AI SEO in the Travel Industry

1. The setting: travel industry + SEO’s tipping point

For decades, the online travel sector was transformed by the arrival of OTAs (online travel agencies) and meta‐search engines like Kayak. Search engines meant brands could optimise for keywords like “city break Lisbon” or “family friendly resort Greece” and capture high-volumes of intent.

But we are now entering a different phase:

• According to a recent study, AI-generated answers appear in more than half of all Google searches for travel-related topics. (@noblestudios)

• The report by the European Travel Commission found that AI tools in the tourism sector are already producing tangible productivity and quality gains (over 50% improvements in certain tasks) for NTOs (National Tourism Organisations). (ETC Corporate)

• In a travel SEO industry report, “AI Overviews” (Google’s summary panels) were present for about 30% of travel queries in 2024 and expected to climb further. (Screaming Frog)

In short: the discovery process is shifting. Instead of a user typing “luxury resort in Bali under $300” into Google and clicking five links, they might ask ChatGPT/Perplexity or use Google’s new “AI Mode” and get a packaged answer.

So if your organic traffic from Google is sharply decreasing, the most probable culprit isn’t just Google algorithm updates; it’s the rise of answer-engines and AI-agent assisted booking paths.

2. Why AI search and bookings are rewriting the rules

2.1 Google & Meta-Search change

The largest travel platform, Google Travel, has been embedding more direct tools into search. For example, Google’s new “AI Mode” is beginning to “analyze hundreds of potential ticket options with real-time pricing and inventory, and handle the tedious work of …” trip planning. (skift.com) When Google itself becomes an agent rather than just a listing of links, the rules of visibility change.

2.2 Generative AI models and agents taking over discovery

Travelers are increasingly using generative AI tools to plan rather than simple search. According to one article: > “A significant portion of travellers say they simply pose questions to conversational AI… hyper-personalised itineraries, booking integration.” (Tourism Innovation Summit)
Platforms like Google Cloud highlight how travel & hospitality customers are already using models like Gemini and Imagen to deliver personalised experiences. (Google Cloud)

2.3 Consequences for traffic & visibility

Here are key consequences:

• When an AI overview appears at the top of search results, the site below loses clicks; this has been shown in studies. (Semrush)

• Traffic from traditional organic search is likely to decline across travel.

• However: the traffic that does click may have higher intent (because AI already filtered it). For instance, in one piece it says: “Visitors arriving through AI-driven searches are about 4.5 times more valuable than those from traditional organic search.” (@noblestudios)

Therefore: simply chasing more keyword rankings is no longer sufficient. You must ensure you are cited or selected by AI-driven flows; i.e., you must optimise for the answer-engine era.

3. What AIO (AI Optimisation) means for travel brands

When I talk about AIO (AI Optimisation) I’m referring to optimising for generative engines (sometimes called generative engine optimisation or GEO) and AI-agent flows rather than just classic SEO.

Here’s what this means for travel brands of all sizes.

3.1 Large travel platforms & OTAs

Big brands have scale, they can:

• feed inventory directly to LLMs and AI-agents to get early placement;

• build partnerships with platforms (for example Google Cloud partnering with airline groups) to secure data-pipeline advantage. (Reuters)

• use AI to personalize and automate booking experiences end-to-end (from suggestion to payment).

3.2 Smaller travel brands, niche operators & destinations

Smaller brands might assume they are powerless, but they can win too. They should:

• build rich, distributed content across multiple channels (blogs, reviews, videos, social) so that AI-agent systems have multiple touch-points to pick up from;

• encourage strong reviews, UGC (user generated content) and signals of trust so AI-systems recognise them as credible;

• structure content so that it’s AI-agent friendly (clear Q&A, structured data, rich context) rather than simply ranking-friendly;

• monitor traffic lost to AI and recover it via visibility audits and AI-SEO optimisation.

3.3 The pillars of AI SEO for travel

We can define a set of AI SEO pillars for the travel industry:

• Content credibility & freshness: AI agents prioritise accurate, up-to-date info (flight/pricing, availability, reviews).

• Structured context & data: making sure your content is accessible and comprehensible for LLMs (schema, FAQs, structured blocks).

• Distributed visibility: not just your website, but your mentions in reviews, forums, social media, influencer content, so AI-agents find you across the web.

• Agent‐ready user-journeys: optimizing for situations where the traveller says: “Plan me a 5-day family beach holiday under €3000” and your brand is part of the answer.

• Recovery of traffic lost to AI: auditing what traffic has been cannibalised by AI-search or AI panels, and re-optimising accordingly.

