SEO vs GEO: Why Both Matter in Hotel Marketing

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, hotels are under increasing pressure to drive direct bookings and reduce their dependency on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). A robust hotel marketing strategy is one of the most effective ways to achieve this. However, within the realm of search, a new distinction is emerging that marketers must understand: the difference between SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and what we’re calling GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation).

Understanding how these two approaches differ, and how they complement one another, can be the difference between standard visibility and long-term competitive advantage.

SEO: Building Broad Visibility

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is the long-established discipline of improving a website’s rank within traditional search engine results. It focuses on optimising content, site structure, metadata, and backlinks to increase relevance and authority in search queries. For hotels, SEO typically targets high-intent, high-volume keywords like “luxury hotel in York” or “UK spa breaks.”

Effective SEO helps hotels attract users who are comparing destinations or planning trips in advance. It supports evergreen traffic, builds credibility over time, and creates content that supports the entire customer journey.

Over the last decade, SEO has evolved into a multidimensional strategy demanding technical proficiency, content depth, UX awareness, and a strong understanding of search intent. The emergence of AI-powered engines now signals the next major evolution.

GEO: Gearing Up for Generative Search

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is an emerging discipline that responds to the rise of AI-powered search experiences, particularly those being led by platforms like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Microsoft’s Copilot in Bing.

Unlike traditional SEO, where search results list websites in ranked order, generative engines create conversational responses, summarising and synthesising content from across the web. For hotels, this means potential guests may no longer browse ten blue links—they might read a paragraph generated by AI that recommends three nearby boutique hotels.

GEO is about preparing your digital presence to be recognised, cited, and recommended by these AI engines. This includes creating high-authority, well-structured content; integrating schema markup; publishing up-to-date, factual content; and developing content clusters around specific guest needs and intents.

Example Use Case (Fictional):

A luxury spa hotel in the Lake District created a content cluster around romantic getaways. Their blog posts highlighted seasonal experiences, incorporated verified user reviews, and addressed niche search queries. By using schema markup and regularly updating the content with fresh offers and testimonials, they were cited in an SGE result for “romantic spa breaks with lake views.” As a result, organic bookings increased by 22% within three months.

SEO vs GEO: A New Strategic Divide

While SEO helps your hotel rank higher in search listings, GEO prepares your hotel to be part of AI-generated answers. The key difference lies in how content is consumed. SEO assumes the user will evaluate links and pages. GEO assumes the user may not click at all.

The content you produce must be designed to be parsed and trusted by generative models. It should be semantically rich, reliable, and backed by social proof and structured data. Accuracy and topical authority become essential, as generative engines prioritise quality signals over keyword volume.

Why GEO Matters for Hotels

Generative search is already shifting user expectations. Instead of searching for “best spa hotels in Yorkshire” and clicking through results, a guest might ask, “What’s a relaxing spa hotel near York with dog-friendly rooms and EV charging?” and receive a conversational response.

Being visible in that AI-generated shortlist depends on how well your site content feeds into the training and crawling models used by search engines. If your hotel isn’t prepared, you could be omitted entirely from high-value guest discovery moments.

Moreover, GEO supports direct bookings by positioning your brand earlier in the conversation. When a user sees your hotel listed by an AI engine as a trusted recommendation, it bypasses OTA dominance and builds instant trust.

Preparing for a Hybrid Future

Rather than treating SEO and GEO as competing tactics, hotel marketers must now treat them as complementary pillars. SEO continues to drive awareness and visibility in traditional search, while GEO ensures your brand is represented within AI-powered search narratives.

Example:

A strong blog on “The Best Wedding Venues in Yorkshire” can still rank on page one via SEO, but if it is well-written, factually rich, and trusted, it may also be quoted directly by a generative search engine.

Your content needs to serve both types of search outcomes.

Optimising Your Website for Both Searches

Structuring for Search Intent

Create a clear architecture of primary landing pages focused on specific user intents—like “dog-friendly spa hotel in Yorkshire” or “hotel wedding venue near Harrogate.” Support these with semantically related blog content and FAQs.

Enhancing GEO Credibility Signals

From a GEO perspective, make sure your pages are:

· Factually rich

· Regularly updated

· Structured with conversational subheadings

· Marked up with schema

· Supported by author bios and consistent NAP details

Can One Page Serve SEO and GEO?

Yes. A well-structured page can serve both SEO and GEO if crafted with dual intent:

· For SEO: optimise page titles, metadata, and keyword alignment.

· For GEO: ensure the content is contextually rich, accurate, and easy to parse by AI models.

A question-led format (e.g. “What makes a hotel ideal for couples?”) with clear, answer-style paragraphs increases your chances of being featured in both traditional results and AI-generated summaries.

What the Future Holds

Generative search is likely to evolve beyond snippets. Voice search will intersect more meaningfully with AI models. Hotel searches might soon start through smart speakers, with bookings influenced entirely by AI-curated options.

Integrations with dynamic pricing APIs, personalised guest data, and real-time availability could soon appear directly in search results. Hotels that structure their data accordingly will be best positioned to benefit.

Why Hotel Marketing Must Evolve with SEO and GEO

At Punch, we see the rise of GEO not as a disruption, but as an opportunity. It is a chance for hospitality brands to leap ahead of OTAs and competitors by becoming the go-to source for high-quality, trusted content. It aligns perfectly with revenue-optimised hotel marketing, placing your brand where it matters most—at the very beginning of the guest journey.

Hotels that embrace generative search now will be ahead of the curve when AI-driven search becomes the norm. Those that ignore it risk invisibility, even with strong SEO.

Looking to future-proof your hotel’s visibility in both traditional and generative search? Get in touch with Punch.