Hotels Lost Metasearch. They Lost Mobile. AI Doesn’t Have to Be Next

When ChatGPT opened its Apps marketplace to 800 million users, Booking.com and Expedia were already there. Day-one partners. Ready to intercept travelers at the moment they start planning.

If that sounds familiar, it should.

OTAs have perfected this playbook over two decades: move fast on new distribution channels while hotels deliberate.

They did it with metasearch.

They did it with mobile.

And now, they’re doing it with AI.

But something different is happening this time. The economics that made OTAs powerful are starting to work against them.

The $14 billion question

Here’s what most hoteliers don’t realize: Expedia and Booking.com spend a combined $14 billion annually on marketing, most of it buying visibility in Google search results.

That’s not a typo.

Expedia alone dedicates more than half its revenue to marketing. Their entire business model depends on intercepting travelers at the earliest stage of discovery and converting that attention into bookings.

AI is scrambling those economics. As Harvard Business Review recently noted, travelers are increasingly getting what they need inside AI interfaces rather than clicking through to external sites. 

Discovery is drifting away from the platforms OTAs have spent billions to dominate. And, as planning moves into AI conversations, OTAs have fewer opportunities to shape intent, cross-sell products and capture the guest relationship.

This matters because it creates an opening that hasn’t existed in years. New agentic AI tools are being designed to connect directly to hotel supply, giving properties a potential channel that bypasses OTAs entirely.

Where travelers are starting their search

According to Phocuswright, nearly four in ten travelers are already using AI tools to research and plan trips, and more than half of active travelers now use AI in some capacity. Skift’s research reinforces the trend, showing that generative AI has moved quickly into mainstream travel planning behavior.

When someone asks ChatGPT for a boutique hotel in Lisbon or a family resort near the coast, the entire conversation takes place within the AI. Not on Google. Not on an OTA homepage.

Without a direct presence on these platforms, hotels are reduced to whatever the AI can scrape from the web: generic descriptions, outdated details and no booking capability. The guest relationship starts and ends with someone else, and hotels pay 15-25% commission for the privilege.

Why timing matters

Remember the early days of Google?

Hotels that understood search optimization locked in visibility that competitors spent years trying to match. AI discovery works the same way. The platforms learn from what’s already there. Early movers shape what gets recommended. First adopters earn positions that late arrivals struggle to reach.

The difference is speed. Google’s advantage was built over a decade. But the AI window is measured in months, not years.

A direct line to travelers

Connect AI gives hotels what OTAs already have: presence across AI platforms. Hotels can show up in AI searches, tell their own story instead of relying on scraped summaries, and offer live rates with direct booking links. No intermediary. No commission. Full ownership of guest data and the relationship.

It’s built on Model Context Protocol (MCP), the same standard powering ChatGPT Apps, and integrates with existing booking engines and property management systems. Activation is fast whether you’re running a single property or a global portfolio.

The window is open

Value in travel is moving from transactional efficiency to personalized experiences. Whoever gets there fastest wins. OTAs moved first, but first isn’t the same as only.

Hotels have a brief window to establish AI visibility before the competitive landscape takes shape. Those who act now help shape what AI learns to recommend. Those who wait will spend the next decade playing catch-up.

The head start is over. Now is the time to act, get in the game, and compete.

See how Connect AI gets your hotel into AI conversations.

Explore Connect AI

Adam Swart

Adam is the VP of Content Operations at Lighthouse, leading content strategy and production for Lighthouse’s clients. Connect with Adam on LinkedIn.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways.

Trusted by over 65,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partners – their success is our success.

This article originally appeared on Lighthouse.