Checklist

The hotel AI visibility checklist.

Twenty-four checks you can do yourself, in the order that usually matters most. Each says how to check it.

Updated 6 November 2026 · 8 minute read

How to use it

  • Start at the top. Clear, accurate facts on your own pages come first.
  • Nothing here guarantees that any assistant will recommend you. These are the things within your control.
  • Where a check says "not found", that means not found in the pages you looked at. It doesn't prove something is missing everywhere.

1 Your website answers what guests ask

  • Parking: is it on site, what does it cost, and can it be reserved?Search your site for "parking". The answer should be on a page a guest would open, as text, not only in an image or a PDF.
  • Breakfast: times, price, and what's included.Look for the exact opening time on the dining page and anywhere you mention breakfast.
  • Check-in and check-out times.Stated plainly on the rooms page or the hotel information page.
  • Cancellation and change policy, in words a guest can understand.Not just a link to terms and conditions.
  • Pets, accessibility, family rooms, Wi-Fi and EV charging.Say what you offer and what you don't. "We can't accommodate dogs" is a useful answer.
  • How to get there: the named station, airport or landmark, with a distance.Use the real name and a distance you've checked, such as "8 minutes' walk from [station name]".

2 Everything agrees

  • The same check-in time on every page.Search your site for "check-in" and compare every result.
  • The same telephone number, address, postcode and hotel name everywhere.Compare your website with your booking-site and map listings.
  • Your star rating and facilities match what the listings say.Out-of-date facilities on a listing are a common source of wrong answers.
  • No expired offers or old names left on pages.Search for last year's dates and your previous name, if you've had one.

3 Assistants can read your site

  • Your robots.txt does what you intend.Open yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you block AI crawlers on purpose, fine. If not, find out why they're blocked.
  • Key facts are in the page's text, not only inside images, tabs that don't load, or scripts.View the page with scripts off, or use "view source" and search for the fact.
  • You have a sitemap, and your important pages load quickly on a phone.Google's PageSpeed Insights is free.
  • Structured data, if you use it, says the right things.It helps accuracy: a wrong phone number or coordinates in the markup is worse than none. It isn't shown to make an assistant recommend you.

4 Listings and open data

  • Booking sites show your correct details, photos and policies.Check each one, not just the biggest.
  • Your Google Business Profile is complete and correct.Hours, phone, website link, categories.
  • If your hotel has an entry on OpenStreetMap or Wikidata, it's accurate.Names, website, coordinates. Don't create or edit entries for a place that isn't notable.

5 Reviews

  • Critical reviews have a reply.Newest first. Be specific about what you've done, thank the guest, and never offer anything in return.
  • Replies don't read as copy-and-paste.If every reply is the same, guests and assistants can tell.

6 Direct booking

  • Your booking link works, and the first page after it loads.Test it on a phone.
  • Facts that booking sites state, but your site doesn't, are now on your site.Rate terms, cancellation, distances, breakfast, parking. List them from your booking-site pages.
  • Your site gives an honest reason to book direct, if there is one.A flexible rate, a perk or a better policy. Only what's true, and only if you'll honour it.

7 Press and mentions

  • You're included, honestly, in the local "where to stay" lists that matter.Search your town's tourism board and local guides. If you're missing, use the page's own contact route.
  • No paid piece is presented as independent editorial.It's against good practice and may break advertising rules.

8 Test it, monthly

  • Ask the same five to ten questions each month, without your hotel's name.Use the method in our guide.
  • Write down whether you were named, where, who was named instead, and which pages were cited.A small spreadsheet is enough. Compare month to month, not run to run.
  • Check what the assistant says when asked about you by name.Compare it with your own facts, line by line.

Prefer someone to do it?

This is what Presence Pro does, with more questions, the sources checked, the evidence kept and a short plan at the end. Request a free snapshot of your hotel, or see the sample report.

This checklist reflects good practice and what we check in our own reports. It isn't a guarantee of any result, and the assistants change often.