Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
Travelers are turning to AI chatbots for personalized trip planning instead of traditional search engines.
Travelers are increasingly asking AI chatbots like ChatGPT for trip suggestions instead of searching Google, a shift the travel tech industry calls the move to “answer engines”, according to a new report by Greek digital marketing company Nelios.
The agency points to the September 1, 2026, launch of ChatGPT Ads in Greece as a marker of how far that shift has already come, and says it is already showing up in hotels’ booking data.
“Generative AI models don’t just match keywords,” said Nefeli Koutsoukou, Digital Growth Executive at Nelios. “They read the context of the conversation, the visitor’s profile, and a property’s amenities, pulling from a hotel’s structured website data to build a tailored suggestion. To show up in those suggestions, a hotel has to feed the engines clean, readable data.”
At one property in Nelios‘s portfolio, Google Analytics 4 data shows 2,656 active users and 3,220 engaged sessions arriving from ChatGPT and Google Gemini between January 1 and August 25, 2026, a period that produced three direct bookings.
The same stretch in 2025 produced none. It’s a single case rather than an industry trend, but Nelios says it’s the kind of pattern it expects to see more of as AI search grows.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads launched in Greece on September 1, 2026, marking a new chapter in AI-driven travel search.
According to Christos Bitzis, Head of Performance at Nelios, the three main ad networks work in distinctly different ways.
OpenAI‘s ChatGPT Ads target users based on the context of their conversation, location, and device rather than browsing history, appearing as a natural extension of the chat response itself. Nelios says the format complies with GDPR and does not draw on a user’s prior history.
Microsoft Copilot Ads work differently, surfacing sponsored hover-cards and merchant feeds next to AI-generated answers, pulled from a business’s existing Search, Shopping, and Hotel Center campaigns.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, meanwhile, insert sponsored links directly into Google Search results, drawing on Performance Max for Travel Goals campaigns and hotels’ existing pricing feeds.
Getting picked up by AI tools takes preparation, according to Dimitris Kottas, Chief Production Officer at Nelios. Hotels need schema markup so search engines can read their site data correctly, live product feeds in XML or CSV format, and server-side tracking through a Conversions API to capture results.
Nelios also points to Answer Engine Optimization as a complementary strategy: publishing detailed amenity information, comparative accommodation data, and dedicated content for premium suites and villas gives AI tools more to draw from when generating recommendations.
Nelios‘s advice to hoteliers is to start small: set aside 5 to 10 percent of ad budget to test AI channels without cutting existing campaigns. The agency says the goal is to get hotels’ technical infrastructure and data in order now, so their properties keep showing up in AI-generated travel suggestions and their direct booking revenue stays protected.
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