ChatGPT is a popular chat application that has been around for a while. The multi-billion dollar world of travel marketing was about to begin. Change overnightIt didn’t end up that way. “I was very bullish when the ChatGPT thing exploded. This would be a major disruptor, because users would be so enthusiastic,” said Mario Gavira is the vice president for growth at online travel agency Kiwi.
“In reality, it didn’t even move the needle or, if moved, it was a very small amount. It was marginal at best.”
The first major test to see the impact of AI on search was in 2009. Microsoft began integrating OpenAI GPT-4’s search results in February 2023. Bing was a popular search engine back then. Google has a market share of 93.4%, while Apple only has 2.8%. This had increased a year later. Statcounter says that Google is at 91.6% and Google only 3.3%.
It is now clear that artificial intelligence can be generative Influence on search marketing is more like an evolution than a revolutionary. There will be a slow transition from what we know today as Robert Patterson, the leader of the search team at Robert Patterson, said:
“The AI expertise hub of travel marketing company MMGY Global.”
Advertising and having such high confidence that it is a safe investment place. Patterson said there would be a degree of hesitation to move. Relevance is the goal and if AI offers more. The winning strategy is to focus on results that are relevant and detailed.
The new AI search engine
There are now several new AI-native engines. Perplexity has emerged early as a leader. Perplexity offers a “clickless”, lengthy answer to searches Queries that summarize content and real-time data from a wide range of sources. Sources such as blogs, academic papers and news sources that you trust. The information is clearly listed.
You.com, another newcomer aiming to break the market, is also a contender. Google’s dominance. It was launched in 2019 by ex-Salesforce AI executives and, unusually, users can choose from a variety of AI models to generate results. It added real-time responses with citations by 2022.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is also interested in getting into the market. Directly, not only through Microsoft. It launched a prototype for its SearchGPT in July 2024, to a closed group 10,000 testers. It will integrate directly its search capability into ChatGPT.
Organic search has become less important, as the focus is now on click-free results. Certain to change. Many people and resources have been spent trying to figure it out. Google’s signals for search. In June, Phocuswire published an article about a Google search signal leak. Internal API documentation that provides insights for travel marketers.
There is an entire search engine optimization is a cottage industry and it involves making assumptions. Testing and seeing what we could do to get to the top, Patterson said.
“Over time these organic listings keep getting pushed go down and down,” he says.
Gavira said, “When it comes to search marketing, you’re looking at a very different thing. Even if there is a potential organic hyperlink in an AI overview, Google won’t have 10 links in future, but it will only have one or two.”
Search functions: What you need to know
AI is a black box, which means that its creators cannot see it. It can be difficult to understand how the system produces its results. Travel companies are attempting to game algorithms.
We want to maintain the trustworthiness and reliability of our search engine results. Therefore, ads will be separated from the answer engine results. A brand will not get a better ranking in our index simply by agreeing to run an advertisement.
MMGY develops tools to analyze how brands are performing. AI-powered search engine to guide them on their content.
“We need to produce both content for human consumption and content for the web,” Patterson said.
Search results from these newcomers are not likely to be as accurate. Stay clickless for ever. Perplexity has told Phocuswire it will be launching a new product. Start rolling out ads by the end of this year, starting in the United States and internationally over the next 12 months.
“We will launch with a select few brands across different, explore different formats to get user feedback and experiment with categories.”
The spokesperson added: “It is important to us that there are still. Separate ads will be used to maintain the credibility of search engine results. Answer engine results will not give a brand a more favorable rating. Advertising will help you to rank higher in our search index.”
Suppliers are also looking at adding AI search to the products they sell digital properties. MMGY works with Algolia’s search-as-a service platform. In the year, will launch its first website for a client, a state-run tourism destination.
Mobi, an AI provider based in Boston, sees it as a huge opportunity. The company launched their Intent Driven Search Platform (IDS) in Early September of this year. IDS ingests and cleans more than 40 Millions of data points relating to properties and locations, including dining and transportation options for local wildlife and activities, as well as transportation to nearby attractions.
Mobi CEO Anna Jaffe states that travelers are moving towards search using widgets for more natural language queries. We now have the ability to search structured across our entire world content Store to look for locations where there is great diving this time of the year. The water is clear and the people are positive.
The road ahead
Will people switch from the Google they are familiar with to some other search engine? How much do you trust these AI search engines now?
“Google is an extremely formidable player with a lot smart people. They will figure out how to ride this wave. Android will be the key to this fight.”
They also have a lot of relationships in travel world. Apple and Microsoft already have a shopping and booking infrastructure. He said: “They have Maps which will be a hugely important tool. This stuff is worth doing. Google is the home of a bazillion business worldwide already.”
Kiwi’s Gavira believes AI search will increase but agrees with that Google will continue to dominate the market. Google, with its ability to AB-test everything. The data that they have will be able to walk the fine line between death and the data they have. Whenever relevant, provide the answer but always optimize for their core Cash cow, monetizing any intent in the query.
“This customer is willing to pay for the algorithm.”
