---
title: "AI Hotel Answers: Perplexity Links to Booking Sites in 77%"
url: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-hotel-answers-booking-sites
description: "AI hotel answers differ by engine: Perplexity links to Booking.com or Expedia in 77.1% of them, Google AI Mode in 1.6%. See the data."
lang: en
---
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Perplexity links to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site in **77.1%** of its answers to hotel questions, while Google AI Mode does so in 1.6%. Hotel brands' own websites are cited slightly more often than the booking giants, and Tripadvisor, cited in 20.8% of hotel answers, almost disappears from AI answers about flights and airports.
Analysis of 265 AI hotel answers and 2,047 AI travel answers · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
## Key Findings
1. 1. Perplexity links to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site in **77.1%** of its hotel answers, against 1.6% for Google AI Mode. Copy stat
2. 2. Hotel brands' own websites are cited in **24.2%** of AI answers to hotel questions, more than the 19.6% that link to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site. Copy stat
3. 3. On "best hotels" questions, Booking.com and Expedia Group sites appear in **25.6%** of AI answers, ahead of hotel brand websites at 22.2%. Copy stat
4. 4. google.com is the most-cited website in AI hotel answers, in **30.6%** of them, followed by Tripadvisor at 20.8%. Copy stat
5. 5. Tripadvisor is cited in **0.5%** of AI answers to everyday travel questions about flights, airports and timing, against 20.8% of AI hotel answers. Copy stat
6. 6. Delta's website is the most-cited source in AI answers to everyday travel questions, in **14.9%** of sourced answers, ahead of google.com at 13.2%. Copy stat
7. 7. Google AI Overviews cites YouTube in **36.8%** of its sourced travel answers and Facebook in 31.6%, more than any airline. Copy stat
## Summary
A family planning a weekend away asks an AI engine for the best hotels near the beach. On Perplexity, the answer is likely to link to Booking.com or Expedia. On Google AI Mode, the same question almost never does, and links to hotel websites far more often than to booking sites. Then the family asks which terminal their airline uses and how long the flight takes, and the sources change completely: airlines, the FAA and Google, with no review sites in sight.
That matters to every hotel and travel business. A booking through an online travel agency costs the hotel a commission; a booking through its own website does not. If AI answers send travelers to booking sites, hotels pay more for the same guest. And because AI engines pick sources question by question, a strong presence in one place, such as a review site, does not carry over to every travel question.
The engine decides. Perplexity links to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site in **77.1%** of its hotel answers, Google AI Mode in 1.6%. Across all five engines, hotel brand websites hold their own: they are cited in 24.2% of hotel answers, slightly more than the 19.6% that link to Booking.com or Expedia Group. On practical travel questions, airlines take over: Delta's website is cited in 14.9% of sourced answers and Tripadvisor in 0.5% of answers.
## What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews 49 questions containing the word "hotel", twice each from a US location; 265 answers cited at least one source. For each, we checked whether it linked to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site, to any major online travel agency, to a hotel brand's own website, or to Tripadvisor. The same day we asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews 400 everyday travel questions drawn from real search demand, such as "how to get cheap flights", "what terminal is Delta" and "how long is the flight to Aruba", twice each, for 2,047 answers, and ranked every website they cited.
Booking.com or Expedia Group means booking.com, expedia.com, hotels.com or vrbo.com. An online travel agency is any of those plus sites such as Priceline, Kayak, Trivago, Agoda, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Trip.com and Airbnb. A hotel brand website belongs to a hotel group such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Choice, Wyndham or Best Western, or a major resort brand. Hotel shares are shares of hotel answers with sources. The Tripadvisor rate for everyday travel questions is a share of all 2,047 answers; website rankings for those questions use the 1,715 answers that cite at least one source.
## Perplexity sends travelers to booking sites
77.1%
of Perplexity's hotel answers link to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site.
Perplexity links to an online travel agency of some kind in 80% of its hotel answers. It cites many sources per answer, so it also links to hotel brand websites (74.3%) and Tripadvisor (77.1%) at similar rates: a Perplexity hotel answer tends to include the booking site, the hotel and the review site together.
