AI search hasn't killed the need for a great website. It has changed what a great website needs to do, and it has raised the cost of having a poor one. The quickest way to start is a five minute test: ask an AI tool about your attraction and see what it says. This guide explains why that matters and gives you five practical steps.
What's changing
More people now get answers from AI tools, or from the AI summary at the top of Google, instead of clicking through to a website. Two figures show the scale:
When a Google AI Overview appears at the top of the results, click-through rates typically drop by at least 34%.
Gartner predicted 25% less website traffic from search by 2026.
A family planning a day out can now get a pretty complete picture of your attraction without ever visiting your site. AI assistants are taking on the information job: opening times, what's included, how to get there and what other visitors thought.
Should you be worried?
Yes and no. Search has always evolved, and AI search (you may see it called AEO or GEO) is another step. This time it's happening faster than anyone predicted.
The good news is that the people who do click through are further along in their decision. They're not browsing. They're more qualified guests and more likely to buy. Fewer visits, but higher intent. Your website's job moves from attracting attention to closing the deal.
Your website shapes what AI says about you
Your website can be, and should be, the best place for guests and AI tools to get answers about your attraction.
AI doesn't invent information about you. It absorbs and interprets what already exists: your website, your reviews and what other sites say about you. That means:
If your content is thin, AI gives thin answers.
If a competitor has richer, better organised content, AI can make them sound better than you.
If your content is out of date, wrong or inconsistent, AI is more likely to give inaccurate information or lean on weaker sources.
Good content now has to work for AI tools as well as for people.
The fundamentals haven't changed, but the stakes have
Google published its official guide to AI search optimisation in May 2026. The message is reassuring. The things that make a website perform well in traditional search also make it perform well in AI search:
A logical structure and clean technical foundations
Strong SEO as the base layer
Helpful, specific, people-first content
A fast, accessible, mobile-ready experience
There are no magic tricks and no separate AI strategy to bolt on. What has changed is the cost of not doing these things. When traffic was higher, a mediocre website still converted enough visitors to feel acceptable. As volumes fall and intent rises, every visit counts for more.
Five steps to start now
Audit your structure. Can AI tools and real visitors move around your site logically? Look for a clear page hierarchy, sensible URLs and no buried information.
Check your technical health. Look at speed and the mobile experience, and remove duplicate, inconsistent or out of date content.
Invest in content only you can write. Share your story, your team's expertise and what makes your attraction different and worth the price.
Test yourself in AI. Ask ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode about your attraction. Is the information accurate? Is your offer described well? If not, that's a content gap to close.
Make the booking moment count. AI may do the research, but the purchase still happens on your site. It needs to be fast, clear and simple.
A quick check to do this week
Sit down with your team and:
Open ChatGPT or Gemini.
Search for your attraction.
Ask yourselves: is what comes back accurate, and does it reflect what makes you worth visiting?
If the answer is "not really", that's your starting point. Fix the content, fix the structure, and give AI something to work with. If you're stuck, you can even ask the AI itself what's missing.
The attractions that act early will hold their ground. The ones that don't won't be replaced by AI. They'll simply become invisible, because they never gave AI what it needed to show them off.
Once the basics are in place, structured data is a good next step. It's the behind-the-scenes labelling that helps machines understand your pages.
Quick checklist
☐ Ask ChatGPT or Gemini about your attraction and note what's wrong or missing
☐ Check your page structure and URLs
☐ Fix speed, mobile and duplicate or outdated content
☐ Add or improve content that only you can write
☐ Review your booking journey for speed and clarity
☐ Re-run your AI check next month and compare
Awards and social proof: why they matter for AI search
An award win now does more than look good in the trophy cabinet. It is also a data point that AI tools use to decide which attractions to recommend. This guide explains why, and how to get the full search and AI value out of every award, review and piece of press coverage you earn.
Why awards matter more than they used to
A win is still a great achievement for the team, a badge for your website and a good press release. But it now does something else too.
AI tools have seen and absorbed a huge amount of what has been written about your attraction. That includes your reviews, your guests' comments, your website content and more. When someone asks which attraction to visit, the AI draws on all of it.
The old days of ten blue links are going. Visitors increasingly start planning by typing a question into ChatGPT, Gemini or a similar assistant. For example:
"What's the best theme park for toddlers in the South West?"
"What's the most accessible attraction near me for a rainy day?"
These tools try to answer directly, often without the person ever visiting a website.
What AI tools look for
To answer well, AI tools lean on the same signals search engines have always valued:
Third-party recognition
Consistent naming
Clear, specific claims
An award that's written up properly ticks all three. It tells people and AI alike that this isn't just your opinion of yourself, because someone independent said so.
Trust signals to build
There are several things you can do to show trust online:
High quality, valuable content
Consistent policies and easy to understand terms
Guest reviews, both on your website and on other sites
Detailed FAQs and knowledge base content
Awards, accolades and press coverage
Try it yourself
We've run AI search checks across many clients. You can even ask AI tools about rankings, which is a real eye-opener. One thing that often comes up is whether an attraction has won awards for specific parts of the guest experience.
That could be something big and national, like Theme Park of the Year. It could equally be something niche but just as important, like accessibility initiatives or regional awards. Don't overlook the smaller ones.
Get more value from a win you've already earned
The trophy cabinet is the easy part. After a win, make sure it works for your search and AI visibility too:
Write it up properly in plain text. Don't rely on a badge image alone. AI tools can't read a logo.
Be specific. Include the category, the year and who presented the award.
Make it easy to find. Put it somewhere prominent, such as your about page or a dedicated awards page, not buried in a news archive.
Link to it. Add links from your homepage, your about page and any relevant pages.
Keep it up to date. Add new wins each year, and keep the names consistent.
Remember the fundamentals
Awards follow great guest experiences, so operational excellence is still the name of the game. Helping guests create amazing memories and keeping them coming back is what earns recognition in the first place.
But build time and budget into your plans to enter, attend and communicate your successes. A win you don't talk about can't help you.
Quick checklist
☐ List the awards you've won, with category, year and presenter
☐ Write each one up in plain text on your website
☐ Include smaller and niche awards, such as accessibility or regional ones
☐ Link to your awards page from key pages
☐ Keep your reviews and FAQs up to date
☐ Check which awards are worth entering next year, and put time and budget aside
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