AEO and GEO explained: get found by AI as an accommodation

More and more travelers no longer ask Google but ChatGPT: "What is a nice B&B in Friesland for a cycling weekend?" The AI responds with 3 names. If you are not among them, you do not exist for that guest on that moment.

The problem

The way people search for a hotel is shifting. In the past, someone typed "B&B Friesland" into Google, got 10 blue links plus Booking.com at the top, and clicked further. Now a growing share of travelers ask the same question to an AI: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or the AI overview that Google itself puts above the search results.

The difference is big. An AI does not give 10 options, but a short answer with 2 or 3 names. Not a list to scroll through, but a recommendation that sounds like advice from a friend. Whoever is mentioned, gets the booking in view. Whoever is not mentioned, falls out of the conversation. There is no second page where you still rank.

For a small accommodation, that is both a threat and an opportunity. A threat, because big platforms like Booking.com and Tripadvisor are strongly anchored in the models and often get mentioned first. An opportunity, because AI especially likes concrete, local, factual information. Exactly the kind of information that an owner has about their own area and a big platform does not.

An example. If you ask an AI for "a quiet B&B right by the cycling junctions in Friesland, dogs welcome," then the model wants to match those exact details. A platform listing often does not have that specific knowledge, your own site does. The more precisely and factually you put that information online, the greater the chance that an AI will mention you as a fitting answer to a specific question. So the advantage shifts from whoever has the biggest ad budget to whoever gives the clearest information.

Two terms come along that you will hear more and more:

• AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization: being visible in answer machines that give a direct answer, like the AI overview in Google or a voice assistant.
• GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization: being visible in AI that generates the answer itself, like ChatGPT or Gemini.

In practice they overlap. You do not optimize for one system or the other, you make sure the facts about your accommodation are clear, consistent, and quotable on the web. Then you get picked up, whether the question lands in Google's AI overview or in ChatGPT.

Calculation example

The shift is not abstract. Part of the search query moves from classic search results to AI answers. The exact share varies by market and grows month on month, so any hard percentage is a snapshot. The pattern is clear: AI gives fewer options, so the value of being mentioned rises.

The table below shows the difference in mechanism between the two types of visibility.

What this means: say you get 18 percent of your bookings via your own site, mostly via Google. If some of those searchers switch to AI answers over the coming years, then a piece of that 18 percent moves too. If you are not mentioned in those answers, then that piece leaks away to the platforms that are there. The math is simple: fewer options per answer means that being mentioned counts more than ever.

Calculate it the other way. With 10 search results you roughly have a 1 in 10 chance to come into view, even if you are not the best. With an AI answer of 3 names, that is 1 in 3 if you are found well, and 0 if you are not. The margins get sharper: there is no middle position anymore where you still lift off on page 1. You are in it or you are not. That makes the foundation that follows no "nice to have" but the gateway to this channel.

Action plan

The good news: you do not have to start from scratch. AI models lean heavily on the same signals as search engines. A verified business profile, reviews, consistent mentions, and clear text. Good local SEO is therefore half the solution. The ranking factors we worked out earlier in local SEO ranking factors for a B&B count here too.

Broadly speaking, there are three tracks. Under each track is a sub-article that makes it concrete.

1. Write factual and quotable. An AI loves to cite short, factual sentences. "B&B De Waldspoor has 6 rooms, is 20 minutes from Leeuwarden, and has free bike storage." No marketing language, just the facts a guest wants to know. Make sure your site contains those facts literally. How you ensure ChatGPT picks up and uses your information, you read in get found in ChatGPT as an accommodation.

2. Make sure AI can understand you via structured data. Structured data (schema markup, a piece of code that makes your site machine-readable) tells search engines and AI exactly what you are: accommodation type, address, price range, reviews. That reduces the chance of misunderstanding. The complete explanation and ready-made example are in schema markup for hotels and B&Bs.

3. Build mentions across the web. The more often and more consistently your name, address, and type appear on reliable places, the greater the chance that an AI will mention you as a real option. What is the mechanism behind an AI recommendation and how you work towards it is covered in how your hotel gets recommended by AI.

These three tracks strengthen each other. Reviews feed both your Google profile and your AI visibility, so collecting reviews on Google is not a separate task but part of the same foundation. An AI weighs how much and how recent people have written about you. 60 reviews with an average of 4.6 tells a model more than 12 old reviews, just like it tells a traveler more.

You do not have to do the three tracks at once. Start with track 1, the factual text, because that helps your regular Google visibility today. Then tackle track 2 and 3 at your own pace. The foundation builds over weeks and months, not over an evening. Whoever starts now is in the picture in half a year while your neighbor is still waiting.

Common mistakes

Thinking it is something completely new. AEO and GEO sound like a new discipline with new tools and a new budget. In practice, 70 percent of it is good local SEO that you should be doing anyway. Whoever has their Google profile in order, collects reviews, and writes factual text, is already halfway. Start there, not with expensive AI tooling.

Marketing language instead of facts. A sentence like "experience an unforgettable stay in our charming accommodation" is nothing an AI cares to quote. A sentence like "6 rooms, breakfast included, dogs welcome, 200 meters from the cycling junction" is. AIs quote facts, not atmosphere words. Write for the machine as concrete as you would talk to a guest.

Inconsistent data spread across the web. If your name on your site is "B&B De Waldspoor," on Google "Waldspoor B&B," and on Bedandbreakfast.nl again something different, then an AI gets confused about whether it is the same place. Keep name, address, and type exactly the same everywhere.

Waiting until it is "mature." The temptation is to wait until AI search is completely established. The problem: the models are building their picture of your accommodation right now, based on what is on the web right now. Whoever lays the foundation now, stands in the answers later. Whoever waits, starts behind.

Wanting to do everything at once. You do not need to become a schema expert in a weekend. Start by making the text on your most important pages factual, that takes an evening and helps immediately. The rest comes later, step by step.

Forgetting to check if it works. AI visibility is not "set and forget." Ask an AI every couple months for an accommodation in your region and check if your position shifts. Get mentioned more often, the foundation works. Stay away, you know something is missing, often reviews or consistent mentions.

What you can do now

AEO and GEO are not a separate project on top of your marketing. It is the same foundation as local visibility, with a different way of writing and some extra attention to structured data. Whoever has their Google profile, reviews, and site text in order, automatically works on their AI visibility too.

Start today with the baseline from the tip box above: ask ChatGPT for an accommodation in your region and check if you are mentioned. Pick one of the three tracks after that. For most owners, the factual site text is the logical first step, because it immediately helps your regular Google visibility too.

Dive deeper into the two components that make it concrete: get found in ChatGPT as an accommodation and how your hotel gets recommended by AI. Want to know what your current situation costs you in missed direct bookings, calculate it through in the savings calculator.

Would you rather have someone set this up for your accommodation instead of figuring it out yourself? We discuss that at marketing for hotels.