Ask ChatGPT for a hotel and you don't get a page of results. You get an answer: two, three, maybe five hotels, each with a sentence on why. For the traveller that's convenient. For a hotel it raises a simple question: how do you get into that sentence?

The assistant searches, then summarises

With web search switched on, which is now the default, the assistant turns the traveller's question into a few searches, reads a handful of pages, and writes an answer from what it found, mixed with what it learned during training. So two things decide whether you're named: whether the pages it reads mention you, and whether they give it a reason to pick you for this particular traveller.

It answers the traveller, not the keyword

"hotel Lake Como" and "quiet hotel on Lake Como for our anniversary, with a spa and a boat to the villages" are different questions, and they get different answers. Assistants match hotels to the situation: golf, family, spa, budget, dog, wedding, business. A hotel that clearly says who it's for, with facts, gets matched more often than one that says it's "perfect for everyone".

What the assistants seem to rely on

Your own website, if it states the facts plainly: location and distances, who you suit, what's included, prices or packages, opening dates.
Travel guides and articles ("best spa hotels in the Alps", "best family resorts in Florida"): being on the lists they read matters a lot.
Booking and review sites, which supply ratings, prices and complaints.
Consistency: when your name, address and offer are the same everywhere, the assistant is more confident naming you.

Why the same question gets different answers

Assistants don't return the same answer every time. The searches vary, the pages read vary, and the wording varies. That's why one screenshot proves little. To know where you stand, you need to ask many questions, several times, and count. That's what we do in every report.

What you can do this week

Ask ChatGPT three questions your guests would ask, without your hotel's name. Note who is named and which sites are cited.
Check that your homepage states, in plain words, where you are, who you are ideal for and how to book.
Make sure your opening dates and current prices are on your own site, not only on booking platforms.
Find the guides and lists the assistant cited, and see whether you're on them.

Or run our free check: one real question, answered by ChatGPT, showing whether you're recommended and which website it used.