From zero to hero: How smart hotels are winning the AI visibility game | By Juanjo Rodriguez

Last month, we analyzed search results from Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for "best hotels in Miami." Not a single hotel brand appeared in the top 10 results. Meanwhile, 50% of travelers plan to use AI for leisure travel within the next 12 months.

This gap represents the biggest distribution opportunity and threat the hospitality industry has faced since OTAs emerged. While most hotels remain invisible to AI agents, smart operators are already capturing this traffic.

The AI visibility problem

AI travel planning isn't theoretical anymore. Travelers ask ChatGPT for restaurant recommendations, use Claude to plan itineraries, and rely on Perplexity for destination research. But when these AI agents search for hotels, they can't find structured data about rates, availability, or booking capabilities.

Your website was built for humans, not machines. AI agents need information organized in specific formats, what we call machine-readable data. Without it, your property disappears from AI recommendations.

Why data companies win where tech vendors fail

Many vendors now offer MCP solutions, but there's a fundamental difference: we're a data company, not a tech wrapper. We process 1.7 billion daily price changes across millions of properties globally. This scale creates a moat smaller players can't cross.

Hotels know their own property intimately. We know the entire market: competitor rates, demand patterns, booking trends across 185 countries. This unique, specific market intelligence is data you don't have and can't get on your own.

When brands work with us, they're outsourcing their entire data infrastructure challenge. They recognize they need a proper data lake but lack the resources to build one. We become their central source of truth, ensuring MCPs have accurate, comprehensive content that AI agents can trust.

The four pillars that separate winners from losers

After working with early adopters like Palladium Hotel Group, we've identified four critical elements for AI success:

1. AI-readable content Your property information must be structured for machine consumption. This includes real-time rates, availability, amenities, and location details in standardized formats. AI agents compare everything instantly. There's nowhere to hide poor data quality.
2. Direct bookability AI doesn't just recommend hotels; it facilitates bookings. Agents need to check availability and complete reservations without redirecting users to your website. This requires booking engine integration through protocols like Model Context Protocol.
3. Rate parity AI agents find the best deal across all channels in milliseconds. Any rate disparity kills your direct booking chances.
4. Personalization at scale Unlike search engines, AI agents know the complete traveler profile:preferences, patterns, and past behaviors. They match business travelers with workspace amenities, families with kid-friendly features, and couples with romantic packages. Member benefits, upgrade paths, and personalized offers must all be machine-readable. This isn't segmentation anymore. It's personalization that drives higher recommendation and conversion rates.

Is your hotel AI-ready?

Most hotels fail this basic test. Here's what AI agents need to recommend your property:

Data infrastructure:

• Structured property information in machine-readable formats
• Real-time rates and availability access
• Comprehensive amenity and service mapping
• Organized guest reviews and ratings

Distribution readiness:

• Consistent rates across all channels
• Direct booking capabilities for AI agents
• Visible loyalty program benefits
• Machine-readable packages and offers

Technical foundation:

• Modern API connectivity
• AI-compatible booking engines
• Real-time data accuracy
• Performance monitoring capabilities

If you're missing more than two of these elements, you're at risk of AI invisibility.

The fast track to implementation

Building AI readiness from scratch takes months. That's why we created Connect AI, our engine that makes hotels discoverable, understandable, and bookable by AI agents.

Connect AI addresses all four pillars simultaneously through our existing infrastructure serving 80,000+ hotels globally. We don't just monitor data. We normalize, validate, and structure it specifically for AI consumption.

The platform creates a comprehensive data layer designed for AI agents. Hotels connect their existing systems, and we handle the complex work of organizing information for AI platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

Our credibility comes from being the industry's data backbone. While others talk about AI, we're transforming billions of data points into actionable intelligence every day.

Why timing matters now

We've seen this pattern before. When OTAs emerged, early adopters captured market share while skeptics debated commission rates. When mobile booking exploded, prepared hotels dominated while others scrambled.

AI travel planning follows the same trajectory, but faster. The technical barriers are lower than previous shifts, but competitive advantages compound quickly. Early adopters don't just get more bookings. They help train AI systems, creating lasting recommendation advantages.

The window for easy wins is closing. Every month hotels wait, AI agents learn to recommend competitors with better data infrastructure.

Your next move

Start with an honest assessment of your AI readiness. Can AI agents find your rates? Do they understand your amenities? Can they complete bookings?

The hotels winning this transition aren't necessarily the largest or most established. They're the ones that recognized AI's trajectory and built the right infrastructure first.

We're working with select hotel partners through our Connect AI early access program. The goal isn't just AI visibility. It's capturing the highest-value travelers who use AI for planning while they're still early adopters.

When AI agents search for hotels like yours, they should find you first.