AI search is rapidly reshaping how people plan their trips. Travellers are no longer typing short keywords into Google. They’re asking conversational, scenario-based questions such as “What’s the best safari park for couples who hate crowds?” or “Where should I stay in Cape Town for £150 a night with beach access?”
And increasingly, they’re expecting AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini to give them the answer instantly. The process of getting your brand to feature in these answers is called answer engine optimisation (AEO).
The great news about AEO is that its core components – trust, authority, and accurate data – are not limited to major multinational brands with huge budgets. Whether you're a boutique safari operator, an independent DMC, a regional tourism board or a global hotel group, there are practical steps you can take at every level.
If you have a limited budget: Focus on the essentials that build trust
Even with a small budget, you can lay a strong foundation. Think of this stage as “making it easy for AI to understand who you are, what you offer and where you belong”.
For small businesses, local operators, and boutique hotels, the goal is to establish solid brand entity signals in your niche. Your focus should be on high-impact, low-cost foundational tasks that build authority efficiently.
Budget range: £500 – £2000 per month, depending on the size and scope of your project.
1. Update and streamline your content
AI platforms deprioritise out-of-date information instantly. This means the basics matter:
- remove outdated rates
- update opening times
- correct travel requirements
- refresh itineraries and destination pages
Even small inaccuracies can lead to exclusion from AI answers, especially for time-sensitive topics.
Additionally, when adding new content, focus on quality over quantity. Invest the time to create one, highly authoritative, exhaustive, and updated guide on the niche topic where you possess genuine expertise (e.g., "Planning Your First Okavango Delta Safari: A Complete Guide for Families"). This single, high-authority asset can attract AI citations more effectively.
2. Refresh and expand your FAQs
Travellers ask natural-language questions, not keywords. Create new or update existing FAQs to mirror real queries such as:
- “Is winter a good time to visit Namibia?”
- “What are the safest neighbourhoods to stay in Cape Town?”
- “Which Indian Ocean islands are best for families?”
Start with 10–12 core questions. These can dramatically improve your likelihood of being referenced in AI responses.
3. Optimise your Google Business Profile
This is your highest-priority entity signal. Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are identical across your website, social media, and any third-party travel directories (OTAs, TripAdvisor). Inconsistency tells the AI your data is unreliable.
4. Implement basic schema
Schema markup is a piece of code that gives search engines and AI tools extra context about your business – who you are, what you offer, and how your pages relate to each other. It helps machines understand your content more accurately, increasing your chances of being surfaced in AI-driven results.
You don’t need schema on every page, just the 5-10 that generate the most revenue or answer core questions.
Make sure you are focusing on accuracy. A small amount of correct schema is much better than a large amount of broken schema. Use the Google Rich Results Test to confirm validity.
5. Work with a boutique agency for tailored, budget-friendly support
If you don’t have the resources or in-house expertise to manage AEO foundations yourself, a boutique digital agency can help you prioritise the highest-impact tasks within your budget. Smaller agencies offer flexible, modular packages rather than large retainers, so you can focus only on what moves the needle.
Ask your agency to prioritise essentials such as:
- identify outdated or conflicting information
- improving or rewriting key destination or service pages
- developing or cleaning up your FAQ library
- implementing or fixing schema on your top pages
- strengthening entity signals across your Google Business Profile and major directories
- auditing brand consistency (name, phone, messaging and category alignment)
Even a small, tightly scoped strategy can significantly accelerate your AEO readiness and help you avoid common technical mistakes that lead to AI exclusion.
If you have a mid-range budget: Strengthen authority and structure
With a moderate budget, you can move from “visible” to “competitive”. Mid-sized companies can build on the foundation by systematising your content and data structure, preparing for a wider range of scenario queries.
Budget range: £2000 – £5000 per month, depending on the size and scope of your project.
1. Conduct a content audit from an AI point of view
Conduct a focused content audit to ensure your pages explicitly answer the complex scenarios your target travellers are asking (e.g., "What’s the cheapest way to do a 10-day safari in Botswana?").
A traditional SEO content audit looks at keywords. An AEO audit looks at:
- whether your content answers real traveller questions
- whether information is structured logically
- whether scenarios are fully explained
- whether the brand’s expertise is clear
- whether entity signals are strong and consistent
This helps identify gaps where AI tools may overlook you.
You can also use this process to identify content clusters. This means grouping related content using semantic anchors and internal links. For example, a "Kenya Safari" entity should link logically to "Masai Mara," "Tented Camps," and "Packing Guide”. This helps the AI understand the complete, comprehensive nature of your expertise.
