Table of Contents
- The Shift Is Already Here
- Brand Visibility in LLMs Explained
- Consumer Travel Trends
- Travel Marketing Research
- Agentic AI: The Future of Travel Booking
- Travel Brands Performing Well in GEO in 2025
- Top Airline Brands and Top Travel Brands
- AI Visibility vs Social Dominance
- Travel Brands: Social Share of Voice
- Need to Know
- GEO Foundation Essentials Checklist and Methodology
The Shift Is Already Here
Your brand might be famous. But is it recommended?
So, how easy is it for consumers to find your brand when they're planning their next trip?
We're witnessing a massive shift in the way people search, research and book travel. What once began with a handful of keywords in a search engine is increasingly becoming a conversation with an AI assistant, a personalised recommendation feed or a full-blown automated itinerary. For travel brands, this represents more than just another platform shift – it marks a transformation in how visibility, influence and trust are built in the digital landscape.
In 2026, travellers aren't just Googling, they're asking AI. We are now at the stage where AI visibility is becoming the new front page of travel discovery.
The rising use of AI in how consumers discover destinations, compare options and ultimately book their next trip is here to stay. It is already shaping behaviour today and will only accelerate in 2026 and beyond. This shift means it is vital, now more than ever, for travel companies to adapt their approach and ensure they maintain visibility in a new and ever-changing digital era.
In this report, we break down in simple terms how brands can lean into the new opportunities in search to maximise brand visibility – everywhere. Those that embrace and prepare for the shift now, will reap the rewards long term. Delay and you risk becoming increasingly invisible in a world where AI is fast becoming the first point of contact between travellers and brands.
Joanne Spence, Co-founder, Tigerbond
Brand Visibility in LLMs Explained
Large Language Models, aka LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Google's AI Mode, and Claude, have become an ever-popular tool for users.
From creating itineraries to comparing brands to sourcing holiday inspiration. LLMs use a technique called Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) which combines information from external sources such as websites, reviews, forums, publications and social media, to create a more accurate output for the user.
A 2025 Amadeus survey of global travellers found the percentage of those leaning on generative AI-powered tools for travel planning soared from 11% to 18% marking a dramatic 64% year-on-year increase in perspectives, opinions and experiences.
- 18% of travellers leaning upon generative AI-powered tools for travel planning
- +64% year-on-year increase
Source: Amadeus Insights
As LLMs become a research tool for brand trust, inspiration and education, brands must harness their own activity to cut through the competition.
Amadeus Connected Journeys report – at the discovery stage of the journey:
- 42% of consumers find AI helps them to save time planning
- 37% use it to receive highly personalised recommendations
- 36% find new destinations
Consumer Travel Trends
Looking at the year ahead, the appetite for travel is stronger than ever.
A recent survey carried out by global travel search engine Skyscanner has shown that 84% of travellers say they plan to travel either the same or more in the upcoming year.
Leading comparison players such as Expedia and Booking.com are integrating tools such as ChatGPT directly on their booking sites, making it easier than ever to slash admin time.
Travel Marketing Research
The travel decision journey is no longer linear. Travellers now move seamlessly between search, video, apps and AI platforms, expecting clear and consistent solutions. As AI becomes embedded across platforms, fragmented or delayed responses risk undermining trust.
According to Google's 2025 Cloud report, AI-powered features such as AI Overviews are accelerating decision-making, with 60% of consumers saying AI makes complex choices faster and easier.
By 2027, 87% of travel leaders expect AI assistants to be integrated across the customer journey.
For travel brands, AI visibility and consistency are no longer optional; they are critical to influencing decisions and building brand loyalty.
Reinforcing the increased familiarity and trust travellers are placing in AI, in future they would feel 'comfortable' booking holiday accommodation through AI platforms according to a survey carried out by hospitality giants Marriott.
According to a report published by Chartbeat, while Google search remains optimised for directing users toward external content, AI Mode is designed to synthesise and summarise information directly within the interface, reducing the need to click away. Its lower referral rate reflects a more contained, conversational form of discovery, where users engage deeply with generated answers rather than browsing multiple websites.
Additionally, further research of over 1,200 Nationwide banking customers suggests 2026 will be a year for leisure and travel spending, despite more than half or 54% being concerned about the cost of living.
Longer holidays and shorter breaks, festivals, concerts, experiences and wellness dominate the wish lists of more than four in ten or 41% of consumers are determined to treat themselves this year.
Agentic AI: The Future of Travel Booking
AI is rapidly becoming a tool for how travellers are seeking information. How Agentic AI comes into play is that AI swiftly switches from assisting customers with their queries to managing their requests.
For example, customers will be able to handle their bookings or flights, hotels and trips through Google's AI Mode in the future, meaning brands that are recommended through AI Mode will see more revenue come their way through Agentic AI.
Clear and well-designed content that speaks to the customer as well as being understood by AI models is key for any travel brand that wants to double down on GEO and get ahead of the advancements of Agentic AI.
Jodie highlights
"Travel brands need to embrace a holistic way of marketing to future-proof their name in 2026. Integrated channels that share the same goal in educating, engaging and entertaining their customers will do well in building a reputation and a relationship that speaks to not only them but also to LLMs."
Jodie O'Brien, Brand Strategy Director, Tigerbond
Travel Brands Performing Well in GEO in 2025
Top hotel brands
- Hilton
- Marriott
- Holiday Inn (IHG)
- Travelodge
- Premier Inn
AI visibility across LLMs is key if you want to be at the forefront of consumers' discovery phase. Looking at the top travel brands and their visibility across key systems, we have seen a correlation between strong brand, product offering and sentiment.
