The short answer
AI assistants and the AI features of Google Search base their answers on content they can find on the web and understand. Hotels improve their chances of being named correctly with clear facts in the text, structured data following schema.org, such as Hotel, HotelRoom and amenity features, and pages that are easy to reach. Google says the AI features of Search follow the same basics as normal search, and no separate optimisation is required.
Key takeaways
- AI answers draw on content that is findable and easy to understand. For Google’s AI features, Google says the usual SEO basics apply.
- Structured data following schema.org describes your property, rooms and amenities unambiguously.
- An llms.txt summarises your most important pages for language models. Whether a provider uses it varies.
- The most important measure remains clear text: the core message of a page belongs in the first paragraph.
How AI assistants find hotels
Someone asking for “quiet hotel with sauna and dog in Oststeiermark” gets an answer assembled from many sources: websites, review portals, maps, articles. The system has to recognise that your property is a hotel, where it is, that it has a sauna and that it allows dogs. If that appears only in a sentence like “your four-legged friend is warmly welcome”, the match is less certain than with an explicit statement.
Google says of the AI features of Search that no special requirements apply: a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet. The known basics, namely technical accessibility, helpful content and suitable structured data, continue to apply.
Structured data for hotels
Schema.org provides a vocabulary for describing content in a machine-readable way. For accommodation, these types are the most relevant:
| Type | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Hotel, LodgingBusiness | the property, with address, contact, check-in and price range |
| HotelRoom, Suite, Apartment | individual rooms or units, with occupancy and beds |
| LocationFeatureSpecification | amenities such as Wi-Fi, parking, pets and sauna |
| Offer | offers and packages with price |
| FAQPage | visible frequently asked questions |
Google has a dedicated markup for vacation rental listings. It is currently tied to a partnership with Google. You can still use the general schema.org markup.
llms.txt
The llms.txt is a proposal for a simple text file in the root directory of a website, giving language models an overview of its most important content. It costs little and does no harm. It is not an official standard with a commitment from all providers, so treat it as a supplement, not a replacement for good pages.
Which other sources count
Your website is not the only source. AI assistants and search systems also draw on review portals, map services, tourist boards and articles. If the details conflict, for example on check-in time or pets, the answer becomes uncertain. Consistent facts across all channels are therefore just as important as the markup on your own site.
For example: if your Google Business Profile says “dogs welcome”, your website says nothing about it and a portal says “no pets”, no system can make a reliable statement. The solution is unglamorous: a list of your facts and a check against all profiles.
What you can do right away
- Make facts visible: Write check-in time, parking, pets, accessibility and distances as clear statements on the site.
- One page per room category: with size, beds and amenities.
- Answer frequent questions: on the site, not only in the brochure.
- Consistent details: name, address and phone number identical everywhere, including the Google Business Profile.
- Invent nothing: no reviews or awards in structured data that do not exist.
How we do it
On our direct booking websites, structured data is generated automatically from the editorial system, and the llms.txt is regenerated with every publication. Details under structured data and AI search.
Sources and further reading
Häufige Fragen
Can I pay to be mentioned in ChatGPT?
Not through the normal answers, which are based on content. Visibility comes from good, findable content and trustworthy mentions across the web. So your effort goes into your own pages and into consistent facts across the sources that describe your property.
Does my hotel need an llms.txt?
It is a sensible, inexpensive addition. Clear pages and structured data matter more. An llms.txt costs little to set up and does no harm, but it is no substitute for good content on your site, so start with those first.
Which schema.org types does a hotel need?
At least Hotel or LodgingBusiness with address and contact details, plus HotelRoom for rooms, amenity features and FAQPage for visible questions. Together these describe your property, its rooms and its facilities in a form that machines can read clearly.
How long does it take for changes to take effect?
Search engines first have to fetch the page again, which can take days to weeks. With AI assistants it depends on when and how often they update their content, and you have no direct influence on that, so allow time before you judge a change.
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