For nine years, Miles’ Destination Optimization program has helped DMOs answer a question that keeps changing. In 2017, everyone’s bullseye was getting found on Google. In 2021, the urgent need was helping business owners rebound from the pandemic. Today, the question I hear everywhere is: “How do I get recommended by AI?”
The questions have changed dramatically, but the work that answers them has not. Destinations and the businesses within them still need to create and maintain a digital presence that reflects their Ground Truth.
In machine learning, “Ground Truth” is the accurate, verified information used to train or evaluate a LLM. It’s the answer key used to determine whether the system’s output matches what is known to be true. For a destination, local businesses, points of interest and the experiences they provide are the Ground Truth of the brand. Their digital presence is how both people and platforms judge what is real, reliable and worth the trip.
That digital presence matters on both sides of an AI recommendation. A strong digital presence is critical to getting recommended by AI, but that is only the first step. The Yext 2026 Consumer Search Behaviors Report found that only about 5% of consumers act on an AI recommendation without additional verification. The rest turn to familiar sources such as search engines, business websites, AI citations, reviews and social media.
Travelers may begin with AI, but they still kick the tires. The listings, websites, photos, reviews, social content, DMO coverage and earned media surrounding a business or POI are what make the recommendation hold up. Ground Truth, not the AI recommendation alone, is what helps create the booking.
After working with more than 300 organizations on Destination Optimization - some with large partnership and industry relations teams, and some with one person wearing a hundred hats - I have come to believe the people who work directly with local businesses have a much bigger role in AI visibility and conversion than most destinations realize.
Why Partnership Teams Belong in the AI Conversation
Think about the digital landscape from a tourism business owner’s perspective: An online listing proves the business exists, but it does not tell the full story. LLMs, search engines and travelers look at the whole picture: the business website, social channels, user-generated content, reviews, Reddit mentions, DMO content and earned media.
Most business owners are in the weeds of running their business. They may not yet understand how AI influences their customers or how all these signals connect. Partnership and industry relations teams are the boots on the ground to uplift their market's Ground Truth. They know the real people and experiences behind each business. They are trusted sources of guidance, and they can connect businesses to DMO content, social and PR channels that expand their digital presence.
None of this fundamentally changes the work. What has changed is how we explain its value in the AI era.
Five Ways Partnership Teams Can Strengthen Ground Truth
1. Build a Presence Beyond Google
We have talked about the importance of Google Business Profiles for years, but those same businesses who are set up on Google are often missing from platforms such as Tripadvisor and Apple Maps. If a business is missing or inconsistent across major platforms, AI has less reliable information to work with and travelers have fewer opportunities to discover and validate it.
Working with 15 DMOs in West Virginia, our team found that 53% of the locations on their lists were not on Tripadvisor. Together, we added more than 235 locations across the state. In Putnam County, the share of local tourism businesses represented on Tripadvisor grew from 42% to 61%. Made By Community Pottery Studio was not listed at all; after being added, it rose to No. 1 in its Classes & Workshops category. That is one business that is far more discoverable and one more visible piece of evidence of the area’s thriving community arts scene.
2. Make a DMO Listing More Than Proof of Existence
Most DMO listings are an afterthought: a generic blurb that proves a business exists without giving travelers a compelling reason to care. But DMO websites carry real authority, and AI systems use that content when forming answers.
When you invest in rich, authentic descriptions full of local knowledge and detail, you create authoritative content that can help the business show up in AI answers and bring travelers back to your site. That turns a basic website listing into a much more powerful partner benefit.
In Maine, we wrote or rewrote more than 700 local business descriptions. A Google AI Overview about the Bangor Police Department Museum later pulled directly from the Visit Maine description, right down to details about the Duck of Justice and the Tramp Chair. Those memorable local details created visibility for both the attraction and the DMO website.
3. Help Businesses Activate Trust Signals
Customer reviews work double duty. LLMs summarize them and factor them into recommendations, while travelers use them as social proof before acting on any recommendation, whether it comes from AI or a best friend. Review quantity, quality and recency can affect a business’s bottom line and its chances of being recommended at all.
Reputation management ultimately belongs to the business owner, but DMO teams can keep reviews and responses top of mind by providing training and practical tools. Visit Philadelphia did exactly that, running workshops in several neighborhoods and supporting them with branded “tap to review” stands for checkout counters. One Germantown business earned more than 70 new reviews through its stand. Those reviews strengthen Germantown’s digital Ground Truth with fresh evidence from real visitors describing real experiences.
4. Strengthen the Visual Proof
We all know a great photo can make someone choose—the dinner, the room or the tour. Yet many local business owners still rely on mediocre user-generated or self-produced images that sell the experience short. Programs that help businesses acquire quality photo and video assets are a tangible way to strengthen their digital presence.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, businesses in the Preferred Partner program receive a professional photo shoot, which also supports a local photographer. The images are added to Google Business Profiles and destination website listings, and the business owners receive the files for their own marketing. The value continues after an AI recommendation, when the traveler is validating the experience and deciding whether to buy.
5. Turn Local Knowledge Into Authoritative Stories
Elevating local businesses through a DMO’s trusted channels has always been at the heart of industry support. Now there is an additional value proposition. In our AI visibility work, we consistently see DMO websites, videos and social channels among the most frequently cited sources about a market. Featuring a business on those channels expands its digital footprint and gives AI more credible context to draw from, which is a visibility benefit that goes beyond traditional impressions.
The same is true for earned media. LLMs look for details and original perspectives that are not repeated in every other story. Partnership teams can connect content, social and PR colleagues to the authentic, on-the-ground stories within the destination. Once published, that coverage becomes another potential AI citation supporting both the local business and the destination brand.
Think about what that adds to the partnership pitch. It is no longer simply, “You get a listing on our website.” It is, “We help strengthen your presence across the places travelers use to discover, investigate and choose.”
Time and technology will keep changing the questions. But they have not changed the work nearly as much as we think. We are still helping local businesses show up accurately, tell richer stories, earn trust and connect with travelers as they plan. What has changed is why that work matters.
As you build your AI strategy, make sure the people who know your industry best are at the table. They are the people helping make the Ground Truth behind your destination brand visible.
