Siavak Analytics

Case study · Small group tours · United Kingdom

The traveller asks. The answer is someone else.

We looked at whether AI assistants put a group tour operator's two brands, one long established and one new, in front of a UK traveller planning a small group trip.

CategorySmall group tours
MarketUnited Kingdom
Where we lookedAI assistants, from memory and after a web search
FieldworkSeptember 2026
0%of answers from memory named either brandWhen a UK traveller asked for a small group tour
15%of answers after a search named either brandAll of them on one assistant
85%of answers named the category leaderOn the established brand's destination; 80% on the new brand's

01What we found

Not on the shortlist.
Mistaken by name.
Talked out of it at the booking.

Finding 1

When a UK traveller asked for a small group tour, neither brand was in the answer from memory. Not in a single answer, in any phrasing, for any of the travellers we asked as. Every answer named operators; none of them was one of theirs. After a search, the established brand came up in 20% of the answers for its destination and the new brand in 10% for its own, every time on the same assistant.

How often each brand was named

Share of answers naming the brand when a UK traveller asked for a small group tour

The established brand

From memory0%
After a search20%

The new brand

From memory0%
After a search10%
Every answer named at least one operator.

Source: study data, September 2026

60%

of answers from memory did not know the new brand

Asked about it by name. After a search, both brands were known in every answer.

Finding 2

The same few operators hold both lists, and one of them is in more than 80% of the answers. From memory, the lists are the big UK and international names. After a search, one assistant adds many small local operators. On the established brand's destination alone, the assistants named more than fifty different operators.

Who the assistants name

Share of answers naming each operator

The established brand's destination

Rival A85%
Rival B65%
Rival C60%
Rival D50%
The established brand10%

The new brand's destination

Rival A80%
Rival C70%
Rival E50%
Rival F45%
The new brand5%
An answer can name several operators. Operators named less often are not shown.

Source: study data, September 2026

Finding 3

Asked about the brands by name, the assistants presented the established one as aimed at a different kind of traveller, and mostly did not know the new one. From memory, 30% of the answers about the established brand described it wrongly for a UK traveller, and 60% of the answers about the new brand did not know it at all. Some answers confused the new brand with other businesses. After a search, both brands were known in every answer. Across every answer, 10% of the checkable statements about the two brands were wrong, most of them about the new brand.

30%

of answers from memory described the established brand wrongly for a UK traveller

Asked about it by name

60%

of answers from memory did not know the new brand

Asked about it by name

Finding 4

When a traveller was ready to book, one answer in five sent them somewhere else. These travellers had already found the brand and asked one more question. 55% of the answers about the established brand and 45% about the new brand pointed the traveller to it. The assistant that searches hardest was the hardest to win: it sent the traveller to a rival in half of its answers.

Where the assistants sent the traveller

Share of answers to a booking question about each brand

The established brand

The new brand

Towards the brandAnother operatorNo clear direction
Legend in the order of the segments.

Source: study data, September 2026

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