Why is organic search changing so fast for leisure brands?
Joyce Dijkstra, Head of Organic Search at Red Online Marketing, began her talk with a simple demonstration: type "what is the best theme park in the world?" into Google and you no longer get ten blue links. You get an AI Overview, and a button into AI Mode to keep asking. Google is turning from a search engine into an answer engine, and Gemini and other AI models are competing for the same travel questions.
The numbers behind it, as shown on stage: the global LLM market is expected to reach $82.1 billion by 2033 (Hostinger); 56% of US travellers have already used AI to plan a trip and traffic from AI tools to websites is growing fast (TravelAge, 2026); and 68% of Google searches now end without a click (Sparktoro). The channel that pays for that is organic traffic — paid, direct and social have stayed flat while organic declines.
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What does AI do to your SEO KPIs?
Getting found is no longer about ranking on page one and collecting clicks. It is about being the source AI engines cite when they generate an answer. Only 38% of AI Overview citations come from the top-10 results (Ahrefs, 2026), so a page ranking twelfth can still be the one quoted.
The KPIs shift with it:
| Declining | Rising / new |
|---|---|
| Clicks to the website | Impressions (careful: inflated counts since 13 May 2025 — Search Engine Land, 2026) |
| Click-through rate | AI citations — "a new type of backlink" |
| Organic traffic, mostly on informational pages | Mentions in AI answers, brand sentiment, share of voice per topic |
The decline is concentrated in informational content. Commercial and transactional searches — "book a boat trip on the Seine" — still lead to clicks and conversions. So adjust your objectives: track your transactional pages explicitly, and treat informational visibility as branding and authority rather than traffic.
What is GEO, and does it replace SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) focuses on traditional engines that crawl, index and rank websites. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) focuses on AI-powered search that does not list websites but generates an answer; GEO makes sure your content is picked up and cited in that answer.
Red's position: GEO doesn't replace SEO, it builds on it. Technical SEO and content remain the foundation; GEO ensures that content is also visible in the new generation of search experiences. In practice the work changes on four axes: from keyword research to keyword and prompt research; from keyword-built content to conversational content that answers directly; from rankings and traffic to citations, mentions and sentiment; and from buying links to earning quality partnerships.
Don't forget social search
When looking for information, 41% of Gen Z turn to social platforms first, ahead of search engines (32%), chat-based AI (11%) and friends and family (9%) (Sprout Social, 2025). Organic results from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram posts now show up in Google — and you can follow them in Search Console. You control this: work keywords naturally into captions, speech and on-screen text, and mix niche and branded hashtags.
That is why Red is renaming and rebuilding its product. SEO, GEO and Social Search together form one discipline: Organic Search — being found without paying for it, wherever the search happens.
How do you get started with Organic Search?
Strategy
- New goals: be cited in AI Overviews, be mentioned in Gemini and other LLMs, and stay ahead of competitors on the topics that matter to you.
- Work with topics, not page lists: pick the topics that matter ("indoor theme park", "theme park for children"), research how you perform on them in AI, and build them into a roadmap that respects seasonality — content freshness matters to AI.
- Monitor the new metrics: quality of impressions, citations, mentions, sentiment, share of voice.
- Split informational from conversion-focused content in your goal tracking.
Content — write for summarisation
- Put a key takeaway at the top of every article so an AI doesn't have to read the whole text.
- Say in the first sentence what the page is about; keep paragraphs to three or four lines.
- Use an editorial format: short headings, bullet lists, tables, captions, alt text on images.
- Answer questions directly and add FAQs; build in the "query fan-out" — the related searches an AI runs when it answers a prompt.
- E-E-A-T still works: show hands-on Experience, professional Expertise, Authoritativeness in your niche and Trustworthiness.
- AI loves data: short audio or video, case studies, barometers, internal tests and documented experience with charts and tables. Offer them to the media too.
Technical
- Structured data is more important than ever; keep Core Web Vitals fast.
- Add an
llms.txtfile (not proven, but harmless), check in your server logs that AI crawlers actually visit, and make sure all content is in raw HTML — Google renders JavaScript, most AI crawlers do not.
Reputation
- Excellent ratings and a large number of reviews on Google and Trustpilot are a key trust signal for AI platforms. Encourage satisfied guests to review you and respond in a natural, conversational tone.
What does the future look like?
Don't neglect SEO — it stays essential for short- and medium-term results. Start experimenting with GEO now. Build brand awareness beyond any single platform, through PR and social. And invest in content with real added value that goes beyond what an AI can easily summarise: dive into what guests really want to know, and answer it better than anyone else.
Questions the room asked
What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO optimises for search engines that crawl, index and rank pages; you work with keywords, backlinks, rankings and clicks. GEO optimises for AI systems that generate a direct answer; you work with prompt research, direct answers, structured data and you measure citations, mentions and sentiment. GEO is built on top of a healthy SEO foundation.
How do I check whether AI cites my attraction?
Use an SEO tool such as Ahrefs to see which of your keywords trigger an AI Overview and where you are cited, and its LLM reports to see in which AI answers you and your competitors are mentioned. Track this per topic, not per keyword.
Does an llms.txt file help?
It is not proven yet, but it does no harm. Add it, make sure AI crawlers are not blocked, and — more importantly — make sure all your content is in raw HTML rather than rendered by JavaScript.
About the speaker
Joyce Dijkstra is Head of Organic Search and Vertical Evangelist Attractions at Red Online Marketing, where she has worked since 2022. She leads SEO, GEO and Social Search for theme parks, zoos, museums, holiday parks and destinations across the Benelux, Germany and France. Contact: joyce@redonlinemarketing.nl · linkedin.com/in/joyce-dijkstra98/
Want to talk about this for your park, museum or destination?
Red Online Marketing works with attractions, zoos, museums, holiday parks and destinations across Europe on exactly these questions. Read more: Organic Search / SEO at Red. Or email events@redonlinemarketing.com / get in touch via redonlinemarketing.com.
