Vacation rental search is changing fast.
Organic traffic is declining, AI Overviews are taking up more space in Google, and travelers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to research where to stay.
For property managers, that creates a new challenge: how do you stay visible when the way people search is no longer as straightforward as ranking on page one of Google?
In this episode, Alex & Annie are joined by Vanessa Humes, VP of Sales and Marketing at ICND, and Jill McGee, Senior Digital Marketing Specialist, to unpack what this shift means for vacation rental brands and their direct booking strategies.
They explore why SEO is still very much alive, how AI is changing the path travelers take before reaching a website, and why the fundamentals of trust, authority, useful content, and strong website structure may matter more than ever.
The conversation also looks at what operators should actually be paying attention to as new terms like AEO and GEO enter the marketing vocabulary, whether emerging AI optimization tactics are worth the hype, and how the metrics used to measure digital marketing success may need to evolve along with search.
Episode Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to the show
06:45 - Why declining organic traffic does not mean SEO is losing its value
07:33 - How AI is changing the way travelers research and discover vacation rentals
26:14 - What SEO, AEO, and GEO mean for vacation rental marketers
10:32 - Why trust, reviews, structured data, and strong content still matter
36:27 - How property managers can create content with stronger booking intent
23:41 - Why AI-driven traffic may be smaller but more qualified
29:00 - Which new AI optimization tactics deserve attention and which may be more hype than substance
48:20 - How operators should think about search visibility heading into 2027
If you are trying to understand where SEO fits in an AI-driven search landscape and what your vacation rental brand should be doing now to stay discoverable, this episode is worth a listen.
Connect with Vanessa:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-humes-549b528/
Connect with Jill:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-highsmith-mcgee-940908179/
Connect with ICND:
Website: https://bit.ly/3THIq8J
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intercoastal-net-designs/
Free Resource from ICND:
Download ICND’s AI Visibility Case Study to learn how vacation rental companies can adapt to AI-driven search.
✨ Exclusive Offer to Alex & Annie Listeners:
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Thinking about the next chapter for your vacation rental business?
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#vacationrentals #shorttermrentals #directbookings