Tour Operators Question OTA Rankings as AI Reshapes Travel Discovery

Suppliers who depend on experience marketplaces are asking whether ranking logic, paid visibility and AI search are shifting demand away from them, and the platforms are pushing back.

Operators report uneven results

Peter Fischer Flórez, a tour operator in Málaga, Spain, says Viator bookings fell almost 35% year over year while his overall sales rose about 20%. He says he has not changed listings or prices, and has seen more direct bookings and WhatsApp inquiries after investing in SEO and generative engine optimization (GEO).

Andrew Lamb of Wales Outdoors saw GetYourGuide sales dip in summer before recovering; September was his best month ever. He says Viator offered extra visibility in exchange for raising his commission from 25% to 30%, which he declined.

Mitch Bach of TripSchool and the Tourpreneur community says platform experiments with advertising make small operators' rankings less predictable, and that he has heard complaints about Viator's enhanced visibility program, though he stresses the reports are anecdotal.

Platforms respond

Viator's Duncan Skehens says organic rankings reflect relevance, competitiveness and popularity and are "not based on revenue." He was unaware of any radical recent ranking changes and describes AI traffic as small but encouraging. GetYourGuide's Benedikt Berlemann says rankings rely on demand, sales performance, feedback and experience quality, denies favoring new suppliers, and says AI does not directly determine rankings. He says GetYourGuide grew about 27% in the first half of 2026 and estimates roughly half its customers start travel research with a chatbot.

AI and discovery

• Phocuswright research: 56% of U.S. leisure travelers use AI for travel, as do 35–40% of travelers in the U.K., France and Germany.
• Citing Arival, GetYourGuide's Spring 2026 Travel Experience Trend Tracker found 75% of travelers find AI helpful for trip planning.
• Among operators, 19% actively use AI, 33% are testing it and 20% are researching it; more than half want clearer guidance.
• Viator became Google's first connected app for travel experiences in Gemini in July 2026 and has AI partnerships involving OpenAI, Claude and Alexa.

GetYourGuide's report found experiences with 15 reviews generated ten times as many bookings as those with none (correlation, not proven causation). In its survey of 505 suppliers, 84% reported positive results from AI-assisted product descriptions, 81% from website and blog content and 74% from SEO content; these are self-reported.

Reducing dependence

Lamb built Tour Wales, a regional directory of about 350 businesses that charges a £25 annual fee instead of booking commissions. Bach recommends partnerships with hotels and destination management companies and advises smaller operators to be wary of anyone claiming to know how this will end.