Travel AEO: How to Get Your Destination Recommended by AI Search Engines

Why AI Is Transforming Travel Search

AI is fundamentally changing how people plan and book travel. The shift is not gradual — it is happening right now, and it is massive. According to industry surveys, over 40% of travelers under 35 now use AI chatbots as part of their trip planning process. Platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews are becoming the first stop for trip research, replacing the traditional cycle of Google search, scroll through ten blue links, open multiple tabs, and compare manually.

The reason is simple: AI gives travelers what they actually want — a personalized, synthesized answer. Instead of sifting through dozens of blog posts and review pages, a traveler can ask "plan me a 5-day trip to Portugal for a couple on a $3,000 budget" and get a complete, structured itinerary with hotel recommendations, restaurant suggestions, activity ideas, and transportation tips in seconds.

This creates an enormous opportunity — and an existential threat — for travel businesses. The hotels, tour operators, attractions, and destinations that AI recommends will capture the lion's share of bookings. The ones AI does not know about, or cannot understand well enough to recommend, will lose traffic they never even knew was available.

How Travelers Are Using AI Right Now

The travel queries hitting AI search engines are remarkably specific. These are not vague searches — they are detailed requests that demand detailed answers:

• "Best family-friendly resorts in Cancun with kids club and all-inclusive under $300/night"
• "Plan me a 7-day road trip through the Scottish Highlands in September"
• "What are the best things to do in Austin for a bachelorette party?"
• "Romantic boutique hotels in Santorini with caldera views"
• "Best time to visit Costa Rica for surfing and what towns to stay in"
• "Hidden gem restaurants in Tokyo that locals actually go to"
• "Compare Bali vs Thailand for a 2-week backpacking trip"
• "Best walking tours in Rome — small group, not touristy"

Every one of these queries is an opportunity for a travel business to be recommended. And every one of these queries requires AI to pull from specific, structured, trustworthy sources. If your website gives AI the data it needs to answer these questions, you get recommended. If it does not, your competitor does.

Why Travel Is Uniquely Impacted by AI Search

Travel is one of the industries most disrupted by AI search for three specific reasons:

Travel decisions are research-heavy. The average traveler visits 38 websites before booking a trip. AI compresses that research into a single conversation. This means the businesses AI knows about and trusts get disproportionate visibility.

Travel is inherently personalized. A "best hotel" recommendation depends entirely on who is asking — budget, travel style, group size, dietary needs, accessibility requirements, and interests. AI excels at matching these personal criteria to specific businesses, but only if those businesses provide the structured data AI needs.

Travel queries are itinerary-shaped. Travelers do not just search for one hotel or one restaurant — they ask AI to plan entire trips. This means a single AI conversation can generate recommendations for hotels, tours, restaurants, attractions, and transportation all at once. Being included in an AI-generated itinerary is like being on the first page of Google for dozens of keywords simultaneously.

What Is Travel AEO?

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing your online presence so that AI search engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and others — can understand, trust, and recommend your business. Travel AEO applies these principles specifically to hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, attractions, destination marketing organizations, and any business that serves travelers. For a comprehensive introduction to AEO principles, see our complete guide to Answer Engine Optimization.

Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on ranking in a list of ten blue links, AEO focuses on being the answer AI gives directly. When a traveler asks Perplexity "best boutique hotels in Charleston," Perplexity does not show a list of links — it recommends specific hotels by name, describes what makes each one special, and may even include pricing and booking details. AEO is how you become one of those specific recommendations.

The stakes for travel businesses are particularly high because AI recommendations often carry implicit endorsement. When ChatGPT says "for a romantic getaway in Napa Valley, consider The Carneros Resort — it features private cottages with outdoor soaking tubs, farm-to-table dining, and vineyard views," that reads like a trusted friend's recommendation, not an ad. Travelers act on these recommendations with higher confidence and conversion rates than traditional search results.

Travel AEO encompasses seven core strategies, each building on the others. Here is the complete playbook.

Step 1: Implement Travel Schema Markup

Schema markup is the single most impactful technical change for travel AEO. Schema gives AI structured, machine-readable data about your business — your location, pricing, amenities, hours, availability, and what makes your offering unique. Without schema, AI has to scrape and interpret unstructured text from your website, which is error-prone and often leads to your business being skipped entirely. With schema, you are handing AI a perfectly formatted data card that says "here is exactly what I offer and who I serve."

If you are new to schema markup implementation, our step-by-step guide to adding schema markup covers the basics. The travel industry has several specialized schema types you should know. You can also use our free schema generator tool to create travel-specific schema without writing code.

