Google search, as we know it, is disappearing. If you run a travel blog, the numbers should concern you: 69% of Google searches now end without a single click to any website. When AI Overviews appear (and they now show up in over 60% of travel-related queries), that figure jumps to 83%.
We’ve been closely monitoring our traffic patterns over the past year. The queries that once drove steady visitors—”best time to visit Patagonia” or “what to eat in Buenos Aires”—are increasingly answered directly in the search results. Google scrapes our content, summarises it in a blue box, and the user moves on.
This isn’t speculation. SparkToro’s 2024 study found that for every 1,000 Google searches, only 360-374 clicks reach the open web. Similarweb’s July 2025 report showed zero-click searches jumping from 56% to 69% in just one year. And according to Pew Research, only 1% of users click through to source sites when AI Overviews appear.
Comparing the AI Search Players
With traditional search fragmenting, travellers are turning to AI assistants for trip planning. We’ve tested the main contenders extensively:
- ChatGPT remains the most popular option. It excels in general conversation and can now handle complex research tasks. The August 2025 GPT-5 release improved coding and instruction-following, but for travel queries, it still hallucinates details—hotel names that don’t exist, restaurants that closed years ago. No source citations means you can’t verify anything.
- Gemini integrates well with Google Workspace and handles large documents. Handy if you’re analysing spreadsheets of flight prices, but not particularly suited to travel research.
- Claude excels at long-form writing and strategic planning. We use it for drafting itineraries and editing posts. But like ChatGPT, it doesn’t cite sources, making fact-checking a manual process.
Perplexity AI takes a different approach. Every response includes clickable source citations. Ask about ferry schedules from Menorca to Mallorca, and you’ll get the answer alongside links to the actual ferry company websites. You can also direct it to search specific sources—academic papers, Reddit discussions, or the general web. For travel research, this transparency makes it far more useful than the alternatives.
Zapier’s comparison put it well: “Perplexity pulled the date instantly—along with three sources you could actually click and verify. No hallucinations.”
The Perplexity Browser: Comet
In July 2025, Perplexity launched Comet, an AI-powered browser built on Chromium. It went free to all users in October 2025, and an Android version followed in November.
The core feature is a sidebar Assistant that joins you while browsing. Ask it to summarise a lengthy hotel review, compare prices across tabs, or explain visa requirements for the page you’re reading. There are also built-in tools for:
- Travel: Aggregates flight and accommodation options
- Shopping: Compares prices across retailers
- Discover: Personalised content recommendations
- Finance: Budget tracking (useful for trip planning)
For travel research specifically, having AI that can read and summarise the actual webpage you’re viewing—rather than making things up—solves a real problem. We’ve been using it to quickly parse 3,000-word TripAdvisor threads and official tourism websites in languages we don’t speak.
Pro subscribers get additional features, including an email assistant that can organise travel confirmations and draft responses in your writing style.
If you want to try Perplexity, you can sign up through our referral link: https://pplx.ai/poroto2015090
SEO is Dead. Long Live AEO.
The search industry has new acronyms to learn: AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). These describe the practice of optimising content so AI systems cite you in their responses.
Traditional SEO focused on ranking in a list of links. AEO focuses on becoming the source that AI models reference when they synthesise answers.
The differences matter:
- SEO measures rankings and traffic. AEO measures how often AI systems mention and cite your content.
- SEO optimises entire pages with keywords and backlinks. AEO optimises individual paragraphs that can be extracted as standalone answers.
- SEO drives clicks to your site. AEO ensures your brand appears in AI responses even when users don’t click.
According to Acquia’s analysis, 25% of organic traffic is predicted to move to AI chatbots and virtual agents by 2026. WebFX research shows over 60% of Millennials and Gen Z already use AI engines for search.
What Actually Works for Getting Cited by AI
Research from SEOMator analysed 177 million AI citations. Key findings:
1. Listicles dominate: 32% of all AI citations come from list-format content. “10 Day Trips from Barcelona” performs better than narrative prose about day trips from Barcelona.
2. Current year matters: Adding “2025” to titles and meta descriptions increases citation likelihood. AI models favour recent content and often filter by year.
3. One paragraph, one idea: LLMs extract meaning from self-contained blocks. Structure content so each paragraph answers a single question.
4. Be the source, not the summariser: Original research, personal experience, and first-hand details get cited more than content that aggregates from other sites.
5. Schema markup helps: Structured data helps AI systems extract step-by-step instructions, key facts, and specific details.
Only about 11% of domains get cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity. The sites that appear across multiple AI engines tend to be authoritative sources with original content—exactly what travel blogs with genuine first-hand experience should be producing.
How We’re Adapting
The March 2025 Google Core Update analysis from DiscoverCars found that travel blogs seeing growth share common traits: usefulness over monetisation, unique perspectives over generic guides, and credible authorship with real-world recognition.
We’ve made several changes:
- Email first: Every piece of content now drives towards newsletter signup. Email is the only traffic source you actually own. With AI increasingly intercepting search traffic, building a direct relationship with readers matters more than ranking.
- Original over aggregated: Posts based on places we’ve actually visited, with specific details (the restaurant in Catania where we had that incredible pasta con le sarde, the exact beach in Menorca where parking fills up by 10 am), perform better in AI citations than generic best-of lists compiled from other sources.
- Structured for extraction: We’re reformatting older posts with clearer headings, standalone paragraphs, and summary boxes. Content that AI can easily chunk and cite has a better chance of driving attributed traffic.
- Video alongside text: AI can’t replicate footage of a place. Video builds authority and drives traffic through channels (YouTube, Instagram) where AI hasn’t yet displaced organic reach.
- Multiple platforms: Travellers now research across Google, TikTok, Reddit, and ChatGPT. Each serves a different purpose in the planning process. Relying solely on Google search is no longer viable.
The Practical Takeaway
Search is fragmenting. AI systems increasingly answer travel queries directly, with or without attribution. The bloggers who adapt are focusing on original content, building direct audience relationships through email, and optimising for AI citation alongside traditional search.
Perplexity and its Comet browser represent what search is becoming: AI-first, with sources cited rather than linked. Understanding how these systems work—and ensuring your content appears in their responses—is no longer optional.
Give Perplexity a try and see how it changes your research process: https://pplx.ai/poroto2015090