For a long time, being found online primarily meant appearing in a list of results.

A traveller would search for “romantic hotel in Mauritius”, “small-group Japan tour” or “Tanzania safari specialist agency”. Google would offer links, comparison sites, maps and platforms. The traveller would then explore the results and do much of the comparison work themselves. Generative engines are gradually changing this process.

When travellers ask ChatGPT, Gemini or an AI-powered search experience a question, they are no longer simply asking where to find information. They can ask directly: “Which hotel would suit a quiet three-day stay in Mauritius, with a beautiful beach and a budget below €250?” or “Which French tour operator should I choose for a first cultural trip to Japan with a small group?” The AI will then search for, connect and synthesise different pieces of information to provide an answer. It may cite sources, present several alternatives, compare their features and, above all, begin making recommendations. GEO emerges in this new environment.

GEO: definition

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization, or optimisation for generative engines. In practice, for a tourism business, the subject extends beyond simply having a page appear in an answer. GEO involves improving the ability of a hotel, tour operator, agency, destination or other travel business to be understood, found, cited and potentially recommended by AI systems when a traveller makes a relevant request.

That last distinction is essential. Being known to an AI system does not necessarily mean being cited. Being cited does not necessarily mean being offered among the best options. And appearing in an answer does not necessarily mean being recommended for the traveller’s specific circumstances. GEO is therefore not just about gaining visibility. It examines how a business is understood and placed in the context of a decision.

SEO, AEO and GEO: what are the differences?

The three concepts overlap to some extent, but they do not address exactly the same problem.

SEO

Ranking well in search engines.

AEO

Providing an answer that an answer engine can readily use.

GEO

Being correctly understood and drawn upon in a generated answer.

This distinction does not mean that GEO replaces SEO. Quite the opposite. SEO best practices remain fundamental: technical accessibility, indexing, useful content, a clear structure and overall website quality. GEO does, however, add a question that traditional SEO addressed less directly: what reasons does an AI system have to consider this business a good answer to this specific situation? This is particularly important in tourism.

Why tourism is particularly affected

Travel naturally lends itself to complex queries. People rarely choose a hotel or tour based on a keyword alone. A traveller combines constraints around budget, location, timing, guest profile, duration and the experience they are seeking, sometimes alongside very personal expectations.

“Mauritius hotel” can easily become: “We are a couple without children, we want four quiet days after a safari, a pleasant beach, to avoid large resorts and to stay below €300 per night.”

To answer this type of request, an AI system does not simply look for a page that matches a phrase. It must interpret several criteria, find information to verify them and weigh up different possibilities. For tourism businesses, the question is therefore gradually shifting from “Are we visible online?” towards “In which situations might an AI system suggest us, and for what reasons?”

How does AI build its answer?

It would be misleading to present the workings of generative engines as a single, fully understood formula. Models, their sources, their search mechanisms and their ranking methods are evolving rapidly. Results can also vary depending on the engine, the timing, the wording of the request or the available data.

But one principle matters: a generative answer can draw on multiple sources and several intermediate searches. For a tourism business, this means that having a good page for a given phrase is no longer necessarily enough. The information that contributes to the answer may come from the official website, but also from platforms, media outlets, partners, local content, customer reviews or other sources available online. The focus therefore shifts to the information ecosystem surrounding the business.

What should you work on to improve your GEO?

There is no “GEO” button. And you should be wary of formulas suggesting that an additional file, a few pages written specifically for AI or new markup would be enough. The work is more fundamental. First, the website must be technically accessible and enable engines to understand the business and its offering clearly. The content must then describe products, experiences and the situations they address in sufficient detail.

But that is only part of the picture. For a tourism business, AI systems may also encounter what customers, partners, media outlets, platforms or other external sources say. A very clear commercial promise on the website that is never corroborated elsewhere does not necessarily carry the same weight as a feature consistently documented by several independent sources. This is why GEO encompasses content, technology, positioning, the experiences offered, reviews, reputation, external sources and the consistency of the whole.

Being visible is not the same as being recommended

This is probably the most important distinction. Imagine two hotels that regularly appear in the sources consulted by an AI system. The first has a strong digital presence and a large volume of content. The second may be less visible, but several sources converge to confirm that it is particularly well suited to a specific situation: a stay as a couple, peace and quiet, proximity to a particular beach, a certain level of service or a desired experience.

When the question becomes contextual, the extent of a business’s presence is no longer necessarily enough. The AI must weigh up the options. This is where GEO goes beyond visibility alone.

The aim should not simply be to help AI understand who you are. You also need to give it enough reliable evidence to understand when it should prefer you to another option.

This distinction between presence and recommendation will be the subject of a dedicated article in our Observatory, because it fundamentally changes how GEO performance is measured.

GEO therefore extends beyond your website

The official website remains fundamental. It is often the most comprehensive source for explaining an offering, a product or a positioning. But in tourism, a business also exists through what others say about it.

A hotel may present itself as particularly well suited to couples, while customer feedback mainly highlights a different experience. A tour operator may claim deep expertise in a destination without having sufficiently detailed content to demonstrate it. A destination may promote an experience that barely appears in the sources used by generative engines. GEO therefore requires businesses to examine not only what they want to say, but also what the information around them actually supports. This is probably where the subject becomes most interesting.

What should tourism executives take away?

GEO is not a new version of SEO with a few optimisations aimed at ChatGPT. It is the consequence of a deeper shift in how travellers can discover and compare offerings. SEO remains necessary to be accessible and visible. But when AI begins to synthesise information and suggest alternatives directly, a new question emerges: for which requests is our business a credible answer, and what evidence enables an AI system to understand that?

This is the question that hotels, hotel groups, tour operators, agencies and destinations must now ask themselves. Because tomorrow, the battle may not be solely about the top position on a results page. It will also be about the ability to be among the few options an AI system decides to recommend.

About BloomingPilot