LodgingBusiness Schema (Hotels, Resorts, B&Bs, Vacation Rentals)

LodgingBusiness is the primary schema type for any accommodation provider. It tells AI your property type, star rating, amenities, price range, location, check-in/check-out times, and available room types. This is essential for appearing in AI responses to queries like "best hotels in [city]" or "affordable places to stay in [destination]."

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Hotel",
  "name": "Oceanview Boutique Hotel",
  "description": "A 28-room boutique hotel overlooking
    the Pacific Ocean, featuring locally sourced breakfast,
    rooftop bar, and direct beach access.",
  "url": "https://www.oceanviewboutique.com",
  "image": "https://www.oceanviewboutique.com/hero.jpg",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Coastal Highway",
    "addressLocality": "Laguna Beach",
    "addressRegion": "CA",
    "postalCode": "92651",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 33.5427,
    "longitude": -117.7854
  },
  "starRating": {
    "@type": "Rating",
    "ratingValue": "4"
  },
  "priceRange": "$$$$",
  "checkinTime": "15:00",
  "checkoutTime": "11:00",
  "amenityFeature": [
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
      "name": "Free Wi-Fi", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
      "name": "Rooftop Bar", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
      "name": "Beach Access", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
      "name": "Complimentary Breakfast", "value": true },
    { "@type": "LocationFeatureSpecification",
      "name": "Pet Friendly", "value": true }
  ],
  "numberOfRooms": 28,
  "petsAllowed": true,
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.7",
    "reviewCount": "842"
  }
}

Notice the specificity of this schema. It communicates 28 rooms, pet-friendly, complimentary breakfast, rooftop bar, and beach access — all in a format AI can parse instantly. When a traveler asks "pet-friendly boutique hotel in Laguna Beach with breakfast included," this schema gives AI everything it needs to recommend this property with confidence.

TouristAttraction Schema (Attractions, Landmarks, Parks, Museums)

TouristAttraction schema is critical for any business or destination that travelers visit as an activity. This includes museums, parks, historical sites, theme parks, natural wonders, viewpoints, markets, and cultural landmarks. It tells AI what the attraction is, where it is located, when it is open, what it costs, and what makes it worth visiting.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "TouristAttraction",
  "name": "Sunset Cliff Overlook",
  "description": "A dramatic 200-foot coastal cliff
    offering panoramic Pacific Ocean views, whale watching
    from December through April, and the most photographed
    sunset in Southern California.",
  "url": "https://www.sunsetcliffoverlook.com",
  "image": "https://www.sunsetcliffoverlook.com/hero.jpg",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "addressLocality": "San Diego",
    "addressRegion": "CA",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 32.7196,
    "longitude": -117.2553
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday",
        "Thursday","Friday","Saturday","Sunday"],
      "opens": "06:00",
      "closes": "22:00"
    }
  ],
  "isAccessibleForFree": true,
  "publicAccess": true,
  "touristType": ["Couples", "Photographers",
    "Nature Lovers", "Families"]
}

The touristType field is particularly powerful for travel AEO. It tells AI exactly which traveler segments this attraction serves, enabling precise matching to queries like "best things to do in San Diego for photographers" or "romantic spots in San Diego for couples."

TouristTrip Schema (Tour Packages, Guided Experiences, Multi-Day Trips)

TouristTrip schema is designed for tour operators and travel agencies that offer packaged experiences. It communicates the itinerary structure, included stops, duration, pricing, and provider information. This is especially powerful for AI because it maps directly to how travelers ask trip-planning questions.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "TouristTrip",
  "name": "Tuscan Wine & Village Experience",
  "description": "A 3-day guided tour through
    Tuscany's Chianti region, visiting family-owned
    vineyards, medieval hilltop villages, and featuring
    a private cooking class with a local chef.",
  "touristType": ["Couples", "Food Lovers",
    "Wine Enthusiasts"],
  "itinerary": {
    "@type": "ItemList",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 1,
        "name": "Day 1: Florence to Greve in Chianti",
        "description": "Hotel pickup, first vineyard
          visit, wine tasting, medieval village walk,
          welcome dinner at agriturismo."
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 2,
        "name": "Day 2: San Gimignano & Cooking Class",
        "description": "Visit to San Gimignano,
          olive oil tasting, hands-on pasta-making
          class with local chef."
      },
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 3,
        "name": "Day 3: Montepulciano & Thermal Baths",
        "description": "Brunello vineyard tour,
          Montepulciano exploration, optional thermal
          bath visit, return to Florence."
      }
    ]
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "1450",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
  },
  "provider": {
    "@type": "TravelAgency",
    "name": "Tuscan Journeys",
    "url": "https://www.tuscanjourneys.com"
  }
}

The itinerary field within TouristTrip schema is especially valuable. It gives AI a day-by-day breakdown that can be directly surfaced when travelers ask "what does a Tuscany wine tour include" or "3-day tours from Florence." This level of detail is what separates businesses that get recommended from those that get overlooked.

