Google’s AI revolution is reshaping travel search fast

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The age of keyword dominance is ending, and the age of AI-powered, context-driven travel search has begun

Jun 10, 2025

Google’s rapid shift toward AI-powered search is upending the travel marketing landscape faster than expected. Once a stable pillar of the tourism booking funnel, Google is now rolling out generative AI features—like Gemini’s AI Overviews—that fundamentally alter how travelers discover and engage with travel brands. Skift Research’s latest report reveals that the move from keyword-based to context-rich, conversational search is no longer a future scenario—it’s already here. With AI-generated content now appearing in a growing share of flight and hotel searches, travel marketers face an urgent need to rethink SEO, content strategy, and advertising models.

Key takeaways

AI overviews are rising fast: The share of travel-related searches returning AI-generated results has significantly increased:
- Flight keywords: From under 3% in Nov 2024 to nearly 9% in Apr 2025.
- Hotel keywords: From under 1% to nearly 3% in the same timeframe.
Google’s Gemini AI is rewriting search behavior: AI-generated summaries now appear directly in Google’s search results, offering contextual, conversational answers instead of traditional keyword matches—shifting the entire discovery process.
A small pool of sites drives visibility: Just 20 websites power 75% of AI Overviews for flights and 69% for hotels, indicating that Google’s AI visibility is highly centralized and potentially hard to break into.
Search real estate is changing: AI Overviews often displace traditional paid ads or organic links, altering user attention and undermining established SEM/SEO strategies.
Search marketing strategies must evolve: The dominance of keywords is waning. Travel brands must prepare for AI-first discovery and visibility—investing in structured data, brand authority, and conversational content.
Partnerships and tools matter more: Collaborations with AI-savvy SEO platforms and a nuanced understanding of Google’s evolving AI priorities will be critical for staying visible.
Implications are industry-wide: With Google central to the travel marketing funnel, even small shifts in user behavior triggered by AI can cascade into major distribution and revenue consequences.