A Propellic report outlines travel marketing in 2026

Travel marketing agency Propellic has just published its report, "AI Travel Megatrends 2025 and 2026 Playbook." This comprehensive analysis highlights the profound transformation of digital travel marketing driven by artificial intelligence. 

The conclusion is clear: AI-powered interfaces have become the new entry point to the traveler journey, relegating standalone SEO strategies to the background. The study is based on data collected from Propellic's global clients and identifies the key trends that shaped 2025 and will define 2026.

AI is revolutionising everything, including, and especially, marketing. Now at the top of the conversion funnel, AI-generated responses are replacing Google's "ten blue links." 

The travel-focused performance marketing agency Propellic has just published its report, "AI Travel Megatrends 2025 and 2026 Playbook." 

This study highlights the transformation of digital travel marketing under the influence of artificial intelligence. AI tools have become the new entry point to the traveler journey, relegating isolated SEO strategies to the background.

The report estimates that non-click searches will reach nearly 60% by 2025, causing organic traffic declines of 15% to 25% for many travel sites. More than 55% of travel keywords ranking on the first page now trigger a Google AI Overview. 

Propellic also observed that 56% of bookings made through Google's AI mode were completed directly on the owners' websites, while OTAs captured less than 10%. 

Google and AI search engines are now prioritising the user experience, with reviews, user-generated content, and traveler testimonials becoming crucial.

This new context has a tangible impact on content structure. Pages must be scannable and organized around coded facts to be used in AI Overviews. 

Hierarchical heading organisation becomes essential because language modeling bots rely on these structures to quickly extract and synthesise information. 

According to the report, sites that standardise their internal schemas, such as FAQs, product pages, and travel guides, have seen the most significant gains.

The form is evolving, and so is the substance. The report identifies a trend that emphasizes contextual intent for local and experiential searches. 

Generic queries remain relevant, but hyper-specific clusters have gained value; the study explains, for example, that a query like "best hotel in Tokyo" is still relevant, but a contextualised search like "a relaxing place for a single-parent family" is now a territory to be conquered by professionals.

“By 2026, the brands that succeed will be those that AI can understand, evaluate, and confidently recommend,” says Brennen Bliss, CEO and Founder of Propellic.

“This means adapting content, technical infrastructure, and brand signals to ensure a presence across all discovery engines, from Google to voice assistants and conversational environments. 

"AI is no longer just a channel; it’s the gateway to the travel experiences of the future. The companies that act now will be the ones travelers actually see, choose, and book.”

The study also focuses on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a layer still missing from most SEO strategies. Unlike traditional SEO, GEO emphasises entity recognition and semantic relationships, shaping how a brand is understood and indexed on AI-powered platforms. 

Brands that invested early in entity modeling, persona-level intent coverage, and structured, response-ready content were able to dominate AI Overviews. 

According to the study, this approach proved particularly effective for channels, activities, and operators.