Airbnb claims that traffic from AI chatbots converts better than Google

Traffic from AI chatbots converts at a higher rate than traffic from Google, according to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. He shared this on the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call:

• “And what we’re seeing is that traffic from chatbots is converting at a higher rate than traffic from Google,” Chesky said on Feb. 12.

Yes, but. He did not share specific conversion rates, and the company did not measure the volume of chatbot traffic. But for Airbnb, early data suggests that guests who arrive via AI chatbots may be more likely to proceed through the booking process than those who come from a traditional Google search.

• Airbnb also did not specify which chatbots are driving the most traffic. Chesky referenced OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and others in broad terms about the availability of the model.

Why do we care. AI assistants are emerging as a top-level discovery layer. The quality of that traffic may exceed traditional search clicks and is consistent with past claims by Google and Microsoft that AI will drive qualified traffic at low volume.

AI search preferences. Chesky described chatbots as “very similar to search” and ranked them as top discovery engines.

• “I think these chatbot platforms are going to be very similar to search. It’s going to be a very high-quality discovery,” he said.

Rather than seeing them as differentiators, Airbnb sees them as discovery partners.

• “We think they’re going to enjoy Airbnb,” Chesky added.

Chesky described the long-term goal as building a “native AI experience” where the app “can just learn for you. It knows you.”:

• “So AI search is live on a very small percentage of traffic right now. We’re doing a lot of testing. The way we’re doing things with AI is iterating quickly, not a big launch. And over time, we’re going to try to make AI search more conversational, we’re going to cover it more than a tour, and, eventually, we’re going to be looking at sponsor lists because of that. But I want you to start looking.”

AI inside Airbnb. Airbnb isn’t just benefiting from external AI platforms. It embeds AI in its operations.

• Its in-house AI customer service agent now resolves about one-third of North American support tickets without a human, according to Chesky. The tool is currently only in English but is planned for a global release, in multiple languages, including voice support.
• Chesky said the goal is for AI to handle “well over 30%” of tickets within a year.
• Airbnb is also testing AI-powered conversational search in its app. The feature is live for a small percentage of users and iterates faster than it is introduced as a major product release.

Sponsored listings are currently on hold. Airbnb has long faced questions about launching sponsored listings. On the call, Chesky said traditional ad units may not translate directly to AI conversational spaces. The company prioritizes AI search before designing sponsored placements in that format.

Airbnb search shift. Airbnb started moving its budget to brand marketing just before the rise of AI and AI-powered search. Airbnb is betting on extensive marketing programs, reducing its marketing spend.