On 29 July 2026, ChatGPT and Google AI Mode recommended Mandarin Oriental, Miami five times in a study of luxury hotel recommendations, once as one of the top five luxury hotels in the city. The hotel had closed in May 2025, and the building was demolished in April 2026 (SmartBrief, 19 October 2026).
By the simplest measure, that hotel was highly visible in AI search. By any measure that matters to a guest, AI had it badly wrong.
It’s an extreme case, but the cause is ordinary, and it applies to almost every luxury hotel and development.
Your website is a small part of what AI reads
An analysis of 27,360 AI travel answers about hotels in Barcelona found that hotel websites supplied only 7% of what AI said about a property. The other 93% came from booking-site listings, review platforms and editorial media (Hospitality Net, 19 October 2026).
So when AI describes your rooms, your spa, your restaurant or your location, it is mostly repeating what other people have written about you. If a booking-site listing still shows last year’s room types, or a review site still lists a restaurant you’ve rebranded, that is likely to be what AI tells your next guest.
Three mistakes worth checking for
1. Out-of-date facts. Closures are the extreme. The everyday version is a refurbishment AI doesn’t know about, a spa that has changed its treatments, a restaurant with a new name, or a pet policy that has changed.
2. Recommended for the wrong reason. In a September study of South Florida condominiums, ChatGPT recommended The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Fort Lauderdale Beach to buyers who wanted direct oceanfront. The project’s own website places it on the Intracoastal Waterway, a short walk from the beach (SmartBrief). A buyer who wanted the beach is disappointed; a buyer who wanted the waterway may never hear about it.
3. Sent to the wrong website. In the same study, when Google AI Mode was asked for the official sales website of a named branded residences project, it pointed to an independently run site whose footer says it is not the developer’s official website (SmartBrief). The buyer asked for the brand by name and was still sent somewhere else.
What to do about it
- Ask AI about your facts, not just your rankings. Ask ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity simple factual questions: is it open, how many rooms, what’s in the spa, is it on the beach, can I bring my dog, what’s the official website? Note every answer that’s wrong or out of date.
- Fix the facts where AI reads them. Because 93% of what AI says comes from other sites, update your listings on booking sites, Google Business Profile, Tripadvisor and any guide that covers you. Correcting your own website alone won’t be enough.
- Make your website the clearest source. Put the facts guests ask about on one easy-to-read page: rooms, facilities, policies, location and distances, in plain sentences rather than only in images or PDFs.
- Check where AI sends people. Ask for your official website and for the best way to book. If the answer is a booking site or a third-party sales site, that’s a direct booking or a buyer enquiry you’re losing.
- Check again after every change. A refurbishment, rebrand, new restaurant or new phase of a residences launch is exactly when AI is most likely to be wrong.
Quick Overview
Being mentioned by AI is only the first test. The hotels and developments that benefit are the ones AI describes accurately, recommends for the right reasons, and sends to the right website.
Our free AI Visibility Snapshot runs 20 real guest questions through ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, compares you with your three closest competitors, and highlights one fact AI currently gets wrong about you, all on a single page. Request yours at reposition.co.uk.