Three Recommendations or Nothing: The New Reality of Hotel Visibility

Jasmine Alcayde, Strategy and Growth Associate

Published February 13, 2026

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New Reality of Hotel Visibility

Three Recommendations or Nothing: The New Reality of Hotel Visibility

Jasmine Alcayde, Strategy and Growth Associate

Published February 13, 2026

Why we chose Claude over Chatgpt
Why we chose Claude over Chatgpt

This page is updated as new trends, courses, and other significant information emerge.

Latest Update: February 13, 2026


The realm of search has been slowly but surely changing. From having to scroll through hundreds, if not thousands, of results for a single query (sometimes to no avail), now all you have to do is ask a question and you'll get the answer within seconds.


Research by SE Ranking shows AI traffic to websites grew seven times in a single year, while McKinsey projects that by 2028, AI search visitors will surpass traditional search traffic entirely. Here's where we are now: AI currently drives only 0.15% of hotel traffic, with industry data showing that referral traffic from AI platforms jumped twelve-fold between July 2024 and February 2025 alone. In the Philippines, where AI adoption leads Southeast Asia, this shift is accelerating faster than global trends. The question every hotel operator should be asking: what happens when visibility stops being about ranking and starts being about selection?

The New Math of Discovery

Traditional search operated under a predictable brutality where position one captured 30% of clicks, position two received 15%, and position eleven relegated properties to page two obscurity. Yet even at position eleven, properties maintained visibility and brand awareness. Travelers still encountered your listing, still saw your property name, and still retained the option to click through if they chose to continue scrolling.


AI search operates under fundamentally different mathematics. When a traveler asks ChatGPT or Kayak's AI Mode for hotel recommendations, the system synthesizes hundreds of potential options into a curated shortlist of three properties, perhaps five at most.

According to Exposure Ninja's analysis of AI search behavior, around 60% of these conversations end without any website visit at all.Theentire discovery, evaluation, and booking process occurs within the AI interface itself. For properties excluded from that top-tier selection, the outcome is binary rather than gradual. They don't appear on page two or fall lower in rankings. They simply cease to exist in the traveler's consideration set.

Who controls the selection

This consolidation is already reshaping travel behavior globally through measurable shifts in traffic patterns and user engagement. Research by Semrush found that Google's AI Overviews now appear in 30% of all searches, more than doubling from the 13% observed at the start of 2025.Platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT collectively reach over 420 million active users weekly, and every single one of those users is learning that search can be replaced by conversation.


The Philippines accelerates this pattern rather than resisting it, driven by both technological infrastructure and cultural adoption rates. The 2025 e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company found that Filipinos demonstrate three times higher stated interest in generative AI compared to the global average.

The Philippines accelerates this pattern rather than resisting it, driven by both technological infrastructure and cultural adoption rates. The 2025 e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company found that Filipinos demonstrate three times higher stated interest in generative AI compared to the global average. Klook's 2025 Travel Pulse study documented that domestic hotel bookings grew 202% year over year as travelers increasingly use technology to plan and book trips.


When Booking.com's research shows 49% of Asia-Pacific travelers express interest in using AI to curate trips, the Philippine market consistently appears not as a follower of global trends but as their leading edge.

Klook's 2025 Travel Pulse study documented that domestic hotel bookings grew 202% year over year as travelers increasingly use technology to plan and book trips.


When Booking.com's research shows 49% of Asia-Pacific travelers express interest in using AI to curate trips, the Philippine market consistently appears not as a follower of global trends but as their leading edge.

The New Math of Discovery

Traditional search operated under a predictable brutality where position one captured 30% of clicks, position two received 15%, and position eleven relegated properties to page two obscurity. Yet even at position eleven, properties maintained visibility and brand awareness. Travelers still encountered your listing, still saw your property name, and still retained the option to click through if they chose to continue scrolling.


AI search operates under fundamentally different mathematics. When a traveler asks ChatGPT or Kayak's AI Mode for hotel recommendations, the system synthesizes hundreds of potential options into a curated shortlist of three properties, perhaps five at most. According to Exposure Ninja's analysis of AI search behavior, around 60% of these conversations end without any website visit at all.The entire discovery, evaluation, and booking process occurs within the AI interface itself. For properties excluded from that top-tier selection, the outcome is binary rather than gradual. They don't appear on page two or fall lower in rankings. They simply cease to exist in the traveler's consideration set.

