A BrightEdge study shows that major travel brands occupy the top rankings in both ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews. However, the leading brands vary depending on the travel sector queried.
Major brands lead their sectors
Consumer choice typically leans towards the best-known brands, the study notes, evoking the idea underpinning advertising: the more a product is known, the more likely it is to be chosen, and a satisfied consumer tends to remain loyal to their choice. It is therefore unsurprising that major brands, known and deemed reliable, dominate each sector.
In air travel, American Airlines ranks first on Google AI Overviews, with 26.6%, and on ChatGPT, with 25.3%. Its lead over United reaches 6.1 points on Google AI Overviews and 9.1 points on ChatGPT. For cruises, Royal Caribbean is first on both engines, with 24.8% and 28.8%. In hospitality, the leader differs by tool: Hilton leads on Google AI Overviews with 28.3%, and Marriott on ChatGPT with 29.4%.
Booking platforms are also affected. According to BrightEdge, Expedia achieves 31.3% visibility on Google AI Overviews, compared to 14.4% for Kayak, a ratio of 2.2 times. On ChatGPT, the gap is 1.4 times. The study specifies that visibility is measured in ‘share of voice,’ because conversational AI does not refer to sites based on ranking positions like traditional search does.
Inspiration and booking queries
User-generated content (UGC) and content with a personal experience dimension tend to rank better on inspiration-related queries. Players like YouTube, Reddit, or AAA are more present on these questions, which leave more room for smaller sites. Hotels and cruises appear more in comparison queries, and booking platforms in purchase intent queries.
On Google AI Overviews, 38% of booking intent queries cite a booking platform, compared to 12% of inspiration queries. Only 9% of tracked queries are booking intent. BrightEdge did not offer an explanation for the absence of major brands in inspiration queries.
Price-related queries
Queries containing terms like ‘cheap,’ ‘deal,’ ‘budget,’ or ‘last-minute’ constitute more challenging ground for smaller brands. Booking platforms appear in 78% of Google AI Overviews responses concerning these terms, compared to 17% of other responses. Expedia appears in 44% of budget-related responses.
BrightEdge emphasizes that this is an observed association, not proof that using these words makes a brand appear. According to the study, price-focused questions nonetheless represent a challenge for booking platforms. The full report, titled Holiday Travel in AI Search: The Travel Brands AI Puts on Its List, details these results.
