The Stiplo × WTM London Study · 2026

AI names your property. But who gets the click?

Who AI shows, who it leaves out, and where the click goes, across 39,840 answers about where to stay in London.

In collaboration with WTM London Travel Tech

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Where the click goes

Three lines leave the AI answer. One runs straight to you.

84%

ChatGPT: your website first

3 in 4

Gemini & AI Overviews: Google first

9 in 10

Perplexity: no link of their own

Where the first link goes

1,485

registered hotel-class properties in Greater London. Not a sample

39,840

AI answers: 166 questions, 20 runs each, from 3 countries

assistants: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity

countries asking: the UK, the US and Australia

Five findings

What 39,840 AI answers say about London's hotels

We asked four AI assistants 166 questions about where to stay in London, from three countries, 20 times each. Then we checked every answer against all 1,485 registered hotel-class properties.

Findings · London

FigureWhat it meansFinding

London properties never named, not once across 39,840 AI answers01

independents three times as likely to be invisible to AI. Like for like, the gap disappears02

hotels Gemini and AI Overviews show open Google's own listing first. Your website is second03

answers about a concert at Wembley show Wembley International, an independent. More than the Hilton04

overlap in hotel recommendations when the same question is asked from another country05

Across 39,840 answers · 4 assistants · asked from 3 countries (UK, US, AU).

A closer look

Three findings, up close

Finding 02 · Independents, like for like

3×

Independents are three times as likely to be invisible to AI

The typical independent has a third of the Google reviews of a chain hotel. Among properties in the top half for Google reviews and rating, independents and chains are both never shown 1.2% of the time.

Never shown, in 39,840 answers

Independents20.0%

Chains6.4%

Finding 03 · Who gets the click

ChatGPT sends the click to the hotel. Gemini and Google AI Overviews send it to Google first

Three in four hotels Gemini and Google AI Overviews show open Google's own hotel listing first. Your Website button is there, but it is the second click.

Every hotel shown: where most first clicks go

ChatGPTto the hotel's own or brand website

84%

Geminito Google's own hotel listing

74%

Google AI Overviewsto Google's own hotel listing

73%

Perplexityget no link of their own

90%

The click goes to the hotelThe click goes somewhere else

Finding 04 · Own a situation

Every trip has its own shelf. You do not need to win “best hotel in London”

771 properties were shown for a situation and never for “best hotel in London”. Pick a trip and see who AI shows.

Ask about: A concert at Wembley

Wembley International

of 231

answers show this hotel

Ask about: A concert at Wembley

Wembley International

of 231

answers show this hotel

What to do next

Five things to do this week, one for each finding

Check every surface

Build your Google reviews

Know where the click lands

Own a situation

Measure every market

Why each one, and its limits, is in the full report.

Where does your hotel stand?

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In the report

01Who is on the AI shelf
02Independents, like for like
03Who gets the click
04Own a situation
05Where you ask from
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