From Answers to Actions: How Maps Are Changing AI Hotel Search

Not so long ago (just last week, for example), asking OpenAI for hotel recommendations meant getting a static list, with a few lines of description.

Today, the answer can be an interactive map with ratings, photos, and even a (tracked) link to go directly to the hotel’s website or call them. Interestingly, most of these links seem to be direct links (an opportunity compared to OTAs like Booking.com? I covered that here).

Perplexity Travel paved the way back in March 2025, already combining AI answers with visual exploration.

Now, OpenAI is testing its own version. And others will follow (as of August 2025, to my knowledge, Claude doesn’t offer this yet).

Why this matters for hotels

In this new AI-driven map interface, visibility is everything.

If your hotel doesn’t appear on that first map, you’re invisible to the traveler.

Unlike Google Maps, these AI maps are selective: they decide what to show, and in what order.

From search to booking?

Perplexity Travel is already integrated in the US with Tripadvisor and Selfbook, letting users go from discovery to booking without ever leaving the app.

Where will OpenAI take its own experiments? That will likely depend on the business model, which remains unknown:

• Pay Per Click: a Google Ads–style model, where hotels can pay to appear at the top
• Strategic partnerships: integrations with OTAs like Booking.com
• Affiliate model: a simpler way to test monetization
• Marketplace / premium listings: visibility through subscription
• … or maybe an entirely new model yet to be invented

The vision of HotelRank.ai

Our mission is simple: help hotels understand their visibility in AI search engines (and now, on these maps).

We analyze which hotels AI chooses, why some stand out, and how to optimize visibility to be selected at the key moment.

Tomorrow, travelers will simply say: “Find me 5 hotels in Marseille near the Vieux Port” — and AI will show them a map.

Make sure your hotel is on it.