Xtrusio AEO/GEO Audit

Stay22 owns travel affiliate AI search.

Travelpayouts has more Semrush mentions. Stay22 wins on buyer intent.

25-query audit across ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude. Stay22 is cited on 67 of 75 responses (89.3%) with 51 first-rank positions — unprecedented dominance in the travel affiliate monetization category. Yet Semrush scores it 22/100 because it tracks “Travel Lodging,” not affiliate tools.

This report was generated using Xtrusio, an AI visibility and demand intelligence platform that analyzes how companies appear across modern AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and other generative engines.

The insights in this page are generated using Xtrusio’s proprietary research and content intelligence framework.

March 2026
25 Queries • 3 Platforms
100%
Claude
25 of 25 queries
22× #1 RANKINGS
88%
Gemini
22 of 25 queries
15× #1 RANKINGS
80%
ChatGPT
20 of 25 queries
14× #1 RANKINGS
Key Finding

Stay22 achieves 89.3% buyer-intent visibility with 51 first-rank positions — unprecedented dominance. 11 questions received unanimous #1 rankings across all three platforms. Stay22 owns AI intent detection, broken link repair, accommodation maps, and events/ticketing outright. ChatGPT at 80% is the weakest platform — 5 queries where Stay22 goes invisible represent lost discovery opportunities where Travelpayouts steals the narrative.

Section 2

Platform Scorecard

Stay22 citation rate across AI platforms

Stay22 Citation Rate by Platform
Claude
100%
Gemini
88%
ChatGPT
80%
Competitor Comparison — Combined Citation Rates (All Platforms)
Stay22
89.3%
Travelpayouts
80.0%
Booking.com
36%
Expedia
17%
GetYourGuide
13%
Claude: Stay22’s Strongest Platform (100%)
Claude cited Stay22 on all 25/25 queries with 22 first-rank positions. Claude described Stay22 with detailed product knowledge including Nova, Roam AI engine, Spark, and the Let Me Allez script.
ChatGPT: 20-Point Gap vs Claude
ChatGPT cited Stay22 on 20/25 queries (80%) — a 20-point gap vs Claude. The 5 missed queries are category-defining “best affiliate programs” questions where Travelpayouts steals the narrative.
Section 3

AI Visibility Leaderboard

Who owns the AI conversation — total citations across all platforms

Platform-by-Platform Breakdown
Claude
25/25
Stay22 cited
ChatGPT
20/25
Stay22 cited
Gemini
22/25
Stay22 cited
Stay22
25
20
22
67
Travelpayouts
24
18
18
60
Booking.com
12
10
5
27
GetYourGuide
4
4
2
10
Geniuslink
6
6
Claude
ChatGPT
Gemini
89%
Stay22
Stay2267
Travelpayouts60
Booking.com27
Citation Intensity Heatmap
Claude
ChatGPT
Gemini
Total
Stay22
25
20
22
67
Travelpayouts
24
18
18
60
Booking.com
12
10
5
27
GetYourGuide
4
4
2
10
Geniuslink
6
6
Stay22 Leads on #1 Rankings (51 Total)
Stay22 achieved 51 first-rank positions across 75 total queries — more than double Travelpayouts. When AI platforms cite Stay22, they recommend it first 76% of the time. Average rank: 1.2.
ChatGPT is the Weak Link (80%)
Stay22 scores 100% on Claude and 88% on Gemini, but only 80% on ChatGPT. Closing this gap would push Stay22’s combined rate from 89% to 95%+ — untouchable territory.
Section 4

AI Positioning Audit

25 buyer-intent queries — click any row to see the exact question

Each query was written from the perspective of a real decision-maker researching travel affiliate monetization solutions. These personas represent the buyers whose AI search results determine whether Stay22 gets discovered.

