LOCAL SEARCH
Your Google Business Profile Is Now An AI Data Feed
by Jeff Riddall
Google quietly connected Google Business Profile to Gemini, so owners can update hours, reply to reviews, schedule posts, and pull performance data without leaving the chat. Useful. But Jeff from our SEO team makes the case that the convenience is a distraction from what the move actually signals.
In his latest piece:
- Your GBP is no longer just a local listing. It's now a structured data feed powering local pack rankings, AI Overviews, Knowledge Panels, and Gemini answers all at once.
- Our Google AI Mode study found the GBP has quietly become the primary storefront for many travel businesses, used more than their own website.
- 93% of AI Mode searches now end without a click to any website (Semrush). When AI is the middleman, your profile is the pitch.
- The rollout has real gaps: single-location owners only for now, plus a coming wave of AI-drafted review replies that all sound the same.
The takeaway: a stale Business Profile used to cost you a few rankings. Now it can make you invisible to the AI doing the recommending. Jeff breaks down what to fix first, and why NAP consistency matters more than it ever has.
AI VISIBILITY
Travelers Are Asking AI What To Book. Are You In The Answer?
More marketers are running the same test: they ask ChatGPT for a recommendation in their category and find their brand nowhere in sight. At Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona, Propellic CRO John Matson joined Carlo del Mistro of Stiplo and PhocusWire's Linda Fox to break down what actually drives visibility in AI search, and what travel brands should do about it now.
A few things worth your time:
- AI visibility is where SEO was 20 years ago. AI visibility tracking is in its infancy, so the rules keep shifting. The difference, per John, is that we can already measure it with statistical rigor and show real movement for specific prompts and categories.
- SEO is still a foundation. A huge component of AI visibility is still good SEO. GEO builds on that foundation, it doesn't replace it, and how much each matters depends on which model the traveler is using.
- AI referrals are small but compounding fast. And they convert better, because travelers who arrive through an AI answer have already done their research. Fewer clicks, more qualified buyers.
- John is "bullish on suppliers in this era." Real-world products and first-party traveler relationships give suppliers an edge over the OTAs as discovery shifts into AI.
The conversation also covers how destinations can shape AI recommendations, why metadata matters more than you think, what to actually look for in an AI visibility partner, and why your website still earns its keep.
The brands measuring this now are the ones who'll own the answer box later. Watch the full conversation before your next planning meeting.
PAID MEDIA BENCHMARK
What The Top 25% Of Travel Advertisers Do Differently
We pulled the numbers on $250M+ in ad spend across 120+ travel brands observed, and a clear gap showed up. The advertisers pulling ahead aren't spending more. They're running six disciplined plays the average brand skips, like owning non-brand category search before competitors do, and building mobile-first landing pages that convert 40%+ higher.
The new Propellic Travel Index™ Paid Media Benchmark lays out all six, plus the four forces rewriting paid media in 2026: geopolitical instability, economic pressure, health and safety volatility, and AI search compressing the funnel into fewer, pricier placements.
These are the headlines. The full report shows you exactly where your paid media stands against the field, and what to fix first.
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