The Growth of Community Search Means New Opportunities for Hotel Marketers
Search for something on Google, and increasingly, forums and community discussions claim the top spots. Google has added dedicated “Discussions and forums” features and filters to searches, and Reddit and similar forums now rank for countless queries, including branded ones.
At the same time, AI models pull from those same threads. ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews and answer engines like Perplexity increasingly cite forum content, and referrals from AI tools are growing fast. In other words, when people ask for travel advice in trusted communities, those discussions spill over, influencing both traditional rankings and AI answers.
Hotels have an opportunity here to participate (carefully and authentically!) to grow traffic and bookings.
Why is Community Search More Prominent Today?
For many open-ended searches, users look for discussions by people facing the same decisions they are. What car to buy, which city school is right for their child, and yes, where to splurge on a vacation. 3 years ago, Google added discussions and forums capabilities to its core search engine, including data support for forums and profiles, and even introduced a Search Console filter for them.
As a result, forum domains—especially Reddit—have surged in visibility. Studies show Reddit’s organic visibility grew dramatically through 2024, and analyses of product-review queries find a “Discussions and Forums” unit present on the majority of searches. In other words, community threads often sit above brand sites. This shift also affects AI SEO. As answer engines like Google AI Overviews send more referral traffic, Reddit has evolved into a site that supports both organic and AI visibility.
What Community Search Means for Hotels
When someone searches “is [hotel] good for families?” or “bachelorette weekend hotel in Providence,” a Reddit thread can outrank your website in the search results. That same thread may feed the AI answers travelers see first. Are you included in the discussion? If so, is it based on outdated information or missing key updates — new renovations, expanded parking, an updated food program, changes to policies?
These conversations now increasingly impact search queries. Our conversations with hoteliers mirror this concern: teams ask how to show up in AI answers, and the best path still starts with clear, question-driven content that matches how people actually search. Hotel marketers must plan to participate in community discussions and close the content gaps that cause forums to become the default answer about your property.
How Hotel Marketers Should Wade into Community Discussions
There’s no one-size-fits all plan for engaging with real people in community forums. Instead, we’ve compiled steps you can take today that start the process and help marketers get a sense of what’s needed for their hotel.
- Review community demand. Search your brand and category along with “reddit,” “forum,” and “quora.” Note recurring questions: family-friendliness, groups and events, parking, resort fees, pet policies, renovations, nearby nightlife, safety, and accessibility. Track threads that already rank on page one. Once you have a read on how people talk about your hotel in particular, search a few more terms that apply to you, whether it’s “romantic getaways in Maine” or “best places to stay in downtown Houston.” Read top-ranked threads and see what considerations the conversations include.
- Fill the gaps on your site first. Create concise pages that answer the exact questions travelers ask in forums. Think in terms of clusters: short, specific pages that interlink, not one mega-post. Use straightforward FAQs and first-hand detail (photos, floorplans, sample itineraries, quiet-room tips). This improves the odds your page becomes a citation in AI answers and gives staff a trustworthy link to share in community threads.
- Show up correctly in key communities. Establish transparent, verified staff accounts on the platforms where discussions happen. Participate in relevant local subreddits and travel threads by offering facts guests can’t get elsewhere, like exact parking instructions, event hold times, neighborhood tips. Don’t astroturf, that is, don’t post or coordinate posts that pose as authentic guest accounts. Follow subreddit rules. Aim to be the reliable source people upvote. Avoid dominating threads, giving helpful answers and breathing room for community members.
- Make your answers AI-quotable. Write crisp, self-contained answers (2–4 sentences), define terms, and include concrete details (hours, distances, fees). AI Overviews often cite pages that provide direct, novel answers and don’t strictly mirror the top 10 results.
- Monitor and measure. Work with your agency to track searches for your hotel brand monthly, and those that include community terms like “reddit” — a common practice for people looking for independent advice. Watch AI mentions and referrals where available. Watch inbound traffic to document which platforms convert to bookings.
Does this seem like a big lift? Small steps add up to a large impact. To quickly jump in and gain the advantage, reach us today. Our marketers can quickly put together and execute a measurable playbook for your hotel that grows traffic and bookings from emerging sources like these.