Event Schema (Festivals, Seasonal Events, Special Programming)

Event schema is essential for travel businesses that host or promote events, festivals, seasonal programming, or limited-time experiences. Travelers frequently ask AI time-specific questions like "what events are happening in Austin in March" or "best Christmas markets in Europe." Event schema ensures your events are discoverable in these queries.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Event",
  "name": "Harvest Moon Wine Festival",
  "description": "Annual 3-day wine festival featuring
    40+ local wineries, live music, farm-to-table dining,
    and grape-stomping competitions. Held every October
    in Sonoma County.",
  "startDate": "2026-10-09T10:00:00-07:00",
  "endDate": "2026-10-11T22:00:00-07:00",
  "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventScheduled",
  "eventAttendanceMode":
    "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode",
  "location": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "Sonoma County Fairgrounds",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Santa Rosa",
      "addressRegion": "CA",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    }
  },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "75",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
    "validFrom": "2026-06-01"
  },
  "organizer": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Sonoma Wine Country Tourism",
    "url": "https://www.sonomawine.org"
  }
}

The combination of these schema types creates a comprehensive machine-readable profile of your travel business. A resort might use LodgingBusiness for the property, TouristAttraction for its spa and beach, TouristTrip for guided excursions, and Event for its seasonal programming. Each layer of schema gives AI additional data points to match your business to traveler queries.

FoodEstablishment Schema for Hotel Restaurants and Resort Dining

If your hotel or resort has on-site dining, add FoodEstablishment schema for each restaurant. This is a cross-sell opportunity — travelers asking "hotels in Napa with good restaurants" or "resorts with farm-to-table dining" need AI to understand that your property includes notable dining. Link the restaurant schema to the parent LodgingBusiness schema to create a connected data model. For restaurant-specific AEO strategies, see our restaurant AEO guide.

Step 2: Create Destination Content AI Wants to Cite

Structured data tells AI what your business is. Destination content tells AI why it should recommend you. The travel businesses that dominate AI search are the ones that produce genuinely useful, authoritative destination content — not promotional fluff, but practical information travelers actually need.

AI search engines are trained to identify and cite sources that demonstrate genuine local expertise. A hotel in Tulum that publishes a detailed guide to "the best cenotes within 30 minutes of Tulum, ranked by difficulty level" positions itself as a local authority. When a traveler asks Perplexity "best cenotes near Tulum," that hotel's content becomes a primary source — and the hotel itself gets mentioned as a nearby accommodation. For a deeper look at how to write content that AI engines prefer to cite, see our guide on how AI search engines work.

The Content Types That Get Travel Businesses Cited

Neighborhood and area guides. Create detailed guides for the area around your business: walking distances to key attractions, hidden local spots, transportation options, safety tips, and neighborhood character descriptions. A hotel that publishes "Your Complete Guide to the French Quarter: What to Do, Where to Eat, and What Most Tourists Miss" becomes the authority AI cites when travelers ask about that neighborhood.

"Best of" lists with genuine expertise. Write curated lists that showcase local knowledge: "12 Best Restaurants in Ubud That Locals Actually Go To," "The 8 Best Snorkeling Spots on Maui, Ranked by Skill Level," "5 Hidden Beaches Near Barcelona Most Tourists Never Find." These match directly to the "best [thing] in [place]" queries travelers ask AI.

Practical travel logistics. Cover the practical questions travelers need answered: "How to Get from Bangkok Airport to Your Hotel: Every Option Compared," "Do You Need a Car in Sedona? Complete Transportation Guide," "Tipping Etiquette in Japan: A Complete Guide for Visitors." These high-utility pages get cited frequently because they answer common pre-trip questions.

Comparison and decision-support content. Help travelers make decisions: "Bali vs Thailand: Which Is Better for First-Time Asia Travelers," "North Shore vs South Shore Oahu: Which Side Should You Stay On," "All-Inclusive vs Independent Travel in Mexico: Pros, Cons, and Cost Breakdown." AI loves comparison content because it maps to how travelers frame planning questions.