Booking.com or Expedia Group by engine
Perplexity
77.1%
Google AI Overviews
22.9%
ChatGPT
12.2%
Gemini
4.8%
Google AI Mode
1.6%
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 265 AI hotel answers and 2,047 AI travel answers · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026
| Engine | Booking.com or Expedia Group | Any online travel agency | Hotel brand website | Tripadvisor |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Perplexity | 77.1% | 80% | 74.3% | 77.1% |
| Google AI Overviews | 22.9% | 31.2% | 12.5% | 14.6% |
| ChatGPT | 12.2% | 13.3% | 21.4% | 17.3% |
| Gemini | 4.8% | 4.8% | 14.3% | 0% |
| Google AI Mode | 1.6% | 1.6% | 12.7% | 6.3% |
The other engines are far more selective. Google AI Overviews links to an online travel agency in 31.2% of hotel answers and ChatGPT in 13.3%. Gemini (4.8%) and Google AI Mode (1.6%) almost never do. ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode all cite hotel brand websites more often than Booking.com or Expedia Group.
## Hotel brands hold their own against booking sites
Across all five engines, 24.2% of hotel answers link to a hotel brand's website and 19.6% to Booking.com or an Expedia Group site. Adding every other online travel agency lifts the booking-site share only to 21.9%, still below the hotels.
The balance tips on "best hotels" questions, which are the closest to a booking decision. There, Booking.com and Expedia Group appear in 25.6% of answers, against 22.2% for hotel brand websites. When a traveler asks AI to choose, the booking sites pull slightly ahead, and that is the moment a hotel most needs to be in the answer.
## Google and travel publishers dominate hotel sources
Looking at individual websites, google.com is cited in 30.6% of hotel answers with sources, almost a third. Tripadvisor follows at 20.8% and Condé Nast Traveler at 16.6%. Expedia is the highest-ranked booking site at 13.6%, with Booking.com at 9.1%.
Hotel answers with sources citing it by website
google.com
30.6%
tripadvisor.com
20.8%
cntraveler.com
16.6%
youtube.com
14%
expedia.com
13.6%
travelandleisure.com
12.1%
timeout.com
12.1%
forbes.com
10.9%
wikipedia.org
10.2%
thepointsguy.com
9.4%
booking.com
9.1%
kayak.com
8.7%
Travel publishers rank above most booking sites. Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Time Out each appear in more than one hotel answer in ten, and their "best of" lists shape which properties AI engines name.
## Tripadvisor counts for hotels, not for getting there
0.5%
of AI answers to everyday travel questions cite Tripadvisor.
When a traveler asks where to stay, AI engines reach for reviews and rankings of places, and Tripadvisor is one of the strongest sources for that: 20.8% of hotel answers with sources cite it, second only to google.com. When the question is about getting there, the engines want schedules, rules and routes. ChatGPT and Gemini cite Tripadvisor in none of their 800 everyday travel answers each; Google AI Mode cites it in 0.7% and Google AI Overviews in 4.6%.
Hotel answers with sources citing Tripadvisor by engine
ChatGPT
17.3%
Google AI Overviews
14.6%
Google AI Mode
6.3%
Gemini
0%
| Engine | Hotel answers with sources citing Tripadvisor | Everyday travel answers citing Tripadvisor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ChatGPT | 17.3% | 0% |
| Google AI Overviews | 14.6% | 4.6% |
| Google AI Mode | 6.3% | 0.7% |
| Gemini | 0% | 0% |
ChatGPT shows the switch most clearly: it cites Tripadvisor in 17.3% of hotel answers with sources and in none of its everyday travel answers. A review-site profile helps a hotel on where-to-stay questions and does nothing for the practical questions that make up much of travel search.
