How AI search may influence restaurant and hotel discovery
What we know, what we don't, and the sensible steps hospitality businesses can take now as travellers start asking AI assistants for recommendations.
More travellers are asking AI assistants — ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity and the AI features inside search engines — questions like “Where should we stay in Phú Quốc with young children?” or “What’s a good halal restaurant near Dương Đông?”
It is too early for anyone to claim precise knowledge of how each system chooses what to recommend, and the systems change frequently. Be cautious of anyone promising to “rank you in ChatGPT”. But the broad direction is clear enough to act on sensibly.
What seems to matter
AI assistants generally draw on information that is available, consistent and corroborated across sources. In practice, that suggests a few principles:
- Consistency. Your name, address, category, hours and offer should match across your website, Google Business Profile, booking platforms and directories. Contradictions create doubt.
- Clarity. Plain, specific descriptions (“a twelve-room adults-only hotel on the quieter south coast, ten minutes’ walk from the beach”) are easier to understand than vague marketing language.
- Answers to real questions. Pages and FAQs that directly answer what guests ask — dietary options, family suitability, transfers, parking, accessibility — give systems useful material.
- Reputation. Reviews and third-party mentions appear to inform how businesses are described.
Some people call this work GEO — generative engine optimisation. Much of it overlaps with good local SEO and good customer communication.
Practical first steps
- Ask the assistants. Try the questions your guests would ask. Note whether you appear, how you are described, and whether anything is wrong.
- Fix the facts. Correct inconsistencies in listings and on your website first.
- Write a genuinely useful FAQ. Base it on questions your team receives every week.
- Use structured data where accurate. Schema markup can help machines understand your business details, but only describe what is true.
- Re-check periodically. Answers change; treat this as an ongoing check, not a one-off project.
Keep perspective
For most hospitality businesses in Phú Quốc today, Google Maps, social content, reviews and booking platforms still drive the bulk of discovery. AI visibility is worth attention because the foundations it relies on — accurate information, clear content, strong reputation — help everywhere else too.
We include an AI-visibility snapshot in our Hospitality Growth Review where it is meaningful for the business.