Turns out creators could be the key to AEO

Lyle Stevens, Co-Founder & CSO at Later, told us this week that their research at Later shows that 80-90% of mentions about your brand on AI don't come from your brand!

Read that sentence again.

And Carly Baron told us why that matters. For the brands she oversees, they were losing control of the narrative around their own brand because of this. It was what others online were saying about them that was showing up.

If you’re not familiar with Later, they are the company at the forefront of keeping tabs on all things AI. They get early access to all the new models so their reviews can drop the same time a model goes on general release. Their research is second to none so for me they are a must follow to stay on top of all things AI.

This "Made You Look" webinar (part of a broader series on creator strategy in the AI age) was a revelation on how to utilise creators to regain control of the story people are reading about your brand in AI responses. It is compulsory viewing IMO.

In tourism more specifically, a report from the Mexico Tourism industry called  The Reflection of Mexican Tourism in AI, an analysis by LLYC delivered an identical picture.

An article on the report said: “Although AI models frequently recommend Mexico, the information supporting those responses rarely comes from official tourism institutions. Only 9% of the references consolidated across the analyzed responses originated from official Mexican tourism platforms. Instead, blogs, influencers, and independent content creators were cited 4.5 times more frequently, giving noninstitutional sources greater influence over how AI systems describe the country.”

Whilst everyone is rushing to the AEO door hoping to ensure they get cited, fewer seem to be thinking what that citing might actually be saying about them. It’s not just what, it is also who. To control that, requires a strategic approach of working with a range of content creators.

Videreo is the place to find the creators to help you shape the AI narrative about your brand. We find the creators already heading your way. You set the terms you want to work by.

Sign up for free (2 mins) to the CollabsMap to have creators already heading to your destination, apply to the offer you want to make them.

This content is provided by the newsletter sponsor Videreo.com

Australian Government’s Smartraveller website warns Aussie travellers about using AI

DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade) have put out an advisory around using AI for trip planning! Didn’t see that coming. Here is a snippet:

What are the risks of relying on AI?

AI gets information from many sources and doesn't verify it before giving you an answer. The information might be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. The results you get are also only as good as the prompts you write. If your prompt is unclear or missing key details, AI may make incorrect assumptions or leave out important information.

Relying on incorrect information may not just cost you money or cause you stress. It can affect your safety or put you at risk of breaking local laws. Our recent Gen Z research showed that:

28% used AI for information about visas and entry requirements
27% used AI for safety advice
19% used AI for advice about local laws and customs.
Areas like these are especially important to verify through official sources.

There have been many instances of AI tools providing:

- outdated flight and public transport schedules
- incorrect visa and border information
- misleading or wrong interpretations of local laws
- recommendations for hotels that have closed
- attractions or activities that are unavailable or out of season
missing or inaccurate costs.
- AI may also leave out important warnings or advice, such as local health and safety risks, or recommend destinations that are currently unsafe.

Clearly this causing enough issues that someone thought they needed to act? Anyone seen anything similar from other Governments?

LA leverage’s AI to capture Chinese market

An interesting post this week from Dragon Trail, the consultancy that helps destinations and brands connect with the Chinese market around how they are helping the LA Tourism board by leveraging AI.

“Dragon Trail has launched our first AI-enhanced travel trade marketing hub, for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board! The new function radically improves Chinese travel agents’ access to LA’s B2B resources, with a more interactive experience to empower product design and sales, and ultimately drive higher arrivals from China to Los Angeles.”

The functionality interfaces with the LA tourisms WeChat account abd allows Chinese travel advises to ask questions in (Chinese) natural language and get accurate responses.

“The AI-enhanced travel trade hub dramatically enhances the usability of LA’s B2B resources for the Chinese market. In an industry with a 99% AI-adoption rate (Dragon Trail Research, Chinese Outbound Travel Trade Survey, Summer 2026), providing an AI-powered user experience is now essential to effectively empower and engage with the Chinese outbound travel trade.”

Not revolutionary tech but a no-brainer use case.

AI to help fix plane delays

Travel Weekly this week reported that AI could be helping to reduce plane delays…….. in 2028…….. maybe.

“The FAA awarded an $875 million contract to Boston-based Air Space Intelligence (ASI) to implement its air traffic management solutions.

The FAA said the products "can house all critical data in one platform and proactively identify delays and available airspace to mitigate them days, weeks and even months in advance."

The article suggested the timeline might have been chosen more for its alignment with Presidential elections than what is feasible in reality.

“Analysts, though, caution that the FAA might be overly optimistic, especially about its plan to have the solutions fully implemented before the end of 2028, a timeline that is tethered to the end of President Trump's term in office.”

Where are the A2A endpoints in travel?

The theory is pretty solid. The future state of travel will almost certainly be the consumer agent negotiating with the supplier(s) agent(s).

A lot of people talk about it but this week in the Everything AI in Travel Slack group, Alex Bainbridge asked who has A2A endpoints available? He had a found a directory - but it was empty!?

So I’m putting out the call - if you have A2A endpoints as a supplier ready to start those negotiations please let me know. Mike Coletta from Phocuswire suggested that the Everything AI in Travel marketplace might the best spot for the industry - especially those at the forefront of these experiments to find one another.

Last newsletter I mentioned the Reely app where travel consumers self-curate their future trips by saving the things that have inspired them, over weeks and months, from things they have discovered in the social media feeds. The Reely agent will then turn this into a shopping list and the consumer will invite suppliers they are interested in buying from (those they trust) to connect and quote.

But what suppliers are ready to start negotiating? If you are let me know and we can start connecting the sides who are ready to forge this next step.

If you think someone (or everyone) you know or work with could grow from being more informed on the topic of ai + travel (or could use the training above) then please forward this email to them and they can click the button below:

Slack Group!

Podcasts and Sponsors

Podcasts now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

All podcasts are now showing up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for your easy listening pleasure! Now is a great time to binge those you may have missed.

My trip to PNG has set us back a few weeks in the recording schedule but expect new episodes to start rolling out from mid August through to the end of November.

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