How can you get AI to recommend your travel brand?

Travellers who once opened ten browser tabs are increasingly asking AI platforms such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini a single, detailed question: “Where can I go hiking for three days in September, somewhere that is easy to reach by train from Brussels and suitable for beginners?” The answer instantly provides a selection of destinations and practical tips. For tourism organisations, this creates a new challenge: it is no longer enough to rank well on Google. They also need to appear in the answers generated by AI systems.

This is where Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, comes in. GEO covers the efforts you make to increase the likelihood that AI platforms understand your destination, consider it relevant and include it as a source or recommendation. There is no magic formula. But the principle at its core is remarkably human:

Write for people, structure for machines and support your story with reliable information.

So, how do you put this into practice? Here are five clear principles:

1. Start with the questions travellers actually ask

Traditional website copy often starts with what a destination wants to say. GEO starts with what a traveller wants to know. Imagine you represent the Paris tourism board. Rather than simply listing the city’s main highlights, start with specific questions such as: Which neighbourhoods in Paris are best for a first visit? How can you get around without a car? What can you do with children when it rains?

Create content that answers relevant consumer questions clearly. Consider the context behind each query too: is the person travelling with children, visiting without a car or discovering the region for the first time? The better your content responds to the traveller’s actual needs, the more useful it becomes to the AI system putting together an answer.

2. Provide concrete information, not empty superlatives

“A surprising destination full of unique experiences” may sound appealing, but it says very little. Instead, explain what genuinely sets your destination apart.

Include distances, travel times, seasons, difficulty levels, transport options and accessibility information. Explain why a route is suitable for families or what makes a city interesting to architecture lovers. Use clear headings and well-structured paragraphs. Not because AI only understands simple sentences, but because concrete information can be incorporated more easily into a clear answer.

3. Decide what you want to be known for

AI systems need to recognise quickly in which context your destination is relevant. If you communicate a little about everything, it becomes harder for a model to associate your destination with a specific travel query.

No destination needs to be the answer to every question. It is more effective to choose a few clear themes in which you can genuinely excel and publish consistently. Do you want to be known as a sustainable rail destination, a culinary region or a place for accessible outdoor adventures? Build a coherent body of content around those themes: routes, interviews, practical guides and local stories that reinforce one another.

This helps AI systems understand your destination and position it more accurately in their answers. You are showing them not only where you are, but - more importantly - when and for whom your destination is the right choice.

4. Make sure others validate your story

Your own website remains important, but your credibility becomes stronger when other reliable sources mention your destination too. Think of travel media, bloggers, content creators, tourism partners and specialist platforms.

A journalistic feature about your cycling routes or an in-depth blog about family travel adds independent context and real human experience. PR and influencer marketing therefore do more than generate reach: they also strengthen the wider online presence in which information about your destination can be found. For more insights, read our previous blog on PR and influencer marketing in the age of AI.

5. Do not overlook the technical foundations

Even the best content has limited value if search engines and AI systems cannot access it. Make sure important information appears as readable text, pages are linked internally and search engines are allowed to crawl and index your website.

OpenAI, for example, uses OAI-SearchBot to discover websites for ChatGPT’s search features. Google Gemini draws on Google’s existing index, while Perplexity relies heavily on real-time web results. Websites that block bots or are difficult to access may therefore miss opportunities across several platforms. Ask your web partner to check whether the relevant bots can access your site and whether the technical foundations are in place.

A solid SEO foundation remains essential as well. Google emphasises that principles such as crawlability, useful content and trustworthiness continue to matter for generative search features. In other words, there is no special technical GEO trick that makes well-structured content and good SEO practices obsolete.

Conclusion

GEO does not replace SEO; it builds on it. A technically accessible website, relevant content and credible third-party mentions work together to help AI systems find your travel brand, understand it and place it in the right context.

The foundations remain human: answer real questions, provide practical help and tell a story that is validated beyond your own channels.

So the best question is not: “How do we convince AI to recommend our destination?” It is: “How do we become the most useful and reliable answer to a genuine travel question?”

That is exactly where content, PR and influencer marketing come together. At Thx.agency, we help travel brands and destinations build that online authority step by step.