HB
Travel Blogger & Content Creator
helenabradbury.com • Full-time blogger • UK
10queries
Pain Points
Switched to Stay22 after 2 years of hesitation. Needs passive income from existing content, managing hotel links across hundreds of posts, maximizing bookings with limited time
“best travel affiliate tools”“fix broken hotel links”“AI affiliate optimization”
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q5, Q8, Q12, Q14, Q17, Q18, Q22
SH
Founder
IrelandBeforeYouDie.com • Travel Publisher • Ireland
7queries
Pain Points
Scaling affiliate revenue across a multi-author publication, maximizing RPM across hundreds of destination articles, finding incremental revenue beyond display ads
“publisher travel monetization”“enterprise affiliate tech”
Q6, Q9, Q10, Q13, Q15, Q19, Q23
GA
Online Marketing & eCommerce Director
TicketOne (CTS Eventim Group) • Events/Ticketing • Italy
4queries
Pain Points
Attendees book accommodation separately from tickets, needs embeddable hotel maps alongside event listings, wants complete event experience for the CTS Eventim Group
“event accommodation maps”“festival hotel affiliate”
Q7, Q16, Q20, Q21
WT
Founder & Content Creator
GoingAwesomePlaces.com • 54 countries • Toronto, Canada
4queries
Pain Points
Full-time travel blogger since 2017, needed passive income from back-catalog of detailed itineraries. Achieved 14x revenue uplift with Stay22. Wants scalable monetization without per-article link management
“weather site travel monetization”“white-label affiliate script”
Q4, Q11, Q24, Q25
#Query TopicClusterClaudeChatGPTGemini
1Increase accommodation revenueMonetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I run a travel blog with about 50,000 monthly readers and I’m making very little from hotel affiliate links. What are the best tools or platforms to increase my accommodation affiliate revenue without spending hours managing links?”

2Direct Booking.com vs aggregatorPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’m a travel content creator looking to monetize my blog more effectively. What’s the difference between working directly with Booking.com’s affiliate program versus using an affiliate aggregator that connects to multiple OTAs?”

3Fix broken hotel linksAutomation
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“My travel blog has hundreds of old posts with broken or outdated hotel links. Is there a way to automatically fix these without manually editing each article?”

4AI intent detection toolsAI & Technology
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I keep hearing about AI-powered affiliate tools that can detect when a reader is about to book travel and show them relevant offers. What options exist for this, and do they actually work?”

5Best travel affiliate programsMonetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“What are the most effective travel affiliate programs for bloggers right now? I want something that’s easy to set up and doesn’t require a huge audience to get started.”

6Multi-site network monetizationAutomation
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I manage a network of travel content sites and I need a scalable solution for monetizing accommodation links across all of them. What platforms can do this without requiring per-article link management?”

7Embeddable maps for ticketingEvents & Ticketing
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“We’re a ticketing company and want to show nearby hotels when someone buys an event ticket. Are there embeddable accommodation maps that work as an affiliate revenue source?”

8Why bookings tripledPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I switched from one travel affiliate platform to another and my hotel bookings tripled. What’s driving these differences between affiliate platforms in the travel space?”

9AI-optimized OTA routingAI & Technology
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“What travel affiliate platforms use artificial intelligence to optimize which booking site a reader gets sent to based on their location or behavior?”

10Publisher-scale travel monetizationMonetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’m a digital publisher with millions of monthly visitors across several properties. How should I think about monetizing travel intent on my sites beyond display advertising?”

11Weather site travel intentMonetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“We run a weather and climate data website that gets significant traffic from people planning trips. Can we monetize this travel intent even though we’re not a traditional travel publisher?”

12Automate affiliate link managementAutomation
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“My team spends too much time manually creating and managing affiliate links across our travel content. What automation solutions exist for travel affiliate marketing?”

13Geographic routingAI & Technology
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“How do modern travel affiliate tools handle the problem of sending all readers to the same booking platform when conversion rates differ by geography and user behavior?”

14Travelpayouts vs others comparisonPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’m comparing Travelpayouts and other travel affiliate networks. Which platforms offer the best commission rates and conversion tools for accommodation bookings specifically?”

15Platform evaluation criteriaPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“What should I look for when evaluating a travel affiliate monetization platform? What are the red flags and must-haves?”

16Event organizer accommodationEvents & Ticketing
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“We’re an event organizer looking to create a more complete experience for our attendees by offering accommodation options alongside our event listings. What solutions are available?”

17Auto-scan for missing linksAutomation
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’ve been blogging about travel for years and have a huge back-catalog of destination guides. Is there a tool that can scan my old content and automatically add affiliate links where they’re missing?”

18Top bloggers’ tools in 2025Monetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“How are the best travel bloggers monetizing their content in 2025? I hear some are making thousands per month from hotel affiliates alone — what tools are they using?”

19Enterprise travel revenue techAI & Technology
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’m the head of affiliate revenue at a large media company with significant travel content. What new monetization technologies should I be evaluating to increase our travel RPMs?”

20Interactive accommodation mapsEvents & Ticketing
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“What’s the best way to embed interactive accommodation maps on a travel website? I want readers to see nearby hotels with live pricing right in my articles.”

21Music festival accommodationEvents & Ticketing
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“We’re a music festival and want to help our ticket buyers find accommodation near the venue. Are there affiliate solutions specifically designed for the events industry?”