Budget breakdowns and cost guides. Provide real cost information: "How Much Does a Week in Iceland Actually Cost? 2026 Budget Breakdown," "Bali on $50/Day: A Realistic Budget Guide," "What to Budget for a Napa Valley Wine Trip." Budget content is among the most-requested travel information from AI and positions your business as a transparent, trustworthy source.

How to Structure Destination Content for AI

The way you structure content matters as much as what you write. AI prefers content that uses answer-first paragraphs — lead with the direct answer, then elaborate. Use clear headings that match how travelers phrase questions. Include specific data points: distances, prices, times, ratings. Avoid vague superlatives like "amazing" and "beautiful" — instead, describe specifically what makes something notable. Compare "our hotel has beautiful views" to "our hotel overlooks a 180-degree panorama of the Caldera, with direct sightlines to Nea Kameni volcano and sunset views that last 45 minutes during summer months." The second version gives AI concrete details it can cite.

Use FAQ schema on your destination content pages to mark up commonly asked questions. Questions like "Is Tulum safe for solo female travelers?" or "Do you need a rental car in Maui?" map directly to AI queries. When your page has both the question and a comprehensive answer in FAQ schema, AI can surface your response directly.

Step 3: Build a Cross-Platform Review Strategy

Reviews are the most powerful trust signal in travel AEO. AI search engines aggregate reviews from TripAdvisor, Google Business Profile, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Viator, GetYourGuide, Yelp, and your own website to form a comprehensive assessment of your business. The businesses with the strongest review profiles get recommended. Period.

AI does not just look at your average rating. It analyzes review volume, recency, cross-platform consistency, and — critically — the specific language reviewers use. When a reviewer writes "the rooftop bar had incredible sunset views and the craft cocktails were some of the best I have had in Mexico," AI indexes that as evidence your property has a rooftop bar, sunset views, and quality cocktails. These specific details become matchable data points for traveler queries.

Platform Priority for Travel Businesses

How to Systematically Build Travel Reviews

Build a systematic review generation process: send a personalized post-stay or post-experience email within 24 hours, include a direct link to your TripAdvisor page, follow up with a text message if you collected mobile numbers, train front-desk and tour guide staff to ask for reviews at checkout or trip conclusion, and respond to every review — positive and negative — within 48 hours. AI weighs management responses as a signal of business quality and engagement.

The specific language in your management responses matters too. When responding to reviews, naturally include keywords that reinforce your key offerings: "Thank you for enjoying our rooftop bar and the sunset views over the bay. We are glad the complimentary breakfast fueled your hiking adventures on the nearby coastal trail." This creates additional keyword-rich content that AI can index.

This approach mirrors what works for local business AEO and restaurant AEO, but with travel-specific platform priorities and the added dimension of verified-stay reviews that travel platforms provide.

Step 4: Publish Seasonal and Event Content

Seasonal content is one of the most underutilized strategies in travel AEO, and one of the most powerful. Travelers overwhelmingly ask time-specific questions: "what is the weather like in Bali in August," "best time to see cherry blossoms in Kyoto," "things to do in New York in December," "shoulder season in Greece — when is it?" If your website answers these questions with current, detailed information, AI will cite you.

Monthly and Seasonal Destination Guides

Create guides for each season or month relevant to your destination. A hotel in Maui should have content covering "Visiting Maui in January: Whale Season, Weather, Crowds, and Pricing," "Maui in June: Best Beaches, Snorkeling Conditions, and Summer Events," and so on. Each guide should cover weather expectations, crowd levels, pricing trends, what activities are available, and what to pack. Update these guides annually with current year data — AI strongly favors content with recent dates and current information.

Event Calendars and Festival Guides

Maintain a current event calendar for your area. This is not just a list of dates — create detailed guides for major events and festivals: "Complete Guide to SXSW 2026: Where to Stay, How to Get Around, and What Not to Miss," "Visiting Mardi Gras in New Orleans: First-Timer's Survival Guide," "Attending Oktoberfest in Munich: Booking, Transportation, and Tent Reservations." Use Event schema for each event and update dates, prices, and details as they are announced.

"Best Time to Visit" Content

This is one of the highest-volume travel query types hitting AI search engines. Create a comprehensive "best time to visit" page for your destination that covers weather month-by-month, peak vs shoulder vs off-season pricing, crowd levels throughout the year, seasonal activities and events, and specific recommendations for different traveler types (families during school breaks, couples in shoulder season, budget travelers in off-season). Structure this content with clear monthly breakdowns that AI can extract and cite directly.

