AI in 2026 for Destinations: Facts, Noise, and the Middle Ground

Intentful Insights Team published this Intentful Insights article on March 9, 2026 at 1:27 PM. It is a 6 min read.

This summary distills a recent webinar led by Marina Petrova, CEO and Co-Founder of Intentful, on February 25, 2026. The original page includes the full video recording of the session.

How AI Understands Your Destination Brand

AI is surrounded by plenty of noise right now. For Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), the major change to pay attention to is how AI interprets a destination brand. This shift extends well past traditional search.

• AI reads code rather than visuals: AI systems are not interpreting your destination photography or campaign creative. They are parsing the HTML underneath the page.
• Modular websites can create blind spots: Many DMO sites rely on modular, widget-driven content blocks. These layouts can make pages look empty to AI systems when the surrounding context and hierarchy disappear.
• Structure must come before copy: Before rewriting site content, make sure the web development team is improving page structure for AI readability.
• Long-form formats perform well: Until current website constraints are solved, long-form content such as blogs is a practical priority. AI systems can process and extract information from this type of format more easily.
• Your brand exists across many sources: AI stochastically (randomly) gathers signals from thousands of outside references when forming an understanding of your brand. Accurate and consistent representation needs to extend beyond owned channels into partner sites, publishers, and earned media.

The Growth of Interactive Destinations

AI platforms are beginning to monetize large audiences, and that is changing the advertising environment quickly.

• A new advertising environment: ChatGPT has introduced ads. Today, those ads are impression-based, but targeting is tied to conversational context while user data is not shared with the advertiser.
• Beyond one-direction messaging: Conventional advertising talks at customers. AI is pushing marketers away from simply capturing impressions and toward real-time, two-way customer engagement.
• Intentful's Generative Response Ads: Intentful says it began the move from brands speaking at customers to brands speaking with them. Intentful has launched Generative Response Ads, also called interactive ads, with multiple DMOs. The format is still early, but Intentful presents it as a game changer for shortening the distance between engagement and action. Intentful has a global patent pending for this invention.

Making Sense of Agentic AI

Agentic AI is receiving heavy attention, but destinations need to separate what is real from what is hype.

• Assistants compared with Agents: An AI assistant, such as a standard website chatbot, answers direct prompts. An AI agent operates autonomously and carries out multi-step actions for you.
• The three pillars of agents: A useful agent depends on Knowledge, meaning access to context and data; Skills, such as formatting, rewriting, or coding; and a clearly defined Assignment.
• Begin with small tasks and protect security: Agentic AI is still in its earliest phase. A practical starting point is assigning agents simple two-to-three-step tasks that improve everyday workflows. Be careful about the internal data and permissions they can access.

Your 2026 Action Plan

• Make structure and readability a priority: AI does not interpret the visuals on your website; it reads the code behind them. Speak with your web development team or agency so your site structure is truly readable by AI systems.
• Get ready for interactivity: Start adapting digital strategy so it can support conversational, interactive engagement across every channel.
• Test carefully: AI agents should not be ignored, but adoption should be deliberate and grounded in privacy and data security.

About this article

Intentful Insights shares perspectives on AI, brand strategy, and the shift from speaking at customers to speaking with them.

This article discusses Intentful's Generative Response Ads (GRA): an ad unit format that lets consumers ask questions and receive real-time, brand-specific answers inside the ad space itself. GRAs sit within Intentful's wider interactive brand infrastructure, including Brand AI Agents, AI Assistants, and the As Seen by AI© discoverability program.

Intentful is commercially deployed since 2021, working with organizations in travel and tourism, performing arts, CPG, telecommunications, and agencies globally. Contact: [email protected]