Direct bookings
SEO, AEO and GEO for hotels: getting into Google and ChatGPT
Guests ask Google, and more and more often ChatGPT. A hotel needs three things: pages a search engine understands, clear answers to guests' questions and the same facts everywhere. Only 15% of Croatian hotels in our check have Hotel schema.
Short answer
SEO means Google finds and understands the hotel's pages. AEO means the page answers guests' questions clearly. GEO means an AI tool like ChatGPT or Perplexity has a reason to cite the hotel. In our check of 84 Croatian hotels only 13 have Hotel schema, and none block AI search engines. Access is not the problem, content is.
- 13 of 84 hotels have Hotel schema on the homepage.
- 37 of 76 multilingual websites have no hreflang.
- No hotel blocks AI search engines. The problem is what the website says.
AI illustration
Guests ask Google. More and more often they also ask ChatGPT or Perplexity: a hotel in Rovinj with a pool for a family, with parking, close to the beach. The tool answers from what it finds. If the hotel website doesn't say it, the answer comes from Booking.com or TripAdvisor.
Three terms, one job
- SEO - Google finds and understands the hotel's pages
- AEO - the page clearly answers a guest's specific question
- GEO - an AI tool has a reason to cite the hotel in its answer
All three start from the same place: clear facts on the website, the same as on the Google profile and on Booking.com.
What we found across 84 hotels
In October 2026 we checked the public pages of 84 Croatian 4 and 5 star hotels.
| Indicator | Hotels |
|---|---|
| Hotel schema on the homepage | 13 of 84 |
| llms.txt | 8 of 84 |
| Multilingual website without hreflang | 37 of 76 |
| Blocks AI search engines in robots.txt | 0 of 84 |
| Blocks training bots | 2 of 84 |
| Homepage without a title tag | 3 of 84 |
AI search engines may read almost every hotel. Access is not the problem. The problem is what the website says and how it is structured. The method is in the direct booking study.
What a hotel can do
Hotel schema. Structured data on the homepage: name, address, stars, check-in and check-out, facilities. Search engines and AI tools then don't have to guess.
A page of answers. Parking, pets, breakfast, distance to the beach, check-in after midnight, children. Short, with a number where possible. The same questions guests write to reception.
The same facts everywhere. If the website says parking is 15 EUR and Booking.com says 20 EUR, the tool doesn't know whom to believe. More in the article on digital profiles.
hreflang. Every language version has to tell Google who it is for. Otherwise the German guest gets the Croatian page or none.
llms.txt. Not an official standard. It does no harm, but it is not the first step.
How to measure it
Three questions, four tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot.
- a hotel in your town with your main feature, for example a hotel with a pool in Rovinj
- the same question in German
- the hotel's name and one question, for example whether it has parking
Once a month, note the date and which sources the tool names: the hotel website, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, the tourist board or an article. Answers change from day to day. The direction over a few months says more than one answer.
HOTREC's European Hotel Distribution Study 2026 reports that 26% of European hotels use AI tools. That is use of tools in the hotel, not how often an AI answer cites a hotel.
Sources
- Nikton Hospitality: direct bookings in Croatian hotels 2026.
- HOTREC, European Hotel Distribution Study 2026, PDF. Reference year 2025.
- Google Search Central: structured data.
Next step
Consistency of public data continues in the article on digital profiles. If you want to know how Google and AI tools see your hotel, ask for a hotel audit.
Related: case study Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery. Campaigns, the booking engine and direct booking results, June 2026 vs June 2025, source GA4.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?
SEO is Google finding and understanding the pages. AEO is the page clearly answering a specific question, for example whether there is parking. GEO is an AI tool having a reason to cite the hotel in its answer. All three start from the same facts on the website.
What should a hotel do first?
Hotel schema on the homepage, a page that answers guests' questions and the same facts on the website, the Google profile and Booking.com. Then hreflang for every language version.
Does a hotel need llms.txt?
It is not an official standard. It does no harm, but it is not the first step. In our check 8 of 84 hotels have one. Schema and clear content matter more.
How do I know whether ChatGPT cites the hotel?
Ask the same questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot once a month. Note the date and which sources the tool names: the hotel website, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, the tourist board or an article. Comparing months shows the direction.
Nikton Hospitality. A digital marketing agency for hotels.
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