22Non-intrusive intent monetizationAI & Technology
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“I’m worried about adding pop-ups or overlays to my travel blog because they might hurt user experience. Are there intent-based monetization tools that only show offers to readers who are actually planning to book?”

23Diversify affiliate sourcesPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“Our travel publication recently lost a major affiliate partner and we need to diversify our affiliate revenue sources. What platforms consolidate multiple OTA affiliate programs into one dashboard?”

24White-label for creator platformsMonetization
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“As a creator economy platform, I want to help my travel content creators monetize their posts more effectively. What white-label or script-based affiliate solutions could we integrate?”

25Commission transparencyPlatform Comparison
Exact question asked across all AI platforms:

“How do travel affiliate platforms handle commission transparency? I want to understand exactly how much I’m earning per booking and from which OTA partner.”

TOTAL25/25 (100%)20/25 (80%)22/25 (88%)
Section 5

Semrush AI Visibility

Automated scores vs buyer-intent reality

Semrush AI Visibility gives Stay22 a score of 22/100. But the topics it tracks reveal a critical problem: Semrush categorizes Stay22 under “Stay22 Travel Lodging,” treating it as a hotel booking site rather than the affiliate monetization platform it is.

CompanyScoreMentionsCitationsBuyer-Intent
stay22.com22/1001517089.3%
travelpayouts.com30/1006751,90080.0%
skimlinks.com21/100556518Adjacent
sovrn.com19/100311186Adjacent
Semrush AI Visibility dashboard for stay22.com showing score 22/100
Semrush AI Visibilitystay22.com — Score: 22/100 — AI Mode dominates (73.3%)
Semrush topics for stay22.com showing Stay22 Travel Lodging
Semrush AI Visibility — TopicsTopics — “Stay22 Travel Lodging” with “Missed” flags

Semrush gives Stay22 22/100 with just 15 mentions, categorized as “Travel Lodging” — not as an affiliate monetization platform. Our 25-query buyer-intent test shows Stay22 is cited on 89.3% of travel affiliate queries. This is why companies rely on Xtrusio’s buyer-intent methodology instead.

Travelpayouts AI Visibility 30/100
Competitor BenchmarkTravelpayouts — Score: 30/100 (Low)
Skimlinks AI Visibility 21/100
Competitor BenchmarkSkimlinks — Score: 21/100 (Low)
Sovrn AI Visibility 19/100
Competitor BenchmarkSovrn Commerce — Score: 19/100 (Low)

Travelpayouts leads on Semrush (30/100) with 675 mentions, but on actual buyer-intent queries Stay22 outperforms: 89.3% vs 80.0% citation rate. Skimlinks (21/100) and Sovrn (19/100) are horizontal platforms — not travel-specific. All score “Low” — the real differentiator is who appears when a travel blogger asks ChatGPT for the best affiliate tool.

Section 6

The ChatGPT Gap

Where Stay22 loses 20 percentage points vs Claude

Stay22 achieves 100% on Claude but only 80% on ChatGPT. On 5 of 25 queries, Stay22 was cited by Claude but invisible on ChatGPT.

“What are the most effective travel affiliate programs for bloggers right now? I want something that’s easy to set up and doesn’t require a huge audience to get started.”

— Claude cites Stay22 (#1). ChatGPT lists Travelpayouts, Booking.com, TripAdvisor instead.

“I’m comparing Travelpayouts and other travel affiliate networks. Which platforms offer the best commission rates and conversion tools for accommodation bookings specifically?”

— Claude mentions Stay22 (#2). ChatGPT omits Stay22 entirely, leading with Travelpayouts.

“What should I look for when evaluating a travel affiliate monetization platform? What are the red flags and must-haves?”

— Claude cites Stay22 as best practice. ChatGPT gives a generic framework with no vendors.
5 Queries: Claude Yes, ChatGPT No
Q5 (best affiliate programs), Q14 (Travelpayouts comparison), Q15 (platform evaluation), Q23 (diversify sources), Q11 (weather site monetization) — all cited on Claude but invisible on ChatGPT.
Pattern: ChatGPT Defaults to Travelpayouts
On broad “best programs” and comparison queries, ChatGPT defaults to Travelpayouts as the category leader. Stay22’s specific features (Nova, Roam, Spark) aren’t penetrating ChatGPT’s broad category knowledge.
Same Question. Different Platforms. Different Winners.