Hilton, Marriott and Holiday Inn are the top three most visible hotel brands when it comes to LLM visibility. Marriott comes up in LLMs for broad global enquiries; they dominate luxury-related terms, whilst Hilton dominates enquiries that are global and business-related. Hotel brand Travelodge is strong with niche budget constraint enquiries, while Premier Inn sees success in domestic-related prompts. Brands with a clear proposition, informational content (details on location, amenities and a structured loyalty programme) have been rewarded with increased visibility in LLMs.
Top Airline Brands and Top Travel Brands
Top airline brands
- British Airways
- Emirates
- EasyJet
- Virgin Atlantic
- TUI Airways
British Airways and Emirates lead airline AI visibility overall, while TUI Airways lags due to weaker results in Gemini and AI Mode.
Airline brands see close competition in their fight for brand visibility in LLMs. Whilst leaders, British Airways and Emirates dominate prompts in luxury and destination-related queries. TUI struggles to define their flight services, apart from their package holiday offering due to a lack of definitive flight-only related content. Sentiment is a key player here, with mixed reviews affecting AI summaries. A clear theme amongst holiday brands analysed was a lack of differentiation in offering from their other products (such as flights and experiences). Thomas Cook's relaunch as an online-only travel brand has the opportunity to reinforce its authority within the sector to become a contender with the leaders.
Top travel brands
- BA Holidays
- Virgin Holidays
- TUI
- P&O Ferries
- Jet2 Holidays
- Thomas Cook
The data shows strong AI visibility among leading travel brands, with British Airways Holidays and Virgin Holidays setting the benchmark, while others present clear opportunities to strengthen performance across conversational AI platforms.
It's key to remember niche travel brands such as P&O Ferries are restricted by offering a limited product (such as destinations and routes) but will perform well with LLMs if the information and brand sentiment is consistent.
AI Visibility vs Social Dominance
Across hotels, airlines and leading travel brands, the data shows a clear shift: AI-driven discovery does not reflect social share of voice. Brands with the loudest online presence are not always the brands being surfaced, summarised or recommended by AI tools, signalling a fundamental change in how travellers research and choose.
Hotels
Social conversation is highly concentrated around global leaders like Marriott and Hilton, yet AI visibility is more evenly distributed. Budget and mid-scale brands such as Travelodge perform disproportionately well in AI environments, while high-awareness brands like Premier Inn under-index — indicating AI favours structured, authoritative digital signals over volume of brand chatter.
Share of voice – hotels:
- Marriott: 51.78%
- Hilton: 16.31%
- Holiday Inn: 13.83%
- IHG: 12.04%
- Premier Inn: 3.79%
- Travelodge: 2.23%
Airlines
Emirates dominates social discussion, but AI significantly narrows the gap. British Airways and EasyJet achieve comparable AI visibility, suggesting AI prioritises practical relevance (i.e. routes, reliability and clarity) rather than prestige alone.
Share of voice – airlines:
- Emirates: 74.98%
- British Airways: 13.35%
- EasyJet: 6.99%
- Virgin Atlantic: 4.68%
Need to Know
Travel has a big year ahead, with increasing customer budgets and the need to navigate a competitive brand discovery landscape.
As AI-led search continues to evolve, common threads within travel are trust, sentiment, niche authority and clarity. Brands that offer multiple products must adopt a clear strategy to differentiate between them, with social activity clearly separated to support AI visibility.
Customer experience also plays a critical role. Strong service, clearly defined loyalty programmes and positive independent reviews have consistently been cited in LLM outputs as strong drivers of AI visibility. As competition intensifies, brands must double down on this.
LLM visibility is partially driven by sentiment and trust, making it essential that brands demonstrate themselves as both credible and reliable. LLMs learn the brands that are most accessible and prominent before determining recommendations – this makes niche authority, stakeholder PR and subject-specific campaigns essential.
Since the adoption of AI search and discovery, brands and marketers alike are realising the importance of brand. Where marketing departments would be siloed by knowledge, budget and goals in the past, 2026 sees a year of more integrated marketing focusing on brand.
This means PR, SEO and Social will be working closer together toward one main goal across a variety of platforms and categories.
GEO Foundation Essentials Checklist and Methodology
GEO foundation essentials checklist
- Brand & entity clarity: Brands need to define a clear value proposition and point of difference, applied consistently across owned platforms, profiles and review websites.
- Robust website content: LLMs and customers prefer clear explanations and language. Travel brands need to be clear and have updated information such as pricing models, policies, and FAQs.
- Structured & machine-readable: Use schema markup, clean HTML with minimal JavaScript rendering for key content, and fully crawlable pages that do not unnecessarily block AI bots, where appropriate.
- Authority & trust signals: Build credibility through third-party coverage, trusted publications, consistent reviews and transparent authorship.
- Brand presence beyond your site: Maintain accurate, consistent brand narratives across PR, social and external platforms to reinforce authority in AI environments.
- Monitoring & correction: Regularly testing content across major LLMs and proactively addressing any misinformation through timely, authoritative updates.
Methodology and data sources consulted
The data was pulled by using 'top travel brands by YouGov's Q4 2025' report, which ranks brands in different sectors by fame and popularity scoring. The top 5 for each niche were then analysed in SEMrush for AI visibility across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini and Overall. The visibility for each brand's domain was assessed in the UK Market only.
Scoring: AI visibility score measures how often the brand appears in AI-Generated answers across topics, and how it consistently shows up compared to other brands. A higher score means better visibility.
