How Travel Agencies Get Recommended by AI Assistants

"Find me a family-friendly tour operator for 10 days in Morocco, leaving from Barcelona in April." A year or two ago that sentence went into Google. Today, for a growing share of travellers, it goes into ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI answers, and the traveller sees three or four names instead of ten blue links.

If your agency is not one of those names, you are not in the comparison at all. This guide explains what AI assistants look for, what you can control, and how to measure where you stand.

How travellers use AI in 2026

The numbers are moving fast, so here are the most recent ones, with their limits:

• In a Phocuswright survey of 1,570 US leisure travellers in February 2026, 56% had used AI for trip planning, booking or help during a trip in the past year. Generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini reached 33% for trip research, close to the 35% who used general search engines.
• A YouGov survey for Expedia Group of more than 5,700 adults in the US, UK and India in March 2026 found that 53% are comfortable letting AI suggest travel options, but 68% prefer to book with a trusted travel brand even when AI booking is available.
• Expedia and Booking.com launched apps inside ChatGPT in October 2025. When a traveller compares hotels or flights in those apps, the booking happens on that platform, with its commission.

The pattern is clear: travellers plan with AI and book with someone they trust. Your job is to be one of the names AI suggests, and then to be the one the traveller trusts.

What AI assistants need to see before they name you

AI assistants don't have a secret ranking for agencies. They build answers from what they can read on the web and from search indexes, and they prefer sources that are clear, specific and confirmed elsewhere. In practice that means six things.

1. A page for every trip, with the facts on it

An assistant can only recommend what it can read. A page called "Morocco Family Adventure, 10 Days" with a day-by-day itinerary, departure dates, a "from" price, the minimum age and what is included answers the traveller's question almost word for word. A single "Destinations" page with a contact form answers nothing.

2. Clear entity information

Your agency's name, address, phone, licence and the destinations you specialise in should be written the same way on your website, your Google Business Profile, your association listings and review sites. Consistency helps assistants be sure that all these mentions are about the same company.

3. Structured data

Add TravelAgency or LocalBusiness markup for the company, TouristTrip for each trip, and FAQPage for real questions and answers. It doesn't guarantee anything, but it removes guesswork for search engines and AI systems that read your pages.

4. Reviews and mentions on other sites

Assistants lean on what other people say about you: reviews on Google, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot, and mentions in destination guides, local press, tourism boards and travel associations. One article in a respected travel publication can do more than ten blog posts on your own site.

5. Answers to the questions travellers really ask

Travellers ask long, specific questions: "Is Jordan safe for a solo female traveller in March?", "How many days do I need for Sri Lanka with children?". Answer them on your site in plain language, in the voice of someone who has been there. Specific, first-hand answers are exactly what assistants quote.

6. Let the AI search crawlers in

Check your robots.txt and any security plugin. If you block OAI-SearchBot, your pages can't appear in ChatGPT's search results. Google's AI answers are built on normal Google Search indexing, so blocking Googlebot removes you from both. Other assistants, such as Perplexity, use their own crawlers. Decide on purpose what you allow, rather than leaving it to a default setting.

How to check where you stand

Build a small prompt list, ten to twenty questions your best travellers would ask, and run it every month in ChatGPT, Gemini, Google and Perplexity. Use a logged-out or private window, write down which agencies are named and which pages are cited, and keep the log in a simple spreadsheet. After three months you will see whether you are gaining ground and which pages the assistants rely on.

Then check the basics on your own site with the Travel Agency Website Checklist, or run the free Guest X-ray, which checks titles, structured data, languages and the rest in about a minute.

When an assistant sends you a traveller

Being named is only the first step. The traveller who arrives from an AI answer has already read a summary and wants specifics fast. Make sure the trip page they land on has the price, the dates and an easy way to ask, and that your first reply is quick and useful. Speed to Quote covers that part, and the Guest Journey Map shows how the stages fit together. You can also see how I work with travel agencies.

FAQ

Can a travel agency pay to appear in ChatGPT answers?

Not in the normal answers. Large platforms such as Expedia and Booking.com have apps inside ChatGPT, but the regular answers come from what the assistant can read and trust on the web. Advertising options in AI products are changing, so check the current rules before you plan for them.

Does SEO still matter if travellers use AI?

Yes. Google's AI answers are built on its search index, and other assistants also use search results and well-structured pages. Good SEO, clear trip pages and real reviews help in both.

What is TouristTrip structured data?

It is a schema.org type for describing a trip: its name, itinerary, duration, offers and the agency that sells it. Adding it to each trip page helps search engines and AI systems understand exactly what you offer.

How long does it take to appear in AI recommendations?

It depends on your market, your existing reputation and how much you publish. Site fixes can be done in weeks, but reviews, mentions and authority build over months. Measure monthly with a fixed list of prompts.

Sources

• Majority of US travelers now use AI for trips, Phocuswright study finds, Travel Professional News, March 2026.
• Expedia Group reveals the AI trust gap, Hospitality Net, April 2026.
• OpenAI launches apps in ChatGPT with Expedia and Booking.com, PhocusWire, October 2025.