Search is being rewritten. Those who move now will benefit for the next decade.
A guest planning a stay in Ibiza in 2026 no longer types "best boutique hotels Ibiza" into Google as a first move. They ask Claude. They ask Perplexity. They ask ChatGPT. They get a single, considered answer with three or four recommended properties, often the same ones repeated across multiple AI tools.
Phocuswright's March 2026 research found that 71% of travellers aged 18 to 35 now use AI to plan travel, up from 24% in 2024. A separate 2026 industry study found that 84% of global hotels do not appear in AI search recommendations at all. The category of guest using AI to discover where to stay is growing every quarter. The category of operator visible in that space is small, and largely accidental.
This is the shift. Not in search rankings. In who gets recommended when an AI tool answers a guest's question.
The work to be cited, referenced, and recommended by AI engines is structured, learnable, and improving with each month. It compounds. The operators who establish authority in AI search now will be benefiting from it in 2030. The operators who wait will find themselves competing against five years of compounded advantage that was built quietly while they were not paying attention.
Five stages. Each one earns its place. Together they build a position that compounds.
A thorough audit of how your business currently appears across AI engines: Claude, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot. What is being said about you, what is missing, where your competitors are being cited instead. We benchmark your visibility today so we have something honest to measure against.
Technical work that signals to AI engines what your business is, what it offers, and who it serves. Structured data and schema. Core technical optimisation. The new LLMs.txt standard. Page speed and crawlability. The basics, done with the discipline that separates the operators AI engines trust from the ones they overlook.
AI engines weight authority signals: the depth of expertise visible on your site, the credibility of sources around you, the clarity of your positioning. We strengthen what is already there, develop expert-level content where it is missing, and align the digital footprint of your business with the standards AI engines use to decide what to reference.
The work that gets your business into AI engines' answers. Citation building. Strategic placements on the platforms LLMs already trust. Content engineered to be cited, not just read. Reviews, directories, and third-party signals shaped so that when an AI tool is asked about your category, your business is one of the answers.
AI engines change. Search behaviour evolves. New platforms emerge. Continuous monitoring of how you appear, where you are gaining and losing ground, what your competitors are doing. Monthly reports that show what is moving, monthly adjustments to the strategy that is keeping you visible.
Monthly retainer, three levels, each calibrated to a different scale of ambition.
The right place to begin for a single property or a focused operation. Full audit. Technical foundations. Structured data and schema. Content positioning. Monthly monitoring and reporting. The work that gets you visible.
For operators ready to invest in being not just visible but recommended. Deeper authority work, expert-driven content development, strategic citation building. The level at which compounding advantage starts to build.
Our flagship engagement, designed for multi-venue groups and operators serious about owning AI search visibility in their category. Dedicated specialist team. Weekly progress calls. Quarterly business reviews. The most considered version of this work we offer.
Traditional SEO optimises for a search engine ranking your page in a list of links. AI Search Optimization optimises for an AI engine choosing your business when it answers a question. The foundations overlap: quality content, authority signals, structured data. The output is different. With SEO, you rank. With GEO, you are recommended.
Yes, and the shift is accelerating fast. Phocuswright's March 2026 research found 71% of travellers aged 18 to 35 now use AI to plan travel, up from 24% in 2024. A 2026 industry study found 84% of global hotels do not appear in AI search recommendations. The operators who are visible in this space now are establishing positions that will be very difficult for competitors to match later.
AI Search Optimization is a long-game investment. Early signals are measurable within the first 60 to 90 days. Meaningful AI citation growth typically takes four to six months. The compounding advantage continues to build for years after that, because AI engines treat established authority as a stronger signal than newer entrants.
Most of what we do for AI search visibility is also strong, defensible SEO work. Technical foundations, structured data, authority signals, content quality. The work is durable regardless of how AI search evolves. The downside risk of acting now is low. The downside risk of waiting is being invisible to a category of guest that is growing every quarter.
No serious operator in this space guarantees AI citations, because AI engines do not publish their ranking logic and they change frequently. What we guarantee is the work: a structured, evidence-based approach to building the citability signals AI engines actually weight, with monthly reporting on what is moving and what is not.
We work on monthly retainers, with three tiers reflecting different levels of investment and outcome. Each engagement starts with a conversation about your operation, your goals, and where the right level of engagement sits for you.
