Hotelworld AI reveals second edition of Hospitality's Largest AI visibility Study at HITEC: AI Is Becoming the New Gatekeeper of Hotel Demand

San Antonio, Texas , June 2026 - The way travellers discover hotels is changing.

Increasingly, guests are turning to AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity for recommendations on where to stay, receiving curated shortlists rather than pages of search results. According to the latest HotelWorld AI Visibility Index from HotelWorld AI, this shift is creating a new competitive battleground for hotel brands.

The Q1 2026 update to the World’s Best at AI Index reveals that while the global rankings appear relatively stable on the surface, significant movement is taking place beneath them, with major brands gaining and losing visibility at an increasingly rapid pace.

The report follows HotelWorld AI’s landmark annual study, published earlier this year, which analysed 2.36 million data points across more than 2,100 hotel brands and approximately 141,000 properties in 40 countries. The study found that only 16% of hotels currently appear in AI-generated recommendations, meaning that 84% remain effectively invisible to travellers using AI to plan their trips.

The latest quarterly update suggests that visibility is becoming more competitive, more dynamic and more consequential.

Among the report’s key findings:

• The threshold required to remain in the global Top 25 increased by 25% in a single quarter, highlighting the speed at which competition for AI visibility is intensifying.

• Luxury brands including Aman and Auberge Collection entered the luxury rankings for the first time, demonstrating that highly distinctive brands can compete effectively despite lacking the scale of global chains.

• Hilton has closed the gap dramatically on Holiday Inn Express and is now within striking distance of becoming the world’s most visible hotel brand in AI search.

• Hyatt emerged as the quarter’s strongest performer among the major groups, nearly doubling its visibility score and climbing nine places in the global rankings.

• New analysis shows that the language travellers use when interacting with AI can materially influence which hotels are recommended.

• Marriott’s visibility is increasingly concentrated within its luxury portfolio, with The Ritz-Carlton continuing to strengthen its position while several other brands lost ground.

The findings reinforce one of the report’s central conclusions: AI visibility compounds over time, and the brands building visibility today may gain a significant advantage as AI becomes an increasingly influential part of the traveller journey.

“For the last twenty years, hotels have competed for visibility on search engines,” said Filip Boyen, Co-Founder of HotelWorld.AI.

“Today they are increasingly competing for visibility within AI. Travellers are no longer scrolling through pages of results. They are receiving a handful of recommendations. If your hotel is not part of that shortlist, it may never enter the guest’s consideration set.”

The report also challenges the perception that AI-generated recommendations are inconsistent. Analysing millions of traveller-style prompts across multiple platforms, HotelWorld.AI found a high degree of consistency in hotel recommendations, suggesting that AI visibility can be measured and managed with increasing confidence.

“What surprised us most wasn’t who ranked first,” said Geri Cupi, Co-Founder of HotelWorld.AI

“It was how quickly visibility is changing. We are seeing meaningful movement between quarters, which suggests that hotels still have an opportunity to influence how AI understands and recommends them. The brands acting today are helping shape the recommendations travellers will see tomorrow.”

HotelWorld AI believes the hospitality industry is entering a new phase of digital discovery, similar to the early years of search engine optimization, where first movers have an opportunity to establish a lasting advantage.

The full World’s Best at AI Q1 2026 Index Update provides updated global rankings, luxury, upscale, midscale and economy segment analysis, regional insights and new research into language effects and AI recommendation consistency.

Download the report here.

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