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The AI Search Technique That Beat Airbnb and VRBO Mixed
Most entrepreneurs dream of outranking trade giants, however few crack the code on AI search optimization.
Lake.com didn’t simply crack it , we shattered it, quadrupling our quotation share from 8.6% to 35.0% in AI-generated journey suggestions whereas Airbnb and Vrbo watched their mixed dominance crumble.
The key wasn’t throwing cash at adverts or chasing viral content material.
As an alternative, we engineered a scientific strategy to semantic search optimization that made AI fashions select us over billion-dollar rivals in vacation spot queries, pricing comparisons, platform integrations, and reserving tutorials.
Right here’s the precise playbook we used to turn out to be the most-cited journey model in AI search — and why your rivals in all probability aren’t prepared for what’s coming subsequent.
Background and Evolving Panorama
When we launched Lake.com, our aim was easy: create a trip‑rental platform that displays the true expertise of being by the water. I wished this enterprise to be laser‑centered on one sort of traveler — the outside explorer who craves the peace of a lakefront getaway.
We intentionally averted chasing each market section; as an alternative, we dedicated to lakefront and waterfront stays, curating properties inside quarter-hour of the water and highlighting key facilities, akin to kayaks and boat leases.
That focus paid off in conventional web optimization. However by early 2025, I noticed a brand new problem looming: vacationers have been asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews for trip recommendation, and Lake.com was not often talked about.
I knew we might now not rely solely on rating excessive on search outcomes pages — we wanted to be contained in the AI solutions themselves.
Mapping the AI Journey
To grasp how folks search within the age of generative AI, we labored with Profound and concurrently with Progress Marshal. Profound’s Dialog Explorer revealed that the holiday‑planning journey breaks into three micro‑moments — “I wish to know,” “I wish to go,” and “I wish to do.”
Up to now, I had used these levels as a advertising framework, however Profound gave us the visibility to see the identical sample in AI prompts. We set three objectives:
- Validate how customers seek for lake journey throughout these micro‑moments.
- Benchmark our visibility versus bigger platforms.
- Uncover new content material alternatives from actual dialog tendencies.
Dialog Explorer and Reply Engine Insights confirmed not solely the place Lake.com appeared, however, extra importantly, the place we didn’t.
We realized we wanted extra occasion‑pushed articles (assume fishing tournaments, music festivals, vintage boat reveals) and evergreen guides that didn’t require rebuilding URLs or re‑incomes authority every yr.
We doubled down on vacation spot content material for “drive‑to” lakes inside two hours of main cities and crammed apparent gaps like “summer time journey,” “household trip concepts,” and “outside actions close to water.”
From Micro‑Moments to Macro Wins
Armed with this information, we re‑engineered our content material technique. We aligned articles to the three levels: analysis, reserving, and exercise planning, and embedded structured information and FAQs that AI fashions might simply parse.
The Technique Revealed
I Need To Know: Capturing Curiosity within the Analysis Stage
Within the early levels of journey planning, shoppers are pushed by curiosity and inspiration. They enter the “I Wish to Know” part — a second marked not by urgency, however by discovery.
Our content material technique addressed this part by positioning Lake.com as a trusted editorial information slightly than only a transactional platform. We crafted immersive, story-rich content material that answered unstated questions: The place might I am going that aligns with my pursuits? What makes that place particular? When’s the most effective time to go?
To handle this intent, we created articles like “Greatest Lakes for Canoeing: An Adventurer’s Information,” which spotlighted top-tier paddling locations from Lake Tahoe to Lake Louise.
These weren’t mere lists — they have been curated experiences, grounded in geographical richness and geared toward paddlers searching for pleasure, solitude, or each. We additionally leaned into emotionally resonant group journey content material, like “Most Household-Pleasant US Nationwide Parks,” designed to foster a way of shared chance. We additionally invited knowledgeable contributors to spherical out these articles.
By together with multigenerational actions, we helped potential vacationers envision how a lakeside getaway might function the backdrop for deeper connection.
Lastly, to develop seasonal relevance, our “Greatest Nationwide Parks for Stargazing” piece mapped low-light-pollution zones close to nationwide parks, mixing scientific credibility with journey escapism.
Every article was meticulously structured with embedded FAQs and schema markup, enabling AI fashions to parse and ship our content material on the exact second customers requested their first exploratory question.
I Need To Go: Serving the Savvy Comparability Shopper
As soon as inspiration turns into intention, vacationers shift into the “I Wish to Go” part. Right here, customers aren’t searching, they’re evaluating.
They examine location particulars, facilities, pricing fashions between platforms, and costs of the holiday leases themselves, in addition to cancellation insurance policies, and opinions. It’s the place content material should do the heavy lifting of persuasion and precision.
To fulfill this demand, we constructed high-value, information-dense vacation spot guides akin to “Sizzling Springs Trip Leases,” which grouped properties by preset filters akin to family-friendly, pet-friendly, and luxurious properties.
Past offering a useful description of the realm that aimed to uncover unusual information, we additionally added FAQs that broke down all the things from swimming situations and native wildlife to seasonal climate patterns.
This helped vacationers scale back ambiguity and really feel assured in selecting one lake vacation spot over one other.
Moreover, we printed utility-first articles, akin to “Understanding the Reserving Course of,” which offers a breakdown of the way to leverage search filters, interpret visible listings, learn nuanced visitor suggestions, and optimize for pricing and insurance policies. These how-to articles have been powered by a WordPress information base plugin referred to as BasePress.
