OTAs Surpass Airlines in ChatGPT Travel Searches

ChatGPT’s role in how travelers search for flights and book trips is rapidly evolving. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are becoming significant contributors to this shift, receiving more referral traffic from ChatGPT’s AI-based search than airline websites. As traveler reliance on generative AI for travel-related questions grows, OTAs and metasearch engines are gaining an advantage in attracting this traffic, while airlines face challenges in maintaining visibility.

In September 2025, referral traffic to airline websites from ChatGPT was 2.3%, an increase from 1.8% in August. This represented a growth of more than 230 times since ChatGPT…

Key Points

Key quantifiable data

• 2.3%: Referral traffic to airline websites from ChatGPT in September 2025.
• 1.8%: Referral traffic to airline websites from ChatGPT in August 2025.
• More than 230 times: The increase in referral traffic from ChatGPT to airline websites.

Organizations involved

• Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)
• Airlines
• Metasearch engines

Strategic topics discussed

• The role of ChatGPT in transforming flight and trip booking.
• Referral traffic from generative AI to OTAs and airlines.
• The competitive advantage of OTAs and metasearch engines in attracting AI-based search traffic.
• Airline visibility challenges in the context of generative AI.

Named solutions

• ChatGPT

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