About Publicus
An SEO agency built for hotels, from the ground up.
We combine 12+ years of search expertise with deep hospitality knowledge to help independent and mid-segment hotels compete where it matters most: in Google results and AI recommendations.
Our story
Why we started Publicus
Hotels have always competed on experience. But discovery has shifted: guests now ask AI where to stay, and the answer depends on signals most hotels have never optimised for.
We saw an industry full of generic digital marketing agencies treating hotels like any other business. They applied the same playbook to a boutique hotel in Florence and a SaaS startup in San Francisco. Hotels deserve better.
Publicus was founded to bridge two gaps: the gap between traditional SEO and the new AI-driven discovery landscape, and the gap between generic agencies and the specific needs of hospitality.
We are AI/GEO native. That means we do not bolt AI optimisation onto a traditional SEO workflow as an afterthought. We built our process, our tools, and our reporting around the reality that guests discover hotels across Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews simultaneously.
The name Publicus comes from the Latin word for "of the people". In ancient Rome, a publicus was a public servant. We see our role the same way: we serve hotels by making them visible to the public, in every channel where that public now searches.
How we work
A process built around how guests actually search
Guests do not follow a linear funnel. They move between Google, AI assistants, OTAs, review sites and social media before booking. Our methodology reflects that reality.
1. Discovery audit
We map every touchpoint where your hotel appears or should appear: organic search, AI recommendations, local search, OTA listings, review platforms and knowledge graphs. We identify where you are visible, where you are invisible and where competitors have the advantage.
2. Strategy and architecture
Based on the audit, we build a strategy that targets the specific search behaviours of your ideal guest. This includes keyword targeting, content architecture, technical priorities and structured data planning. Every recommendation ties back to a measurable business outcome.
3. Implementation
We execute directly. Technical fixes, content creation, schema markup, entity authority building and AI platform optimisation. We work with your existing CMS, booking engine and tech stack rather than requiring you to change systems.
4. Measurement and iteration
Monthly reporting tracks the metrics that matter: organic sessions to booking pages, direct booking conversion, AI mention rate and revenue impact. We adjust strategy based on what the data shows, not what we assumed would work.
Who we serve
Built for independent and mid-segment hotels
Independent hotels
Boutique properties, family-run hotels and independent resorts that compete against OTA dominance and chain hotel marketing budgets. We help you build a direct booking channel that compounds over time.
Small hotel groups
Collections of 3-20 properties that need a unified digital strategy without the overhead of an in-house team. We build scalable frameworks that work across your portfolio while respecting each property’s unique identity.
Destination hotels
Properties where location is the primary draw: ski resorts, beach hotels, city-centre boutiques, countryside retreats. We target the destination queries that drive discovery and make your hotel the answer AI gives when guests ask where to stay.
What drives us
Our principles
Hospitality first
Every strategy, every recommendation, every metric we track is designed for the way hotels actually operate. Seasonal demand, OTA dynamics, multilingual guests, rate parity. We understand the business.
Transparency over promises
We report what is real. If a tactic is not working, we say so and adjust. Our AI Visibility Index uses measurable data, not vanity metrics. You always know where you stand.
Measure what matters
Rankings are a means, not an end. We track the signals that lead to direct bookings: visibility in AI recommendations, click-through from search, and conversion on your own site.
The team
Hospitality expertise meets search intelligence
A small, senior team. No account managers reading scripts. The people who build your strategy are the people who execute it.
Founder & SEO Director
12+ years in search. Specialises in technical SEO, AI visibility strategy and multilingual campaigns for hospitality brands.
Content & GEO Lead
Content strategist with a background in hospitality marketing. Leads entity authority building and AI citation optimisation.
Technical SEO Engineer
Handles site architecture, schema markup, Core Web Vitals and structured data implementation. Makes hotels machine-readable.
What sets us apart
Not another generic digital agency
Most SEO agencies serve every industry. They apply the same keyword research template, the same link building outreach, the same reporting dashboard to a hotel, a law firm and an e-commerce store. That approach misses the specific dynamics that make hotel search different.
We understand that hotel SEO is not just about rankings. It is about reducing OTA commission dependency, capturing guests during the dreaming and planning phases, competing in a space where Booking.com and Expedia spend billions, and now making sure AI systems recommend your property by name.
We built our own AI Visibility Index to track how hotels appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Bing Copilot. We do not rely on third-party tools that were not designed for hospitality. We query these systems with real guest questions about your destination and measure what comes back.
Our team has worked in hospitality. We have managed hotel websites, dealt with booking engine limitations, navigated rate parity rules and worked within the constraints of legacy property management systems. We speak your language because we have lived in your world.
See how your hotel shows up in AI search
Get a free AI Visibility Check. We show you where your hotel appears (and where it doesn't) across Google and AI answers. No obligation.