Who controls the selection

This consolidation is already reshaping travel behavior globally through measurable shifts in traffic patterns and user engagement. Research by Semrush found that Google's AI Overviews now appear in 30% of all searches, more than doubling from the 13% observed at the start of 2025. Platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT collectively reach over 420 million active users weekly, and every single one of those users is learning that search can be replaced by conversation.

The Philippines accelerates this pattern rather than resisting it, driven by both technological infrastructure and cultural adoption rates. The 2025 e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company found that Filipinos demonstrate three times higher stated interest in generative AI compared to the global average. Klook's 2025 Travel Pulse study documented that domestic hotel bookings grew 202% year over year as travelers increasingly use technology to plan and book trips.


When Booking.com's research shows 49% of Asia-Pacific travelers express interest in using AI to curate trips, the Philippine market consistently appears not as a follower of global trends but as their leading edge.

The Philippines accelerates this pattern rather than resisting it, driven by both technological infrastructure and cultural adoption rates. The 2025 e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company found that Filipinos demonstrate three times higher stated interest in generative AI compared to the global average. Klook's 2025 Travel Pulse study documented that domestic hotel bookings grew 202% year over year as travelers increasingly use technology to plan and book trips.



When Booking.com's research shows 49% of Asia-Pacific travelers express interest in using AI to curate trips, the Philippine market consistently appears not as a follower of global trends but as their leading edge.

Who Controls the Selection?

Who controls the selection

The answer should concern independent hoteliers attempting to maintain direct booking channels and reduce commission dependence. Research by Cloudbeds analyzing how AI platforms source hotel recommendations reveals that over 50% of citations come from OTAs like Agoda, Booking.com, and Expedia. These platforms provide the structured, real-time data AI systems trust: rates, availability, reviews, property descriptions, all formatted for machine reading and algorithmic interpretation. Google Business profiles account for another 25% to 30% of citations according to the same study. Hotel websites themselves contribute only 5% to 10% of source material, even when those sites rank well in traditional search results.

The power dynamic this creates extends beyond simple commission economics into questions of structural dependence. The same OTAs that charge 15% to 20% commissions now mediate visibility in AI discovery. They position themselves not merely as distribution channels but as gatekeepers of algorithmic awareness. Hotels spent two decades building direct booking capabilities specifically to reduce OTA dependence, investing in website functionality, CRM systems, and marketing automation to capture the guest relationship at first touch. AI search threatens to make that hard-won independence structurally impossible by inserting OTA-controlled data feeds between hotels and the AI systems that shape guest awareness.

The power dynamic this creates extends beyond simple commission economics into questions of structural dependence. The same OTAs that charge 15% to 20% commissions now mediate visibility in AI discovery. They position themselves not merely as distribution channels but as gatekeepers of algorithmic awareness. Hotels spent two decades building direct booking capabilities specifically to reduce OTA dependence, investing in website functionality, CRM systems, and marketing automation to capture the guest relationship at first touch. AI search threatens to make that hard-won independence structurally impossible by inserting OTA-controlled data feeds between hotels and the AI systems that shape guest awareness.

Consider what this means for a 40-room boutique property in Palawan that has invested systematically in its website and cultivated direct relationships with repeat guests. The property maintains a strong Google presence that delivers 30% of bookings through organic search. As AI search becomes dominant, that carefully built direct channel increasingly depends on whether Agoda's data feed presents the property favorably to an LLM processing a traveler's query. The commission the property escaped by building direct booking capability gets replaced by structural dependence on platforms that control visibility itself, not merely the transaction that follows from it.

Large chains face different but related pressures in this environment. When AI recommends "best business hotels near Makati CBD," it might mention Marriott, Fairmont, and Shangri-La as brand-level answers. The recommendation creates visibility while obscuring individual property differentiation. The booking still happens and the brand captures the revenue. But the relationship becomes more transactional, the loyalty more diffuse, and the ability to distinguish between properties within a portfolio diminishes when AI treats brand identity as the primary unit of recommendation.

Who controls the selection

Large chains face different but related pressures in this environment. When AI recommends "best business hotels near Makati CBD," it might mention Marriott, Fairmont, and Shangri-La as brand-level answers. The recommendation creates visibility while obscuring individual property differentiation. The booking still happens and the brand captures the revenue. But the relationship becomes more transactional, the loyalty more diffuse, and the ability to distinguish between properties within a portfolio diminishes when AI treats brand identity as the primary unit of recommendation.

