How will AI revolutionise hotel search engine optimisation?
For some months now, artificial intelligence has been doing more than just creating images and text. It is also profoundly transforming search engines, and therefore the way hotels appear (or disappear) on Google.
Since this year, Google has been experimenting in France with the Search Generative Experience (SGE) or AI Overview: an interface where AI-generated answers are displayed above traditional search engine results. The result:
The “No. 1” spot becomes blurred,
The clearest, most contextualised and most useful content is highlighted,
Search engine optimisation is no longer based on keywords alone… but on the ability to “respond intelligently” to an intention.
The biggest change, however, is that travellers are no longer simply typing “hotel spa Lyon” into Google, they are asking very naturally at ChatGPT or in their search engine:
“What’s the best hotel with spa for a romantic weekend for under €200 in Lyon?”
This changes everything and means you have to:
Writing more conversational content ,
Work on the context around keywords,
Anticipating naturally-formulated long-tail queries.
In fact, every month, the proportion of searches in chatGPT and co increases. This trend is particularly strong among the younger generations, although it concerns everyone. Similarly, AI has a more powerful prescriptive effect than a result from a Google query, and users trust them more (proven by traffic that generates a better conversion and purchase rate).
AI-generated content: saving time, but not magic
Yes, AI can be used to generate pages, descriptions, FAQs, etc. quickly.
But beware: Google can detect content generated “by the mile”. To work properly, this content needs to be :
Reread, enriched and humanised,
Anchored in the reality of the establishment (photos, reviews, offers),
Optimised with a clear Hn structure, local data and relevant calls to action.
At Eliophot, we use AI to speed up the first versions… but never without the eye of a business expert.
AI also helps to :
Improve site speed (intelligent compression),
Identify weak points (missing metadata, indexing errors),
Automatically create markup (Schema.org, JSON-LD).
This is a real lever for sites that are poorly configured or too complex to manage manually, or simply to save time.
With the new results formats (enriched extracts, carousels, direct responses, AI-generated results), SEO is no longer measured solely in terms of position in the SERPs, but in terms of :
Visibility in response blocks,
Presence in comparators (meta),
Appearance in conversational suggestions (Copilot, ChatGPT, Bard…).
As we have seen, SEO is getting a little brother, and we are now also talking about GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to adapt content, site technique and netlinking in order to be better referenced by LLMs (Large Language Model) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, Mistral AI, Grok…
This is not a sudden break, but a natural and complementary evolution:
Classic SEO:
Based on keywords,
Visibility on SERPs,
Well-optimised pages,
Links & position,
Robot-oriented copywriting.
GEO (new natural referencing):
Based on complete intentions,
Visibility in a generated response,
Useful pages, readable by AI,
Context & semantic entities,
Help-oriented & relevant copywriting.
What this means for you:
You need to reinforce the real quality of the content (beyond SEO),
Work on the semantic structure: answer questions, formulate lists, examples, concrete cases,
Being cited as a trusted source in AI answers (Eliophot + mentions on other sites)
We have already integrated these issues into our SEO services:
We structure pages to appeal to both traditional and generative search engines,
We train our copywriters in “SEO x AI” writing: concise, clear, user-oriented,
We help to produce content that is localised, concrete and useful: activities around the site, customer journeys, specific experiences,
We propose a netlinking strategy tailored to the specific needs of LLMs (e.g. ChatGPT),
We configure Schema markup and other technical optimisations to maximise your visibility in enriched extracts and AI responses.
How to integrate AI intelligently into a working method
Save time in content production,
Identify keyword opportunities,
Structure articles, FAQs, SEO strategy,
Optimise SEA and SMA campaigns, or even the technical aspects of your site.
Translate theemotional DNA of a hotel with the desired subtlety,
Adjust a message to the unique positioning of the brand,
Understand the reality on the ground of a customer journey that is unique to you,
Write to sell an experience… not just a room.
AI is a tremendous performance driver, but it needs a lot of iteration and framing to get there. Similarly, AI still generates a lot of errors (“hallucinations”), which still requires human supervision.
Finally, AI is a tool, so it’s the talent of the people who use it that will make all the difference, hence the importance of working with experts.
Consumer habits are already changing, and very quickly, especially with the younger generations for whom AI is a prescriber.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the logical continuation of SEO, not its replacement.
Hotels that want to remain visible will have to combine human intelligence with technological power.
Producing content that is useful, structured and aligned with travellers’ expectations remains the key.
Talk to our Eliophot experts
We’ll help you identify the right uses, automate what can be automated… without ever losing the meaning or soul of your brand.
Eliophot,
your 360° agency