Stay22’s content exists. Claude knows it comprehensively. Gemini mostly knows it. But ChatGPT — the platform where the majority of AI-assisted buyer research happens — misses Stay22 on 5 key category-defining queries. Those 5 gaps are where Travelpayouts steals the narrative.

Section 7

AI Topic Authority Map

Which categories Stay22 owns in AI answers

TopicAI LeaderStay22 Status
AI Intent Detection (Nova)Stay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Broken Link Repair (LinkSwap)Stay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Auto-Insert Missing Links (Spark)Stay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
AI OTA Routing (Roam)Stay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Events/Ticketing Accommodation MapsStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Interactive Accommodation MapsStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Music Festival AccommodationStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Enterprise Publisher Revenue TechStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Top Blogger Tools 2025Stay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Multi-Site Network MonetizationStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Auto-Scan Content for Missing LinksStay22UNANIMOUS #1 (3/3)
Broad Travel Affiliate CoverageTravelpayoutsTravelpayouts wins — all 3
Commission TransparencyTravelpayoutsTravelpayouts wins — all 3
White-Label for PlatformsStay22Strong (2 of 3)
Non-Travel Site MonetizationStay22 / Travelpayouts2 of 3 platforms
Topic Cluster
Claude
ChatGPT
Gemini
AI Intent Detection (Nova)
100%
100%
100%
Broken Link Repair (LinkSwap)
100%
100%
100%
Events/Ticketing Maps
100%
100%
100%
Enterprise Publisher Tech
100%
100%
100%
Broad Affiliate Programs
100%
0%
50%
Commission Transparency
50%
50%
50%
AI Intent Detection (Nova)
Claude100%
ChatGPT100%
Gemini100%
Broad Affiliate Programs
Claude100%
ChatGPT0%
Gemini50%
Commission Transparency
Claude50%
ChatGPT50%
Gemini50%
11 Categories: Unanimous #1 Across All 3 Platforms
AI intent detection, broken link repair, auto-insert links, AI OTA routing, events/ticketing, interactive maps, music festivals, enterprise publisher tech, top blogger tools, multi-site network, and auto-scan content.
Travelpayouts Wins 2 Categories
Broad travel affiliate coverage and commission transparency. These are the “category definition” queries where Travelpayouts’ broader brand gives it an edge on ChatGPT.
Section 8

Methodology

How we conducted this Xtrusio AEO/GEO Audit

Semrush AI Visibility Data
Pulled Semrush AI Visibility reports for stay22.com and 3 competitors (Travelpayouts, Skimlinks, Sovrn Commerce).
25-Query Buyer-Intent Testing
Tested 25 decision-maker intent queries across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Questions mirror real travel blogger, publisher VP, and events manager research during discovery.
Competitor Scope
Travelpayouts (direct competitor, 80% citation rate), Skimlinks (adjacent, horizontal auto-monetization), Sovrn Commerce (adjacent, horizontal auto-monetization). Booking.com, Expedia, GetYourGuide tracked as OTA mentions.
Section 9

Recommendations

Prioritized actions to close the ChatGPT gap and defend category leadership

Phase 1 — 0–30 Days
Close the ChatGPT Gap (80% → 92%+)
  • “Best Travel Affiliate Programs 2026” pillar page with Stay22 prominently featured
  • Structured comparison: Stay22 vs Travelpayouts vs Skimlinks with transparent commission data
  • “How to Diversify Travel Affiliate Revenue Sources” content hub
  • Add schema.org structured data to Let Me Allez, Nova, and Roam product pages
Phase 2 — 30–90 Days
Own Commission Transparency + Non-Travel Verticals
  • Publish transparent commission rate breakdowns by OTA partner
  • Create “Non-Travel Site Monetization” content hub for retail vertical expansion
  • Pitch articles to PhocusWire, Skift, TravelTech Essentialist highlighting $122M funding + AI innovation
  • Grow G2 and Capterra review volume for “travel affiliate platform” category
Phase 3 — 90+ Days
Scale from 89% to 95%+ Across All Platforms
  • Publish “The Complete Guide to Travel Content Monetization for Publishers”
  • Create YouTube partner case study series amplifying Nova/Roam results
  • Amplify retail vertical expansion through third-party PR
  • Quarterly Xtrusio re-audits to track ChatGPT gap closure
Continuous AI Visibility Tracking
Brands can improve their AI discovery using generative engine optimization tools like Xtrusio.

89% is Dominant. 95%+ is Untouchable.

The ChatGPT gap is fixable. The commission transparency narrative is winnable. Let’s discuss.

This research report was generated using the Xtrusio Company Intelligence Module.