The Quality Paradox

Defenders of AI search frequently cite conversion rate improvements as evidence that the consolidation ultimately benefits both travelers and properties. Research by Ahrefs found that visitors who click through from AI platforms convert at dramatically higher rates than traditional search traffic. Some properties document conversion improvements of 23 times or more compared to organic search visitors. The argument follows that AI pre-qualifies intent and filters out casual browsers, sending properties only to serious buyers who arrive further along the decision journey.

Who controls the selection

This argument misses the consolidation effect entirely by focusing on conversion rates while ignoring absolute booking volume. When visibility concentrates among three to five properties instead of distributing across ten to fifteen, overall booking volume for excluded properties doesn't remain constant. The traffic disappears entirely. Conversion rate improvements applied to zero visitors produce zero bookings regardless of how efficient the funnel becomes for those few who do click through. The mathematics only work for properties that achieve selection in the first place.

How AI makes that selection reveals the extent to which hoteliers have lost control over their own representation. Google reviews carry more algorithmic weight than hotel website content. OTA descriptions matter more than carefully crafted brand narratives. Third-party travel blogs or YouTube videos signal authenticity that first-party marketing content fundamentally cannot, regardless of accuracy or comprehensiveness. Max Starkov, Adjunct Professor at NYU, frames the dynamic directly: "LLMs trust social media posts and customer reviews more than hotel websites." The platforms you don't control determine your visibility. The content you can't edit shapes your representation. The signals you can't manufacture or purchase establish your relevance in systems that claim to value authenticity above all other factors.

How AI makes that selection reveals the extent to which hoteliers have lost control over their own representation. Google reviews carry more algorithmic weight than hotel website content. OTA descriptions matter more than carefully crafted brand narratives. Third-party travel blogs or YouTube videos signal authenticity that first-party marketing content fundamentally cannot, regardless of accuracy or comprehensiveness. Max Starkov, Adjunct Professor at NYU, frames the dynamic directly: "LLMs trust social media posts and customer reviews more than hotel websites." The platforms you don't control determine your visibility. The content you can't edit shapes your representation. The signals you can't manufacture or purchase establish your relevance in systems that claim to value authenticity above all other factors.

What Gets Lost

The consolidation of discovery carries second-order effects that efficiency metrics fail to capture. These effects concern themselves less with individual property performance than with ecosystem diversity. When travelers see only three hotel options instead of fifteen, they miss the unusual property that doesn't fit standard categories. The family-run guesthouse with extraordinary local knowledge but minimal amenities disappears. The converted heritage building with architectural character that doesn't photograph well for Instagram becomes invisible. The budget property that consistently over-delivers on service but lacks the amenity list that AI privileges when matching queries to inventory never appears.


These properties existed in the long tail of traditional search, capturing bookings from travelers willing to scroll past the first page and compare options beyond the featured results. AI search, optimized for efficiency and algorithmic confidence, eliminates that discovery process by design rather than accident. The system decides what matters most and shows only options that meet those predetermined criteria.

For destinations dependent on diverse accommodation types to create their tourism appeal, this creates genuine ecosystem risk. Boracay doesn't thrive merely because its large resorts receive AI recommendations. It thrives because backpacker hostels, family cottages, mid-range hotels, and luxury properties create a destination with options suitable for different traveler segments, budgets, and preferences. When AI preferentially surfaces only certain property types based on data availability, review volume, or platform partnerships, it homogenizes both supply and demand in ways that diminish destination complexity.

The counter-argument exists that AI could theoretically democratize discovery by surfacing small properties that lack marketing budgets but offer genuine quality. A 12-room guesthouse with extraordinary reviews and authentic guest experiences could conceivably appear alongside Marriott if the AI genuinely values guest satisfaction over brand recognition. Current evidence suggests otherwise. The same platforms that dominated traditional search also dominate AI training data. The same properties that could afford SEO investment now benefit from AI visibility through their existing digital infrastructure and platform relationships.

Utilizing prompts when using AI
What Gets Lost

The counter-argument exists that AI could theoretically democratize discovery by surfacing small properties that lack marketing budgets but offer genuine quality. A 12-room guesthouse with extraordinary reviews and authentic guest experiences could conceivably appear alongside Marriott if the AI genuinely values guest satisfaction over brand recognition. Current evidence suggests otherwise. The same platforms that dominated traditional search also dominate AI training data. The same properties that could afford SEO investment now benefit from AI visibility through their existing digital infrastructure and platform relationships.

The Window Closing

McKinsey's research on AI search adoption found that only 16% of brands globally currently track AI search performance. The competitive landscape remains relatively wide open with optimization strategies still emerging. For Philippine properties specifically, this represents a brief window where early movement creates lasting advantage in a market where AI adoption rates compress normal technology adoption curves.

