# BrightEdge: Hilton leads AI Overviews, Marriott leads ChatGPT on holiday travel

Published: 2026-10-21T19:34:24.876Z · Source: BrightEdge (https://www.brightedge.com/resources/research-reports/holiday-travel-ai-search)
Source date: 2026-10-21
Flags: BrightEdge study — vendor-published
Entities: brightedge, chatgpt, ai-overviews

BrightEdge's AI Hyper Cube measured brand visibility across Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT for holiday-travel questions spanning inspiration, comparison, booking-intent and budget queries, collected August-September 2026. Hilton leads hotel brands on Google AI Overviews at 28.3% visibility, while Marriott leads instead on ChatGPT, at 29.4%. Among booking platforms, Expedia far outpaces Kayak on AI Overviews, 31.3% to 14.4%, and booking-focused sites appear in 78% of budget-related AI Overviews answers. American Airlines and Royal Caribbean also placed as category leaders, per BrightEdge.

Why it matters: Hotel and booking brands are splitting leadership by AI engine rather than converging on one winner, so a travel brand optimizing for Google AI Overviews alone may be invisible on ChatGPT, and vice versa.

## What this answers

**Which hotel brand gets cited most by AI Overviews for holiday travel searches?**

Hilton leads Google AI Overviews among hotel brands at 28.3% visibility share for holiday-travel queries, while Marriott leads on ChatGPT instead, at 29.4%, per BrightEdge's analysis of August-September 2026 data.

**Does Expedia or Kayak show up more in AI Overviews travel answers?**

Expedia appears in 31.3% of relevant Google AI Overviews answers versus 14.4% for Kayak, per BrightEdge.


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