Food for thought: is hotel website SEO dead?

There have been a lot of headlines that traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is dead due to the rise of AI Search via the generative AI platforms ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, etc.

Some experts herald the end of Google's monopoly on search and claim that traditional SEO practices are obsolete. Others believe that SEO based on best practices is required not only for increased revenues from the direct online channel, but to ensure good positioning of the hotel website in AI search results as well.

Indeed, the AI Search platforms like ChatGPT are scraping Internet content like crazy. They are like huge vacuum machines inhaling publicly available Internet content. Will they inhale your property’s website content? It depends on whether your website is optimized for AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization).

AIO is becoming very important due to the emerging fully autonomous Personal AI Agents (ChatGPT Operator is already a fact) that can research, plan and book travelers' trips and vacations autonomously, thus circumventing all intermediaries and enabling the golden age of direct consumer-supplier relationships.

No doubt, AI Search market share will continue to rise and is estimated to go up to 14% by 2028 (Search Engine Land). So, how do you make your hotel discoverable by AI Search? The answer is simple: Good old time-tested SEO practices!

• Original, editorial-level content throughout the hotel website;
• Website optimized for on-page SEO, inbound/back links and technical SEO, ex., less than 2 second page download speed, etc.;
• Website has inbound links and citations from highly authoritative websites;
• Solid technical SEO practices in place;
• Hotel has solid social media presence with original posts and tons of user-generated content and customer reviews and comments.

In other words: good SEO practices ensures your website is optimized for AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization).