How we find, trust, and choose hospitality brands is changing fast. Not long ago, getting seen online meant a solid SEO strategy, a keyword-optimized blog, and maybe some backlinks for good measure. Today? That’s just table stakes. In the age of AI-driven search, the real decision-makers aren’t just consumers or your hotel guests. They’re large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity.
If these models don’t know who you are, don’t understand what you do, or don’t trust you enough to recommend you, then you might as well be invisible.
The seismic shift from “find and choose” to “ask and receive”
Traditional search operates like a menu. You type in your query and get a buffet of blue links to explore. But LLMs work more like concierges. They don’t offer you every option under the sun. They recommend it. They shortlist. They synthesize.
So, when someone asks, “What’s the best beach hotel for a family with a toddler?” or “Which hotel property management providers use AI agents?”, the model pulls from a web of trusted sources–think media coverage, expert commentary, reviews, and analyst insights–to produce a smart answer. These may not necessarily be the right answers, but they are good, confident answers.
And if your brand isn’t part of that web? You don’t get mentioned.
The key difference with LLMs is that they don’t just index your site. The models try to understand your story. That means your visibility now depends on your semantic reputation: what attributes are you most associated with, how often you’re cited, where you’re mentioned, and what those mentions say about you.
Ask ChatGPT about leading hotel property management platforms. The names that crop up are the ones with consistent press coverage, glowing user reviews, analyst validation, and thought leadership on key topics such as integrations and user experience.
We’ve run these tests ourselves. The brands being recommended aren’t just the ones with great websites. They’re the ones whose stories are being told by other people in credible places. That’s where strategic PR comes in.
PR is not just a press release! It’s now your AI trust signal
This is where hospitality brands need to rethink what PR does. It’s not just about awareness anymore, or one-off campaigns and stunts. It’s about teaching the algorithm who you are.
LLMs “learn” through associations. When your hotel brand is consistently mentioned in articles alongside key attributes you want to be known for, such as “family-friendly”, “affordable luxury” or “best for honeymoon”, those associations become part of how AI models understand and define your brand.
PR helps shape positive associations
Earning mentions in top-tier hospitality and securing expert commentary in industry analysis and consulting reports are top ways to boost visibility in AI searches. The models also highly rank third-party validations as credible, so driving customer reviews on trusted platforms like HotelTechReport, G2, or Trustpilot is essential.
LLMS also love context. Building and amplifying long-form context-rich content, such as thought leadership through blogs, LinkedIn posts, and opinion pieces in top-tier media, help teach the model over time about your brand. Contributing to Wikipedia pages or research that LLMs often cite also strengthens that trust signal.
The more you show up in authoritative, high-trust sources, the more AI models will recognize you as relevant and reliable. And that recognition translates into a recommendation.
Five ways to boost your AI visibility now
If you’re looking to future-proof your brand in the era of AI search, here’s what to focus on:
- Earn coverage in respected outlets that AI tools treat as credible sources, both mainstream and trade-specific.
- Maintain high review scores and encourage positive customer feedback across platforms.
- Publish content that answers real questions. Not just what you want to say, but what your audience (and AI) wants to learn.
- Engage in community conversations on Reddit, LinkedIn, and industry podcasts. The more touchpoints, the better.
- Update your presence on Wikipedia, business directories, and analyst platforms. These public sources often feed directly into AI training datasets.
Think of this as a visibility pyramid. SEO is your foundation, content your structure, and PR your amplifier. Without that top layer, your voice gets lost in the noise.
Don’t let inconsistency kill your credibility
If you show up inconsistently, or only in self-authored content, the AI models don’t know what to make of you. You become easy to overlook and hard to recommend. And if you’re relying on one campaign and a few articles or blog posts to do all the heavy lifting? They won’t. AI is trained on patterns. Repetition, reinforcement, and relevance are the name of the game.
As a starting point, you can audit your presence in AI searches. Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity about your category. Are you mentioned? Are the descriptions accurate? Who else is showing up, and why?
Then, craft a narrative that aligns with your brand identity. Choose the themes and topics you want to “own.” PR can help you amplify these narratives through campaigns that get you consistently seen in media, third-party reviews, and industry commentary. And finally, monitor performance. Track inclusion in AI searches in addition to media mentions and Share of Voice across channels.
Visibility is no longer just about being seen. It’s about being selected. The brands that succeed in this next chapter won’t just be the ones with the biggest budgets or fanciest websites. They’ll be the ones that the LLMs trust. Strategic PR is how you earn that trust.
For an in-depth understanding of this topic, here’s a webinar recording – Search is Changing: Why Strategic PR is Essential in the Age of LLMs.