The Window Closing

That window is closing measurably rather than theoretically. An estimated $750 billion in US revenue will flow through AI-powered search platforms rather than conventional search engines by 2028. Google is actively building agentic booking tools that enable travelers to complete entire reservations within AI Mode without visiting hotel websites. ChatGPT has announced partnerships with Booking.com, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham specifically to enable direct booking functionality. The infrastructure of AI-native travel distribution is being built during this transition period, and properties that optimize for it today will possess incumbency advantages when it becomes the dominant discovery mechanism.

The Philippine market compresses this already-accelerating timeline further. When domestic travelers demonstrate three times higher stated interest in AI than global averages, the future arrives faster than properties can adapt using strategies designed for slower-moving markets. Properties that wait for "best practices" to emerge and become clearly defined will find themselves optimizing for a market already captured by early movers.

What optimization even means in this context remains strategically ambiguous. Technical implementations like schema markup and FAQ page structures matter as foundational requirements, but they function as table stakes rather than differentiators. The strategic question is whether independent properties can maintain visibility when the platforms mediating discovery have direct commercial interests in directing bookings toward their own inventory or highest-paying partners.

That window is closing measurably rather than theoretically. An estimated $750 billion in US revenue will flow through AI-powered search platforms rather than conventional search engines by 2028. Google is actively building agentic booking tools that enable travelers to complete entire reservations within AI Mode without visiting hotel websites. ChatGPT has announced partnerships with Booking.com, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham specifically to enable direct booking functionality. The infrastructure of AI-native travel distribution is being built during this transition period, and properties that optimize for it today will possess incumbency advantages when it becomes the dominant discovery mechanism.

The Uncomfortable Answer

The consolidation of hotel discovery into AI interfaces probably benefits large operators at the expense of small ones. It probably strengthens OTA control rather than weakening it. It probably reduces actual guest choice while claiming to enhance personalization through algorithmic curation. None of this makes AI search reversible or avoidable as a technological or behavioral shift. Traveler behavior gravitates toward convenience, and conversational AI delivers that convenience in ways that traditional search fundamentally cannot match. The technology works effectively. The user experience represents a genuine improvement for efficiency-focused travelers. Adoption will continue regardless of its distributional effects on the hospitality industry.

For hotel operators, the choice becomes whether to acknowledge this shift during its early stages and position accordingly, or maintain current strategies while visibility erodes. The properties that succeed through this transition will be those that combine genuine quality with visibility in the channels that now matter. Excellence in service, distinctive guest experiences, and authentic hospitality remain foundational. But these qualities must now be represented in the platforms and formats that AI systems recognize and value.

For hotel operators, the choice becomes whether to acknowledge this shift during its early stages and position accordingly, or maintain current strategies while visibility erodes. The properties that succeed through this transition will be those that combine genuine quality with visibility in the channels that now matter. Excellence in service, distinctive guest experiences, and authentic hospitality remain foundational. But these qualities must now be represented in the platforms and formats that AI systems recognize and value.

In the Philippine market, where digital adoption consistently outpaces physical infrastructure and guests embrace new technology faster than many developed markets, this shift manifests not as distant future but present reality. The hotels filling rooms in 2027 will be the ones that recognized in 2026 that discovery had already moved from search engines to answer engines. The question facing every operator is not whether to optimize for AI visibility, but whether they will retain the option to choose once the competitive window closes  entirely. Understanding what that optimization looks like in practice, which specific actions create AI visibility, and how properties can maintain control over their representation in algorithmically mediated environments will be the next steps in this reality.

Guidelines when using AI
The Uncomfortable Answer

In the Philippine market, where digital adoption consistently outpaces physical infrastructure and guests embrace new technology faster than many developed markets, this shift manifests not as distant future but present reality. The hotels filling rooms in 2027 will be the ones that recognized in 2026 that discovery had already moved from search engines to answer engines. The question facing every operator is not whether to optimize for AI visibility, but whether they will retain the option to choose once the competitive window closes  entirely. Understanding what that optimization looks like in practice, which specific actions create AI visibility, and how properties can maintain control over their representation in algorithmically mediated environments will be the next steps in this reality.

Is Your Hotel Invisible to AI Search?

When travelers ask ChatGPT for hotel recommendations, they see three properties—maybe five. If you're not in that shortlist, you don't exist. We'll show you exactly where your property stands in AI discovery channels and what you need to do before it's too late.

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