The new way to search: how guests find villas with AI

That's the new way people search. They don't type two words and scroll any more. They ask a full question and let AI do the shortlisting. If you're not on the shortlist, the guest never gets as far as your listing.

How many guests search this way?

More than you might think, especially in the markets Lombok relies on. Visa's 2026 Global Travel Intentions study found that 49% of travellers in Asia Pacific use AI tools to find destinations and ideas. In Australia, Smartraveller reports that 30% of Gen Z travellers use AI to plan overseas trips.

In other words, a big share of your future guests may meet your villa through AI before they ever see your photos.

Does it change where they stay?

Yes. Phocuswright's 2026 research in the UK, France and Germany found that close to nine in ten travellers who use AI said it shaped a real decision about their trip.

Guests still check before they book. Smartraveller found that 82% of Gen Z travellers are likely to double-check what AI tells them. But they're checking the villas AI suggested. The ones that weren't mentioned don't get checked at all.

AI can only suggest the villas it understands.

How does AI choose which villas to suggest?

Here's the simple version. AI suggests places it can describe with confidence. To build that confidence it reads what's written about a property across the web. That means your Google listing, your booking sites, your reviews and your website.

A September 2026 study by Local Falcon found that booking sites and review sites made up nearly two thirds of the sources ChatGPT used when recommending hotels. Google's AI Mode drew almost entirely on Google's own pages, which include Google Business Profiles. So the places guests already see you are the same places AI is reading.

Writing in Hospitality Net, hotel consultant Are Morch sets out three reasons a property gets left out.

1. AI hasn't come across you often enough. If your villa only appears in one or two places, AI may not know enough about it to recommend it.
2. Your pages don't answer the question. A guest asks about a private pool or the walk to the beach. If that detail is buried in a long description, AI may not find it.
3. Your details don't match. One site says three bedrooms and another says four. The name is spelled differently on Google. When the details don't line up, AI becomes less sure about you and quietly moves on.

He also notes that AI tends to prefer recent information. A listing that hasn't been touched in two years is easy to pass over.

Why villas have an advantage

The good news is that villas are well placed for this. A big hotel has hundreds of rooms and a long, general description. Your villa has a set number of bedrooms, a pool, a view and a known walk to the beach. That's exactly the kind of specific detail AI is trying to match to a guest's question. Morch makes the same point about small independent hotels. Being specific is your strength.

What you can do this week

Ask AI about your villa. Search the way a guest would. Ask ChatGPT for a villa like yours in your area and see whether yours comes up and what it says.

Complete your Google Business Profile. Add current photos, your exact location, your amenities and a clear description. It's one of the first places AI looks.

Make your details match everywhere. Use the same villa name, location, number of bedrooms and house rules on Google, Airbnb, Booking.com and your website.

Say the specifics plainly. "Four minutes' walk to Selong Belanak beach" tells AI far more than "close to the beach". Say who the villa suits, what's included and how guests get there.

Keep it fresh. Update your listings when something changes. Ask happy guests for reviews and let them mention real details like the view, the staff or the walk to the beach.

The takeaway

AI hasn't changed what guests want. It has changed how they ask. The villas that get suggested are the ones that are easy to understand, the same everywhere and kept up to date.

The first step takes five minutes. Ask AI about your villa and see what it knows.