## Airlines lead AI answers to everyday travel questions
For flights, airports, baggage and timing, AI engines answer from airlines, Google and flight-data sites. Delta's website is the most-cited travel source, in 14.9% of sourced answers, followed by google.com (13.2%), the Federal Aviation Administration's faa.gov (7.8%), Wikipedia (7.8%) and Reddit (6.6%). Delta appears in the top five sources on every engine.
| Engine | Top travel sources (share of that engine's sourced travel answers) |
| --- | --- |
| ChatGPT | delta.com 13%, flightconnections.com 12.4%, google.com 12%, directflights.com 10.9%, faa.gov 10.5% |
| Gemini | delta.com 13.5%, wikipedia.org 8.2%, simpleflying.com 8.2%, jettly.com 7.2%, reddit.com 7% |
| Google AI Mode | google.com 29.3%, delta.com 20.7%, skyscanner.com 17.9%, reddit.com 14.6%, wikipedia.org 13.4% |
| Google AI Overviews | youtube.com 36.8%, facebook.com 31.6%, reddit.com 24.1%, delta.com 19%, skyscanner.com 19% |
ChatGPT leans on flight-route sites and the FAA, Gemini on Wikipedia and the aviation site Simple Flying, and Google AI Mode on Google's own pages and Skyscanner. Delta shows how a brand's own practical pages can become a leading AI source.
## Google AI Overviews answers travel questions with social media
Google AI Overviews stands apart. It cites YouTube in 36.8% of its sourced travel answers, Facebook in 31.6% and Reddit in 24.1%, all ahead of Delta and Skyscanner at 19% each. The other engines lean on airlines and reference sites; Google's AI summary leans on videos, posts and forum threads.
For a travel business, that makes Google AI Overviews the one engine where social content is a direct route into travel answers. A useful YouTube video about an airport, a destination or a booking tip can sit alongside the airlines in the answer.
## What this means for hotels and travel businesses
Hotels are not locked out of AI answers: a quarter of hotel answers link to a brand's own website. Give AI engines something to cite. Build clear property pages that answer the obvious questions about location, amenities, family options, parking and fees in plain text, not in images or booking widgets, and keep your Google hotel listing complete, since Google's own pages are the most-cited source.
Then work the publishers and the review sites. A place on Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure or Time Out lists carries into AI answers across engines, and a strong Tripadvisor presence counts on where-to-stay questions. For the practical questions, publish the answers yourself: parking, check-in times, airport transfers, fees and seasonal tips, in plain text on your own site, and consider short videos, which Google AI Overviews cites often.
On Perplexity your own site competes directly with the booking sites, so every direct citation you earn is a booking that may skip the commission. Investing in hotel seo (https://www.suffdigital.com/seo/hotel-seo) built for AI search keeps more of those travelers booking direct.
## Embed this research
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Source: Perplexity Links to Booking.com or Expedia in 77% of Hotel Answers vs 1.6% for Google AI Mode - Suff Digital
## Cite this study
APA
Suff Digital. (2026). Perplexity Links to Booking.com or Expedia in 77% of Hotel Answers vs 1.6% for Google AI Mode. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-hotel-answers-booking-sites
Plain link
Perplexity Links to Booking.com or Expedia in 77% of Hotel Answers vs 1.6% for Google AI Mode - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-hotel-answers-booking-sites
## Frequently asked questions
### Does AI send travelers to Booking.com and Expedia?
### Which AI engine links to booking sites most?
### What website does AI cite most for hotel questions?
### How often does AI cite Tripadvisor for travel questions?
### What websites does AI cite for travel questions?
### Does AI recommend booking sites or hotel websites for the best hotels?
## Related studies
- AI SEO Companies Get 76.2% of AI Citations for Travel Questions vs 8.1% for Government Sites: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-sources-travel-questions
- Digital PR Hotels Answer 70.2% of Tripadvisor Reviews vs 9.7% for Restaurants: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/hotel-tripadvisor-review-replies
- SEO 86% of Hotel Websites Have No Hotel or Lodging Schema: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/hotel-website-seo-audit
- AI SEO Google's AI Overviews Cite Reddit 176x More Often Than ChatGPT: https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/reddit-citations-ai-answers
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