When we asked ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity which bespoke and luxury travel providers they recommend, four companies appeared across all three AI models:
These were the only bespoke travel providers to achieve full cross-model consensus in the June 2026 Tenacious AI Visibility Index.
Scott Dunn achieved the highest overall visibility score, while Abercrombie & Kent and Audley Travel also performed strongly across multiple buyer-focused travel questions.
For luxury travel brands, this matters because high-net-worth travellers, executives and corporate buyers are increasingly using AI systems to research destinations, compare providers and shortlist travel companies before speaking to anyone.
Luxury travel has always been shaped by recommendation.
Historically, those recommendations came from:
Increasingly, they may also come from AI.
A traveller can now ask:
And within seconds, an AI assistant can produce a shortlist.
That changes the visibility challenge for travel brands.
It is no longer just about ranking in Google or being featured in travel publications.
It is also about whether AI systems recognise, trust and recommend the brand when travellers ask high-intent questions.
That is what this report measures.
For this edition of the Tenacious AI Visibility Index, we asked ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity ten questions designed to reflect how luxury travellers, executives, corporate teams and high-net-worth buyers research travel providers.
The questions covered:
All questions were UK-focused and run during June 2026.
The objective was not to identify the best luxury travel companies.
The objective was to understand which providers AI systems recommend when answering buyer questions.
As with previous sectors, each AI model behaved differently.
ChatGPT returned a single sector-level ranking rather than answering each question individually.
Claude answered all 10 questions with named company recommendations.
Perplexity answered all 10 questions but only returned named company citations on 3 of the 10 questions.
The remaining 7 responses contained no named company recommendations.
For anyone looking to understand how visibility is measured across AI platforms, our AI visibility metrics guide explains the metrics increasingly shaping discoverability inside AI-generated recommendations.
| Rank | Company | ChatGPT Rank | Claude Mentions | Perplexity Citations | Models Agree |
| 1 | Abercrombie & Kent | #3 | 4 | 1 | 3/3 |
| 2 | Scott Dunn | #4 | 5 | 1 | 3/3 |
| 3 | Butterfield & Robinson | #5 | 1 | 1 | 3/3 |
| 4 | Audley Travel | #6 | 4 | 1 | 3/3 |
| 5 | Black Tomato | #2 | 5 | — | 2/3 |
| 6 | Jacada Travel | #7 | 1 | — | 2/3 |
| 7 | Red Savannah | #8 | — | 1 | 2/3 |
| 8 | Healing Holidays | — | 1 | 1 | 2/3 |
| 9 | Kuoni | — | 1 | 1 | 2/3 |
| 10 | Pelorus | — | 1 | 1 | 2/3 |
The headline finding is clear.
Four travel providers achieved full consensus across ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity.
That makes the bespoke travel sector more consistent than marketing, MSPs or accountancy, but less concentrated than recruitment.
Scott Dunn generated the strongest overall visibility score.
The company appeared 5 times in Claude’s responses, once in Perplexity and ranked fourth in ChatGPT’s sector shortlist.
Abercrombie & Kent and Audley Travel also performed strongly.
Both appeared in ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, suggesting strong recognition across multiple AI systems.
Butterfield & Robinson had a lower total mention count but still achieved full cross-model visibility.
That matters because consensus across platforms often indicates that a brand has strong authority signals across multiple information environments.
Black Tomato is one of the most interesting cases.
The company ranked second in ChatGPT and appeared 5 times in Claude, but did not appear in Perplexity’s citations.
That means it has strong AI visibility, but not full platform consistency.
Red Savannah showed the reverse pattern.
It appeared in ChatGPT and Perplexity, but not Claude.
These differences show that even in a luxury sector with recognised brands, AI visibility still varies significantly by platform.
The bespoke travel dataset includes 99 unique companies, making it one of the widest datasets in the index.
That long tail matters.
Luxury travel is not a single market.
It includes:
Because the category is broad, AI systems interpret buyer questions in different ways.
ChatGPT focused heavily on established luxury and bespoke travel brands.
Claude produced a wider mix, including travel companies, retreat providers, corporate travel specialists and event-focused operators.
Perplexity returned fewer citations but surfaced companies across adventure, wellness and event-led queries.
This creates a fragmented landscape for boutique operators.
Many highly specialist providers appeared only once.
That does not mean they lack quality.
It means they have lower cross-platform AI visibility.
For travel brands, the implication is clear.
Being excellent at designing journeys is not the same as being discoverable in AI-generated recommendations.
We explore this wider challenge in our article on what actually drives AI visibility, where we explain how citations, authority and topic relevance influence whether brands appear in AI systems.
The biggest lesson from this dataset is that AI visibility follows authority, not necessarily exclusivity.
Many boutique travel providers create extraordinary experiences but remain almost invisible in AI-generated recommendations. Meanwhile, larger luxury brands consistently appear across multiple models because they have built years of digital authority through editorial coverage, awards, partnerships and brand mentions.