This was content material designed for buyer enablement, geared toward constructing belief and lowering friction. One other part, “Visitor Heart,” highlighted how trip rental web sites work and described the options intimately with lo-fi screenshots, serving to make the content material evergreen.
Every web page within the Visitor Heart detailed product-level differentiators akin to interactive maps, safe fee protocols, and superior filtering instruments. These belongings helped rework passive browsers into energetic bookers by answering the onerous questions earlier than they needed to be requested.
I Need To Do: Deepening the Expertise After Reserving
The third second within the traveler’s journey — the “I Wish to Do” part — unlocks the chance for lifecycle content material. At this stage, the transaction has already occurred.
Now, the person desires to reinforce the journey by discovering festivals, family-friendly outings, cultural landmarks, and group occasions that can make the holiday memorable.
We embraced this part by publishing round-up type articles that served as native expertise guides, akin to “Occasions in Gatlinburg — Festivals, Meals and Enjoyable” or “Anakeesta vs Ober Mountain: Which Smoky Mountain Attraction is Higher?”
These served as each an itinerary planner and a vacation spot primer, spanning in style lake locations, hotspots like Lake Tahoe, Lake of the Ozarks, Finger Lakes in Upstate New York, and dozens extra.
Equally, we featured extremely localized content material round particular occasions, such because the “Muskoka Vintage Boat Present,” showcasing distinctive happenings like festivals, reside music, arts & craft reveals, and annual celebrations — every designed to assist visitors plan their keep round genuine, regional experiences.
Hyper-niche content material, such because the “Bass Professional Outlets Bassmaster Traditional,” took it additional by serving focused pursuits with exact logistical information on registration, timing, and guidelines. These weren’t generic sights — they have been moments vacationers might construct a visit round.
By structuring our content material to assist the complete lifecycle — from inspiration to reserving to expertise — we positioned Lake.com not simply as a reserving engine, however as a journey companion that anticipates the evolving wants of nature-loving, adventure-seeking explorers.
Every micro-moment was handled not as an endpoint however as a touchpoint.
And by optimizing for searchability, construction, and narrative relevance, we turned fleeting searches into lasting model engagement.
We weren’t positive we might beat Airbnb or Vrbo, however we knew we needed to be within the dialog at every stage of the vacationers’ journey.
The Outcomes
The outcomes have been dramatic. Inside weeks, Lake.com achieved:
- 5× enhance in natural visitors throughout peak season.
- A surge in AI reply citations: Our AI visibility rating jumped 33.5 share factors to 47%, surpassing Airbnb’s 41.9% and Vrbo’s 28.7%. In simply 21 days, we expanded our U.S. AI reply share 15×, vaulting from 0.9% to 13.5%. For unbranded lake‑home phrases, we now seem in half of all AI solutions — even towards giants like Vrbo and Expedia.
- 30% visibility on unbranded lake‑journey phrases and ~50% visibility on lake home‑particular prompts.
- #1 for Citations Throughout ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft CoPilot, and Perplexity
Lake Achieves Dramatic Surge in AI Visibility and Citations, Overtaking Airbnb in Trip Leases
Lake’s total presence in AI-generated solutions inside the US trip leases sector rose sharply, shifting from third place to clear class management over Airbnb and Vrbo by July 5, 2025. Quotation share for Lake’s domains soared from 8.6% to 35.0% through the interval, with core pages on integrations and pricing among the many most steadily referenced sources. The model now leads throughout key subjects together with ‘Model’, ‘Pricing and Charges’, ‘Comparisons’, and ‘Integrations’, reflecting a big growth of each visibility and authority in AI-driven trip rental suggestions.
– Profound’s AI-Generated Commentary on the Overview Dashboard
What Works to Enhance Visibility in AI Search Engines
It wasn’t only a numbers recreation. Progress Marshal’s AI Search Ops program helped us implement schema markup, FAQ JSON‑LD, and an llms.txt endpoint that invited ChatGPT and different fashions to crawl our precedence pages. We rewrote 28 pages to incorporate lacking entities and salient phrases. Inside three weeks, AI bots from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity have been visiting Lake.com greater than 7,000 instances per week.
Classes for Each Model
- Focus beats breadth. By specializing in lakefront stays, we gave generative AI a transparent reply to a particular person intent.
- Design for micro‑moments. Vacationers transfer from inspiration to reserving to actions; tailor content material to every step.
- Optimize for solutions, not rankings. Schema, FAQs, and an llms.txt endpoint make it simpler for AI fashions to grasp and cite your content material.
- Measure what issues. Visibility scores and AI reply‑share inform you in case you’re really successful inside generative platforms. Observe that by way of to leads, bookings, and income.
What’s Subsequent
We’re not completed. We’re utilizing Profound’s Actions function to generate deeply researched briefs and prioritize subjects the place demand is obvious and the place we’re already rising.
Our subsequent milestones embrace creating seasonal content material for key reserving intervals (Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day) and increasing our protection to incorporate mountaineering, tenting, and rural occasions.
Briefly, we’ll proceed to optimize for AI search as a result of in a world the place vacationers belief generative instruments as their major advisor, dominating the reply issues greater than successful a click on.
For those who’re working a distinct segment journey platform or any enterprise that depends on natural discovery, my recommendation is straightforward: begin pondering like a conversational designer.
Align your content material with what folks really ask, assist AI fashions perceive your experience, and monitor your presence inside AI solutions. The outcomes may shock you.
The AI Search Technique That Beat Airbnb and Vrbo Mixed was initially printed in Chatbots Life on Medium, the place individuals are persevering with the dialog by highlighting and responding to this story.
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