How to Write Content for AI Search

The way people find information online is changing, and your content needs to adapt with it. AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Gemini, and Perplexity are new ways for travellers to help them research travel options. Instead of scrolling through a list of links, they’re asking questions and getting neatly packaged answers, often before they’ve even seen your website. Check out more on this in our article about the Evolution of Content.

So what does this mean for your business? It means your digitial content has to work in new ways to be picked up by AI. Fortunately, the foundations are the same as good SEO, and allows you to think more like a human!

Here are 7 content tips that gets noticed in the age of AI search.

1. Answer Questions Directly

AI loves clear, direct answers. Instead of writing long, flowery paragraphs, include concise explanations to common traveller queries. Think:

“What’s the best time of year to go whale watching in Kaikoura?”

“How long does a wine tour in Marlborough usually take?”

Create FAQs, blog posts, and even social media captions that provide these answers. Short, clear, and specific responses are more likely to be quoted by AI tools.

2. Think Conversational & Like Your Customer

Your content should mirror a conversational style. Use natural, question-based headings, and write like you’re answering your typical customer in person. What information would they be looking at to find your site? People don’t ask AI the way they type into Google. Instead of “Queenstown bungy price,” they’ll ask: “How much does it cost to do a bungy jump in Queenstown?”  What type of activities would your customers be interested in - cover these in your content.

AI Overviews especially, will break down each type of activity, accommodation or experience in its overview under the summary. So create a cluster of content (like blogs) around your main topic to ensure you can show the breadth of what you actually include in your offering.

3. Blend Storytelling with Facts

Tourism is about experiences, not just information. AI is drawn to content that is both factual and engaging. So while you need to answer directly, don’t forget the colour:

“Yes, dolphin swims in the Bay of Islands year-round, but summer offers the warmest water and calmer seas - plus, the sunsets are unbeatable.”

This mix of practical detail and storytelling makes your content more quotable.

4. Use Structure AI Can Understand

AI tools scan for clarity. Make their job easy with:

• Headings and subheadings (H2s and H3s).
• Bulleted lists (like this one).
• Short paragraphs with one idea each.

This structure helps AI (and humans!) digest your content quickly.

5. Keep Content Fresh and Accurate

AI doesn’t like out-of-date answers. If your opening hours, prices, or seasonal info change, update your site regularly. Blogs and FAQs are perfect for this, they signal to AI that your content is current and reliable.

6. Don’t Forget Social Media

AI doesn’t just pull content from websites. Google is now indexing Instagram Business posts, YouTube captions, and other social platforms. A clever caption or well-tagged video can just as easily be quoted in AI-generated results as your website.

So your content strategy should cover all your online channels, not just your site.

7. Build Trust Everywhere

AI wants to serve content that’s trustworthy. That means:

• Consistent information across your website, Google Business, and socials.
• Reviews that back up your claims.
• Clear authoritativeness (e.g. “With 20 years of guiding hikes in Fiordland…”).

The stronger your signals of credibility, the more likely AI is to pull your content.

8) Get Your Website Ready for AI Crawlers

At its core, AI readiness is about making your content structured, discoverable and easy for AI systems to understand. Simple steps like updating your robots.txt to acknowledge AI crawlers can help guide them safely around your site, while a WACP file (essentially a “robots.txt for AI”) gives clear instructions on how AI should use your content. An API documentation file (/api-docs.json) also allows AI tools to interact with your website quickly and efficiently. 

Beyond these basics, creating an AI content layer can provide a single source of truth for your brand. These files organise essential information about your business, services and products in a structured way, while an AI sitemap helps crawlers discover these files quickly.  

Adding semantic schema markup such as LocalBusiness for your organisation or Product and Service schemas for your offerings further ensures that AI systems understand what your website represents. Together, these steps not only improve AI search visibility but also help ensure that AI-powered tools present accurate and consistent information about your brand. 

Next Steps?

1. Write for People, Optimise for AI

Use the tips in this article and remember - travellers are still people and AI is just the messenger. If you write helpful, engaging, and authentic content, you’ll win both the algorithms and your audience.

AI search isn’t replacing traditional SEO, it’s expanding it. If you embrace this shift now your content will be what travellers discover first, whether they’re Googling, asking ChatGPT, or scrolling TikTok.

2. Get an "SEO for AI Search" Audit

We are here to help! Our SEO expert team can help identify your SEO and content gabs for AI Search with an audit, providing recommendations to get your content up to speed and giving your content more chance to appear in AI search results.

Get in touch with our team to get started!