2. Build high-quality, scenario-based content
With a larger budget, you can develop a content calendar that addresses multiple traveller personas and scenarios. This might include 6-10 new pieces per quarter, each targeting specific intent-driven queries.
3. Systematise structured data
Go beyond basic schema and ensure that core destinations (like the booking engine or itinerary pages) are marked up consistently. Use dynamic schema to pull current pricing and availability.
If your budget allows, consider building a lightweight system to maintain schema automatically. This prevents common issues like outdated pricing, missing fields or conflicting signals that can confuse AI models. Even a simple workflow – where your CMS, booking platform pushes updates into your schema – can dramatically improve accuracy and reduce the manual effort required to keep everything current and consistent.
4. Introduce AEO monitoring
Dedicate resources to periodically query answer engines for your most valuable scenario questions. Track your answer visibility score (AVS) and see which competitors the AI is citing. Use this data to identify your content gaps.
5. Partner with a boutique agency for tailored support
If you want expert guidance without overcommitting resources, a specialised travel or digital branding agency can create a customised AEO plan that fits your budget. Agencies often offer modular packages, allowing you to prioritise high-impact tasks first. Key areas to focus on might include:
- Conducting an AI-focused content audit
- Implementing and validating schema markup
- Creating scenario-based content for high-value queries
- Setting up ongoing AEO performance monitoring
Working with an agency ensures your strategy is cohesive, up-to-date, and aligned with best practices, while letting your internal team focus on day-to-day operations.
If you have a larger budget: Build a comprehensive AEO strategy
With more resources, you can move beyond fundamentals and into strategic advantage. Large, global travel brands should focus on scale, speed, and deep integration to cement their position as the undisputed authority in their sectors.
Budget range: £5000+ per month, depending on the size and scope of your project.
1. Develop a full information architecture for AI
This includes:
- mapping every page to specific traveller intents
- designing content clusters around themes (e.g., luxury, hiking, family travel)
- ensuring internal linking supports contextual discovery
- building entity-rich hubs that clarify your expertise
2. Build a brand-wide entity footprint
To move from being “sometimes included” to “consistently referenced” in AI answers, travel brands need a coordinated approach across multiple channels:
- Global knowledge graph management: Maintain high-quality entries on Wikidata and other knowledge graphs to reinforce your brand as a verified entity.
- Digital PR and content placements: Ensure press mentions and partnerships consistently link your brand to the experiences and destinations you want to be known for.
- External linking strategies: Build connections from relevant websites to strengthen authority and relevance.
- Refining Wikipedia (where permissible): Keep public entries accurate and complete for AI interpretation.
- Strategic partnerships: Collaborate with industry partners to reinforce credibility in niche segments.
3. Create content at scale
Develop a robust content operation that publishes comprehensive, expert-level content consistently. This might include destination guides, seasonal travel advice, detailed itinerary planning resources, and in-depth comparisons.
Consider adding multimedia content such as videos, interactive maps, and structured itineraries. You can also commission original research, traveller surveys, or data studies that establish your brand as a thought leader. Original research is particularly valuable for AEO because AI systems prioritise citing primary sources.
4. Implement a long-term monitoring system
AEO success compounds over time, so it is important you actively track any movement. Set up a long-term monitoring system using tools like Semrush’s AI Toolkit, Ahrefs’ AI visibility reports (beta), or by systematically tracking queries in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Combine this with internal dashboards to monitor entity signals, consistency across platforms, and citations in AI-generated answers. Regularly reviewing these metrics ensures your content and brand signals remain accurate, authoritative, and consistently visible to AI tools.
5. Partner with a specialised agency
Even if you have significant internal resources, boutique agencies bring tailored expertise and an outside perspective that can accelerate AEO results. Agencies can design packages to suit your scale and budget, prioritising high-impact tasks such as content audits, schema implementation, entity management, and scenario-based content development. Full-service agencies can also help coordinate PR and partnerships, set up monitoring frameworks, and ensure your brand maintains consistent authority across all AI platforms.
The most important investment: Consistency
Regardless of your budget, the most critical factor in AEO success is consistency. A small budget applied consistently over 12 months will outperform a large one-time investment.
AEO is about building authority and trust signals that compound over time. Regular content updates, ongoing entity consistency maintenance, and continuous technical optimisation matter more than any single large expenditure.
Start with clarity and credibility, build structure over time, and grow your authority at a pace that fits your budget.
Ready to build an AEO strategy that matches your resources and goals? Boost Brands specialises in helping travel businesses become more visible in AI-powered search. Get in touch and let’s create a roadmap that works for your brand – no matter your size or budget.