When done well, you not only recover traffic lost to AI, but you position your brand to get cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other large-language-model ecosystems. For example: being the answer the model pulls in its summary.

4. How to execute an AI SEO strategy in the travel industry

Step 1: Conduct an AI visibility audit

• Use analytics to identify traffic decline correlating with increased AI overview presence (e.g., pages previously ranking but now seeing drops when AI panels appear).

• Assess how many of your key queries now trigger AI Overviews or “AI Mode” rather than clicks. For example, travel SEO reports show that in 2024 some travel queries had AI Overviews for ~30%. (Screaming Frog)

• Map your content to agent-ready formats: FAQs, structured data, conversational flows.

• Use tools (or partner with an agency like indexLab) to identify “AI-agent keywords” (prompts rather than standard keywords) such as: “family beach resort Europe budget €2000 under 10 days”.

Step 2: Transform content for generative engine optimisation

• Rewrite and restructure key pages so they are comprehensible by LLMs: clear context, defined entities, use of structured schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, TravelAction, Trip).

• Create rich micro-content suited to AI: for example short answer segments, bullet list summaries, structured itineraries, clear metadata. Because AI overviews tend to pull concise blocks.

• Develop content that answers full queries rather than just ranking keywords. Example: “What is the best 7-day explorative family holiday in Portugal with kids under 12?”

• Build out distributed content: not just your website, but guest blogs, review sites, social posts, travel forums; each should link back, get reviewed, and be transparent. AI-agents look for multiple signals.

• Encourage reviews and UGC; in a travel context, these are gold. AI-agents look for credibility signals (stars, recency, authenticity of review).

Step 3: Collaborate and feed AI-agent ecosystems

• For larger platforms: explore partnerships (APIs, data feeds) so that your inventory is accessible to LLMs/agents (e.g., flights, hotel rooms, experiences).

• For smaller brands: ensure your data is accessible and syndicated via travel meta-platforms, review platforms, OTAs, so your content shows up across networks.

• Monitor the appearance of “agent bookings”: if users can ask AI “book me a surf camp Portugal 5 days” and your brand comes back, you’re winning.

Step 4: Recover traffic lost to AI and measure differently

• Shift KPI from “rank #1 in Google” to “appear in AI-agent flows / AI-answer panels / get cited by ChatGPT and Gemini”.

• Use analytics to track referral from AI-tools (if possible) and monitor Click-Through Rate (CTR) changes when an AI answer appears above your link.

• Adjust your attribution models: traffic arriving might come from “agent engagement” rather than standard organic.

• Continually audit and iterate: as AI search features evolve, your optimisation must too. According to research, AI-search visitors may surpass traditional search visitors by 2028. (Semrush)

Step 5: Educate your marketing team and stakeholders

• Internal buy-in is crucial: many teams still chase traditional SEO metrics while neglecting AI‐visibility.

• Build training around generative engine optimisation, agent-first content strategy, review and reputation systems.

• Keep abreast of emerging travel-AI tools and platforms (for example, the ETC report noted rapid adoption in tourism marketing). (ETC Corporate)

5. Comparison Table

6. Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is AI SEO in the travel industry?

AI SEO (or AI Optimisation) in the travel industry is the process of making your brand visible in AI-driven search results and answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Instead of focusing only on Google rankings, it ensures your travel business is cited and recommended by AI agents when users ask for trip ideas, hotels, or itineraries.

2. Why is traditional travel SEO losing effectiveness?

Traditional SEO is declining because AI tools and Google’s AI Overviews now deliver instant answers directly to users. Travellers no longer click multiple links; they ask AI agents to plan or book trips. This means visibility depends on how well your content and brand are integrated into these AI-driven ecosystems.

3. How can travel brands recover traffic lost to AI search?

Travel brands can recover by conducting an AI Visibility Audit, creating agent-friendly content (clear Q&A, structured data, strong reviews), and building a distributed presence across multiple platforms. Partnering with an AI SEO consultant like indexLab helps ensure your brand gets cited in AI answers and remains discoverable in this new landscape.

7. Conclusion

Traditional travel SEO is losing its dominance. In the age of AI and LLM-driven discovery, travel brands must adopt an AI-first mindset: build content and visibility that agents select, not just search engines rank. By shifting to AIO (AI SEO in the travel industry), you can recover traffic lost to AI-powered results and position your brand to be seen, trusted and chosen when travellers ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity.

At indexLab we specialise in this transformation: conducting AI Visibility Audits, optimising for generative engine discovery, and partnering with brands so they aren’t invisible when people ask AI for recommendations. So what are you waiting for? Act now!

👉 Book your AI Visibility Audit with IndexLab today and make sure your brand isn’t invisible in the age of AI search