Step 5: Build Itinerary-Style Guides

Itinerary content is travel AEO gold. When travelers ask AI to "plan me a trip," the AI constructs an itinerary — and it draws from existing itinerary content to do so. Businesses that publish well-structured, day-by-day itineraries dramatically increase their chances of being included in AI-generated trip plans.

What Makes an AI-Friendly Itinerary

Structure your itineraries with clear day-by-day breakdowns. Each day should include morning, afternoon, and evening activities with specific place names, addresses, approximate costs, and travel time between stops. Include practical logistics: how to get between locations, where to eat, and insider tips. The more specific and actionable your itinerary, the more likely AI will reference it.

Create itineraries for different traveler personas. A tour company in Rome might publish: "3-Day Rome Itinerary for First-Time Visitors," "Rome with Kids: A 5-Day Family Itinerary," "Romantic Rome: A Weekend Getaway for Couples," and "Foodie Rome: 4-Day Itinerary for Food Lovers." Each targets different AI queries and different traveler segments.

Include your business naturally. The itinerary should be genuinely useful — not a sales pitch. But you can naturally weave in your business: "After exploring the Colosseum in the morning, head to our walking tour meeting point at Piazza Navona for a 2-hour guided tour of Rome's hidden alleyways and artisan workshops." This positions your business as part of a complete travel experience rather than an isolated offering.

Use structured data for itineraries. Apply TouristTrip and ItemList schema to your itinerary pages. This gives AI a machine-readable version of your itinerary that it can directly incorporate into trip-planning responses.

Itinerary Formats That Perform Well for AI

Each itinerary should include a TL;DR summary at the top — a concise version of the full trip in 3-4 sentences. AI often extracts these summaries when space is limited, so make them compelling and information-dense.

Step 6: Optimize for Each AI Platform

Different AI platforms source and present travel information differently. Optimizing for each platform's specific behavior increases your total AI visibility. Understanding how these AI search engines actually process information is essential for effective platform-specific optimization.

Google AI Overviews (SGE)

Google AI Overviews draw heavily from Google's own ecosystem: Google Business Profile, Google Maps, Google Reviews, and websites that already rank well in traditional Google search. For travel businesses, this means your Google Business Profile is the single most important asset for Google AI visibility. Ensure it has complete category information, high-quality photos uploaded regularly, accurate hours and seasonal hours, detailed service descriptions, Q&A responses, and a strong review profile with management responses. Google AI Overviews also pull from Google Maps data to recommend "things to do near [location]," so having your attractions, tours, and restaurants properly listed and categorized on Google Maps is essential.

ChatGPT for Trip Planning

ChatGPT has become one of the most popular trip-planning tools in the world. It draws from a broad training dataset plus live web browsing when enabled. For travel, ChatGPT particularly values comprehensive, well-structured content with specific details — prices, distances, hours, and practical tips. It also heavily references TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet, travel blogs, and established travel publications. Travel businesses that are mentioned in these sources, combined with having strong schema markup on their own website, are most likely to be recommended by ChatGPT. Publishing an llms.txt file gives ChatGPT a direct summary of your business optimized for AI consumption.

Perplexity for Travel Research

Perplexity is increasingly popular for trip planning because it cites its sources with inline references, which gives travelers confidence in its recommendations. Perplexity actively crawls the web for current information and values recency — recently published or updated content is weighted more heavily. For travel businesses, this means keeping your content fresh and regularly updated is especially important for Perplexity visibility. Perplexity also values content that provides specific, verifiable facts — prices, ratings, hours, distances — rather than subjective descriptions. Structured data amplifies these facts and makes them more likely to be cited with your website as the source link.

Claude for Thoughtful Trip Planning

Claude values depth, nuance, and comprehensiveness. For travel recommendations, Claude tends to provide more detailed, thoughtful responses that consider the traveler's specific needs. Businesses that provide detailed, nuanced content — explaining not just what they offer but who it is best for and why — tend to be recommended by Claude. Honest, balanced information (including noting when your business might not be the best fit for a particular traveler type) can actually increase trust and recommendation likelihood.

Step 7: Nail the Technical Foundations

Technical foundations ensure AI can actually crawl, understand, and index your travel website. Even the best content and schema markup are useless if AI cannot access your pages.

