Keep calm and carry on searching

What Google AI Overviews mean for OTAs and Tour Operators

In our recent article, Search is changing, Platform 195 founder Stuart Adamson explored how AI-driven tools are reshaping discovery and customer acquisition for travel brands. His message was clear, the path to purchase is fragmenting, and brands that don’t adapt risk losing visibility.

This article digs deeper into one of the specific drivers of that change, Google’s AI Overviews, and what they mean specifically for OTAs and tour operators.

Much of the noise around AI and search is well-intentioned, but not all of it is meaningful. Change is undeniably afoot, what is less clear is how this change will impact different parts of the travel funnel.

Breaking down the challenge of Google AI Overviews

One of the biggest challenges AI Overviews presents is that it is suddenly taking up a lot of valuable real estate in search results. Where ads and top-ranking results once showed, AI Overviews now often pushes these down. The result being that the user is naturally drawn to the top of the page.

“Before you even think about the content of AI Overviews, you have the challenge of the volume of information it gives users. Hard earned search results are pushed down the page making them less visible,” says Dan Jenkins, Head of Client Services at Platform 195.

And then of course you have the challenge of how the information is presented within the overview.

“Because AI Overviews aggregates results, users might not have to click on a third-party link. Essentially Google is trying to give users the best experience possible, which in some cases may involve giving answers directly in the search results, holding them in the Google ecosystem,” explains Dan.

In short, the launch of AI Overviews has meant that a large portion of search results has been taken up by an element that answers user questions and prevents user clicks, whilst pushing other results further down the page. The outcome of this is fewer click on weblinks in Google search results.

What does this mean for OTAs and Tour Operators?

When trying to understand the specific implications for the travel industry, there are a few points to consider. Firstly, AI Overview is primarily driven by informational search queries.

The example Dan provides is, if a traveller wants to book a flight from Dubai to Malaysia, this is a very specific query. Google is unlikely to serve up a lengthy overview because it knows exactly what the user is looking for.

However, if the user is researching the best time to visit Malaysia, AI Overviews is more likely to deliver a comprehensive long form answer detailing pros and cons of visiting at different times.

“This is a significant point for travel businesses because the impact here is primarily upper funnel. Travel intenders looking to book a specific holiday, activity or flight are not likely to do this from within an Overview,” explains Dan.

In reality, how this impacts your business will depend on what your specific objectives and strategy are. Upper funnel activity can play a pivotal role in building brand awareness and establishing digital credibility, whereas the bottom of the funnel is where ready-to-buy active travel intenders are.

“Both ends of the funnel are important but how important will be specific to your business goals. That said, typically in travel the bottom of the funnel is where we see businesses invest most in their search activity,” says Dan.

Cutting to the core of the issue, traffic versus conversion

Ultimately, how AI Overviews affects OTAs and Tour Operators will become clear with sale and conversion data over time. There has been some initial panic since its launch because several businesses reported a significant decrease in web traffic.

“Web traffic is of course a metric we look at in marketing when gauging success. Again, how much will depend on goals, strategies etc. But what is important is to look at whether that decrease in traffic correlates with a decrease in enquiries and bookings,” explains Dan.

How should OTAs and Tour Operators react to AI Overviews?

Despite the online noise, Dan advises that there is no need to panic. Whilst there are new considerations, the practice of search for visibility remains an important component for any travel marketeer.

“Yes, the clicks may fall, but instead of panicking it is important to look at smarter metrics. Metrics that are aligned to your strategy,” says Dan.

If upper funnel is where you want to be, you need a search strategy that focuses on FAQs and rich snippets. Online there is growing conversation about renaming the upper funnel Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) because of its focus on providing answers to specific who / what / how / when / why questions.

“This is because Overviews is trained to trigger mainly for informational or exploratory queries, not for do queries,” explains Dan.

For now, the impact on the bottom of the funnel, on transactional, commercial, and specific searches, remains minimal, however, as always, there is a but.

“Yes the impact is minimal now BUT if we think about the whole funnel, what OTAs and Tour Operators need to consider is while the bottom of the funnel remains stable today, the pipeline feeding it is shifting inside Google’s ecosystem,” says Dan.

Keep calm and carry on

So the moral of the story is essentially, keep calm and carry on searching. Just make sure you have a search strategy that is designed to deliver conversions today, and travel intent in the future.

“OTAs and Tour Operators should balance short-term conversion optimisation with long-term brand presence, even if those upper-funnel pages get fewer clicks. To do this you need to have a clear strategy in place and review it regularly to ensure that it accounts for any new developments,” concludes Dan.

At Platform 195, we help OTAs and tour operators amplify their brand with data-fuelled, travel shopper marketing. For guidance on developing an AI-ready SEO strategy or to request an SEO audit contact us today.