The firms that repeatedly surfaced in our data tend to share several characteristics:
This aligns closely with broader trends we're seeing across every sector in the Tenacious AI Visibility Index.
AI systems appear to favour brands that demonstrate authority across multiple trusted sources rather than simply having attractive websites or strong paid advertising campaigns.
For luxury travel providers looking to improve visibility, a robust generative engine optimisation guide should focus on increasing authoritative citations rather than chasing traditional rankings alone.
The challenge is particularly significant for boutique operators.
Many specialist travel companies offer exceptional experiences yet appear only once in the entire dataset. Without broader authority signals, AI systems have limited evidence to confidently recommend them.
This is where strong content marketing becomes critical.
Publishing destination expertise, expert commentary, travel trend reports and unique insights creates the signals AI systems increasingly rely on when generating recommendations.
Similarly, building visibility through digital PR, travel awards, and industry publications helps create the external validation that AI models appear to trust most.
The role of AI citations and authority signals is becoming increasingly important as AI-generated recommendations influence more buyer journeys.
Unlike Claude and Perplexity, ChatGPT provided a sector-level shortlist rather than answering each question individually.
| Rank | Company | Why ChatGPT Ranked Them |
| #1 | Travel by Luxe | Five-star private tours and personalised itineraries |
| #2 | Black Tomato | Bespoke luxury experiences worldwide |
| #3 | Abercrombie & Kent | Long-established luxury travel specialist |
| #4 | Scott Dunn | Tailor-made family and luxury holidays |
| #5 | Butterfield & Robinson | Luxury active and adventure travel |
| #6 | Audley Travel | Custom travel experiences with destination specialists |
| #7 | Jacada Travel | Private journeys and luxury safaris |
| #8 | Red Savannah | Award-winning bespoke luxury travel |
| #9 | Brown + Hudson | Ultra-luxury storytelling-led travel |
| #10 | Cox & Kings | Historic luxury tour operator |
Note: ChatGPT gave us a sector-level shortlist rather than per-question answers. Claude answered all 10 questions with named recommendations. Perplexity answered all 10 questions and returned company citations on 3 of 10, where it did not name firms, we've noted that below.
Q1 Which UK bespoke travel companies are recommended for high-end personalised holidays? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Scott Dunn | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Trailfinders | — |
| 3. Audley Travel | — |
| 4. Kuoni | — |
| 5. Black Tomato | — |
| 6. Original Travel | — |
| 7. Abercrombie & Kent | — |
| 8. Carrier | — |
Q2 Which London experiential travel companies are best for corporate events and incentive trips?
Claude | Perplexity |
|---|---|
| 1. TRADEMARK | 1. TAG Group |
| 2. SEVEN | 2. SevenEvents |
| 3. Incentivise | 3. Awesome Events |
| 4. FMI Agency | 4. On Purpose Events |
| 5. Red Blaze | 5. Extraordinary London |
| 6. TRO | 6. Private London Tours |
| 7. DMC London | 7. Anderson Tours |
| 8. AOK Events | 8. Eventurous |
Q3 Which UK travel companies specialise in luxury adventure and once-in-a-lifetime experiences?
Claude | Perplexity |
|---|---|
| 1. Scott Dunn | 1. Abercrombie & Kent |
| 2. Black Tomato | 2. Scott Dunn |
| 3. Original Travel | 3. Audley Travel |
| 4. Abercrombie & Kent | 4. Pelorus |
| 5. Inspiring Travel | 5. The Ultimate Travel Company |
| 6. Wildfoot Travel | 6. Kuoni |
| 7. The Ultimate Travel Company | 7. Red Savannah |
| 8. Wanderlux | 8. Joro |
Q4 Which bespoke travel providers are recommended for entrepreneurs, executives and high-net-worth travellers? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Virtuoso Network | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Abercrombie & Kent | — |
| 3. Scott Dunn | — |
| 4. Berkeley Travel | — |
| 5. Black Tomato | — |
| 6. EXP Journeys | — |
| 7. All 4 Season | — |
| 8. Audley Travel | — |
Q5 Which UK companies create tailored group travel experiences for businesses? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Corporate Travel Management (CTM) | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Good Business Travel | — |
| 3. Incentivise | — |
| 4. CT Group Travel | — |
| 5. Penguins Events | — |
| 6. The MotivAction Group | — |
| 7. Make Events | — |
| 8. FMi Agency | — |
Q6 Which London-based travel companies organise premium corporate retreats and team experiences? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. RUMA Events | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Shift + Alt Events | — |
| 3. Forte Events | — |
| 4. Eureka Events | — |
| 5. Hotel du Vin Corporate Retreats | — |
| 6. TeamOut | — |
| 7. Flavour Search | — |
| 8. The Country Castle Company | — |
Q7 Which UK travel providers specialise in wellness retreats and transformational travel experiences?