Crawlability and Access

Ensure AI crawlers can access your content. Many travel websites inadvertently block AI with aggressive bot restrictions, JavaScript-heavy pages that AI cannot render, booking widgets that hide content behind interactions, or PDF brochures that AI cannot read. Check your robots.txt configuration for AI crawlers and ensure your key content pages are accessible. This is especially common with travel booking engines — if your room descriptions, pricing, and availability are only visible after interacting with a booking widget, AI cannot see them.

The llms.txt File for Travel Businesses

An llms.txt file provides AI search engines with a structured summary of your website and business. For travel businesses, this is an opportunity to communicate your key value propositions directly to AI: your location, property type, what makes you unique, your target traveler, pricing tier, and available experiences. This file sits at your domain root and acts as a direct communication channel with AI. Learn more in our guide to what llms.txt is and how to implement it.

# Oceanview Boutique Hotel

> A 28-room boutique hotel in Laguna Beach, California,
> overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Pet-friendly, with
> complimentary farm-to-table breakfast, rooftop bar,
> and direct beach access. Ideal for couples and
> families seeking a luxury coastal experience.

## Key Pages
- /rooms: Room types, pricing, and amenities
- /dining: On-site restaurant and rooftop bar menus
- /experiences: Surf lessons, whale watching, coastal hikes
- /blog/laguna-beach-guide: Complete area guide
- /blog/best-time-to-visit: Seasonal planning guide

## Details
- Location: Laguna Beach, CA (2 min walk to beach)
- Price Range: $280-$520/night
- Check-in: 3 PM / Check-out: 11 AM
- Pet-friendly: Yes (dogs under 50 lbs)
- Amenities: Pool, rooftop bar, spa, beach access
- TripAdvisor: 4.7/5 (842 reviews)
- Google: 4.6/5 (1,203 reviews)

Page Speed and Mobile Experience

AI search engines factor in user experience signals when deciding what to recommend. A slow, mobile-unfriendly website sends negative quality signals. Travel websites are particularly prone to speed issues because of large hero images, embedded booking widgets, and third-party scripts. Optimize images with next-gen formats, lazy-load below-fold content, minimize third-party scripts, and ensure your site loads in under 3 seconds on mobile. Fast sites get crawled more frequently, which means your content is indexed and available to AI more quickly.

Multi-Language Content

If you serve international travelers, consider publishing key content in multiple languages. AI search engines increasingly respond in the language the traveler is using. A hotel in Barcelona that publishes destination guides in English, Spanish, French, and German dramatically increases its visibility to travelers from those language markets. Use hreflang tags to help AI understand the relationship between language versions and implement proper localization rather than simple machine translation.

Image Alt Text and Visual Content

Travel is inherently visual, and AI is increasingly multimodal — meaning it can process images alongside text. Ensure every image on your site has descriptive alt text that includes what the image shows, where it was taken, and relevant context. Instead of "hotel-pool.jpg" with alt text "pool," use "Infinity pool overlooking the Andaman Sea at sunset, with lounge chairs and tropical landscaping at Kata Rocks Resort, Phuket, Thailand." Descriptive alt text helps AI build a richer understanding of your property and improves your visibility in both text and image-based AI responses.

Sitemaps and Indexing

Submit an XML sitemap that includes all your key content pages: room pages, destination guides, itineraries, event pages, and blog posts. Mark up the lastmod dates accurately so AI crawlers know which content has been recently updated. For large travel sites with hundreds of pages, consider using sitemap index files to organize content by type. Ensure your sitemap is referenced in your robots.txt file for easy discovery by AI crawlers.

Case Studies: Travel Businesses Winning with AEO

The following examples illustrate how different types of travel businesses have applied AEO principles to increase their AI visibility and drive real business results.

Case Study 1: Boutique Hotel in Sedona, Arizona

Case Study 2: Walking Tour Company in Lisbon, Portugal

Case Study 3: Adventure Travel Agency in Costa Rica

Case Study 4: Destination Marketing Organization in Asheville, NC

Frequently Asked Questions

Bringing It All Together: Your Travel AEO Action Plan

Travel AEO is not a single tactic — it is a comprehensive strategy that compounds over time. Here is the priority order for implementation:

The travel businesses that start optimizing for AI search now will have a compounding advantage over the next 12-24 months. Every piece of destination content, every review collected, every schema type implemented builds on the others. The question is not whether AI will transform travel search — it already has. The question is whether your business will be recommended when travelers ask.

Run a free AEO audit of your travel website to see where you stand right now and get specific, prioritized recommendations for improving your AI visibility.