel Search: Evidence from Usage and Search Reports
A 2025 analysis by Wellows on ChatGPT’s impact on search highlights that AI overviews now appear on a large share of Google results pages and contribute to lower organic click-through rates in content-heavy verticals such as travel. Usage reports show ChatGPT handling hundreds of millions of weekly interactions, while Gemini’s user base has doubled year-over-year to reach hundreds of millions of monthly users, narrowing the gap and making “ask the AI” a natural first step for planning. From a traveler’s point of view, it feels like moving from flipping brochures to chatting with a "god-mode concierge" who knows everything.
Conversational Search as the New Discovery Layer
Travel-focused analyses from PhocusWire and Maya Travel AI describe this change as the rise of “conversational search”: travellers ask open-ended questions like “Plan a 7-day family trip to Spain under €2,000” instead of searching “Spain family holiday package.” These reports project that a large portion of trip inspiration and planning will soon flow through AI assistants rather than traditional blue-link SERPs, especially in leisure travel. For travel organizations, this means visibility must extend into AI-generated answers, recommendations, and itineraries—AI becomes the new lobby, and Agent Engine Optimisation (AEO) is how you make sure your brand is the one greeting guests at the door.
Foundations of AI Engine Optimisation for Travel
What Is AI Engine Optimisation (AEO)?
AI Engine Optimisation is the practice of tuning your brand, content, and technical setup so that AI systems—ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI-enhanced search—can easily understand, trust, and recommend your travel offering. Instead of optimizing only for ranking positions, AEO focuses on becoming a high-quality, quotable source inside AI answers, summaries, and conversations. In other words, it is how you move from “one of many results” to “the answer".
How AEO Differs from Traditional SEO
Traditional SEO is built around search engines like Google, where keywords, backlinks, metadata, and technical performance are optimised for ranking algorithms. AEO extends this logic to generative and conversational engines that interpret meaning and user intent rather than relying on exact-match keywords, synthesise answers from multiple sources into a single response, and favour authority, clarity, structure, and freshness when deciding what to surface. For travel brands, this means content must be semantically rich, clearly structured, and machine-readable so that AI systems can confidently cite and recommend it.
Why Travel Needs AEO in Particular
Travel comes with specific complexities that make AEO especially important:
Complex journeys: Travellers move from inspiration to research, comparison, booking, and in-destination decisions across many channels
Information-heavy decisions: Destinations, seasons, visas, budget, transport, and safety all need clear explanations
Global audiences: AI models must interpret your content across languages and cultural contexts
If your content is fragmented or vague, AI models are more likely to favour better-structured competitors—even if your product is stronger. The best hidden gem in the world still needs a signpost; AEO is that signpost for AI.
Future of AEO for Travel
Misconceptions About AEO in Travel
Tourism AI trend reports highlight a few recurring myths:
“AEO replaces SEO.” In reality, strong SEO remains the foundation; AEO extends those strengths into generative and conversational systems
“AI will promote my content automatically.” AI assistants prioritise structured, credible, and complete sources; without optimisation, your content can remain invisible
"Only big brands can win in AI.” Niche and regional brands often perform well when they provide deeper, more specific expertise and clearer information
Small but precise often beats big but vague—especially when an AI is looking for the best answer, not just the most famous logo.
Future Trends: Why Acting Now Matters
Tourism and AI reports point to several trends that will shape the future, including the rise of predictive recommendations, where AI systems increasingly anticipate travel needs and favour brands that provide structured, timely offers and content. They also highlight the growing importance of voice and multimodal search, as maturing voice assistants and multimodal tools give a strong advantage to well‑tagged, context‑rich content. In parallel, embedded AI in booking flows is becoming more common, with cruise lines, hotels, and OTAs integrating AI assistants directly into their funnels to suggest itineraries, room types, and ancillaries in real time.
With millions of travellers already using AI in their planning and AI overviews reshaping SERPs, waiting on AEO is risky. Early adopters can become the “default answers” inside AI conversations, while late movers may find themselves invisible—even if they technically still rank. For DMOs, OTAs, tour operators, and hospitality brands, AEO is shifting from experiment to essential skill set. If travellers are already asking AI where to go next, the next strategic step is making sure the AI knows it should be recommending you.
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