Claude | Perplexity |
|---|---|
| 1. Healing Holidays | 1. Healing Holidays |
| 2. Wellbeing Escapes | 2. Wellbeing Escapes |
| 3. Travel Matters | 3. Health and Fitness Travel |
| 4. Me Time Away | 4. Health Travel |
| 5. Tripaneer | 5. Case Travel Ltd / Wellness by Case Travel |
| 6. Inspiring Travel | 6. Be More Solutions |
| 7. The Retreat Company | 7. The Retreat Company |
| 8. The Resilience Retreat | 8. The Healthy Holiday Company |
Q8 Which bespoke travel companies are recommended for private tours, cultural experiences and curated itineraries? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Black Tomato | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Scott Dunn | — |
| 3. Abercrombie & Kent | — |
| 4. Jacada Travel | — |
| 5. Audley Travel | — |
| 6. Berkeley Travel | — |
| 7. Original Travel | — |
| 8. Classic Journeys | — |
Q9 Which UK experiential travel companies have the strongest reputation for unusual or memorable trips? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Wilderness Scotland/England | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Black Tomato | — |
| 3. Exodus Adventure Travels | — |
| 4. Pelorus | — |
| 5. KE Adventure Travel | — |
| 6. Scott Dunn | — |
| 7. Another World Adventures | — |
| 8. Audley Travel | — |
Q10 Which bespoke travel providers are most visible in AI recommendations for luxury, corporate and experiential travel? [Perplexity: no citation data returned]
Claude | Perplexity (no data) |
|---|---|
| 1. Mindtrip | No citation data returned for this question |
| 2. Virtuoso | — |
| 3. Navan (with Ava AI assistant) | — |
| 4. Layla AI | — |
| 5. Enso | — |
| 6. FCM Travel | — |
| 7. American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) | — |
| 8. Boutique Travel Advisors | — |
The travel sector demonstrates a pattern we have seen repeatedly across this index.
The brands recommended most often are not necessarily the largest operators. They are the brands that have built the strongest authority footprint across the web.
For luxury travel companies, AI visibility increasingly depends on:
The firms appearing consistently across ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity have spent years building those assets.
For boutique operators, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
The challenge is that AI systems currently favour established brands.
The opportunity is that AI visibility is still relatively immature. Companies investing today in authority-building content and a strong B2B content strategy can improve their chances of appearing in future AI recommendations before the market becomes more competitive.
Luxury travel is built on trust.
Historically, that trust came from personal recommendations, travel agents and editorial publications.
Today, AI is becoming another recommendation layer.
Our June 2026 data shows four brands currently dominate that landscape:
Every other provider is competing for visibility around them.
If your travel brand is absent from AI recommendations today, that does not mean it will remain absent tomorrow.
The firms investing now in authority, content and visibility will be the firms that future travellers discover first.
So, ask yourself if potential clients are asking ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity which FX broker they should use, are you part of the answer?
Run a free AI visibility scan today.
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Which luxury travel companies appeared across all three AI models?
Only four companies achieved full consensus across ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity:
These were the only providers consistently recommended regardless of which AI platform was used.
Which luxury travel company had the highest AI visibility score?
Scott Dunn achieved the strongest overall visibility in our June 2026 dataset. The company appeared repeatedly across multiple luxury travel, adventure travel and bespoke itinerary queries, making it the most consistently visible travel brand in the study.
Why didn't more boutique travel companies appear in AI recommendations?
Most boutique operators have relatively limited digital authority compared to larger luxury travel brands. AI systems tend to favour companies that have accumulated:
Many specialist operators excel at delivering experiences but have a smaller online authority footprint.
Why does Black Tomato appear strongly in some models but not others?
Black Tomato ranked highly in ChatGPT and appeared frequently in Claude responses, but did not appear in Perplexity's cited recommendations. This demonstrates one of the key findings of the Tenacious AI Visibility Index: different AI models rely on different information ecosystems and therefore produce different recommendation sets.
How many travel companies appeared in the overall dataset?
A total of 99 unique travel brands appeared across all questions and models. This makes bespoke and experiential travel one of the most fragmented sectors analysed in the index, with a very long tail of specialist providers receiving only one or two mentions.
Can AI visibility influence luxury travel buying decisions?
Increasingly, yes. High-net-worth travellers, founders, executives and corporate buyers are beginning to use AI assistants during the research phase of the buying journey. While AI recommendations rarely determine a purchase on their own, they often influence which companies make the initial shortlist.
What improves AI visibility for luxury travel brands?
The strongest indicators from this study suggest that travel brands improve visibility through:
These signals help AI systems develop confidence in recommending a company.
What is the biggest takeaway from this travel sector analysis?
The biggest finding is concentration. Out of 99 travel brands mentioned, only four achieved consensus across all three AI platforms. For luxury travel companies, that suggests AI visibility is becoming increasingly winner-takes-most, with a small group of highly authoritative brands capturing a disproportionate share of recommendations.
