ARA Travel & Hospitality / Q3 2026 / Full Shelf Diagnostic
No travel brand owns the shelf: the leader holds 4.5% of 404 choices, and the brands we track hold 26.5% of them.
Why these three lead the shelf
1. Marriottchosen 18× / 4.5% / 4/4 models
Marriott reaches nine of the fifteen questions, the widest reach on the shelf, and all four models name it. At its best a model places it first, so the breadth costs it no standing.
2. Amanchosen 17× / 4.2% / 4/4 models
Aman holds 17 places from only seven questions, a denser return than Marriott gets from nine. All four models name it and at least one places it first, so depth in a narrow set carries it.
3. Four Seasonschosen 16× / 4.0% / 4/4 models
Four Seasons matches Aman on question reach and on model coverage, and it holds one place fewer. Two places separate it from the leader, so its position is close but not secure.
About the AI Shelf
The AI Shelf is the short list of names an AI assistant gives when someone asks what to buy. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity answer the questions a real buyer asks, and every brand they name lands on the shelf. Your customer sees it before they see yours, and nobody can pay for position on it.
Each time a model chooses a brand over every other brand it could have named, that counts once. 404 choices were made here. Slice size is share of all of them.
26.5%held by the 15 audited brands
153brands chosen in total
4.5%largest holding / Marriott
The takeaway
A shelf this flat gives a challenger room, because no brand holds enough places to defend a lead. Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Belmond each hold ten or more places, and we track none of them. Accor, CitizenM, Kimpton and Shangri-La never reach the top seven of any answer.
In the current ARA IndexNot currently in the ARA Index — shaded by rank, darkest = chosen least often
All 153 chosen — the annotated ranking
#
Name
Chosen
Share
Models
Best
Δ
1
Marriott
18
4.5%
4/4
#1
—
2
Aman
17
4.2%
4/4
#1
—
3
Four Seasons
16
4.0%
4/4
#1
—
4
Hilton
14
3.5%
4/4
#2
—
5
Singapore Airlines
13
3.2%
4/4
#1
—
6
Ritz-Carlton
12
3.0%
4/4
#1
—
7
Southwest Airlines
11
2.7%
4/4
#1
—
8
Belmond
10
2.5%
4/4
#1
—
9
Delta Air Lines
10
2.5%
4/4
#1
—
10
Hyatt
10
2.5%
4/4
#3
—
11
Intrepid Travel
10
2.5%
4/4
#1
—
12
G Adventures
9
2.2%
4/4
#1
—
13
Rosewood
9
2.2%
4/4
#3
—
14
Six Senses
9
2.2%
4/4
#2
—
15
Airbnb
7
1.7%
4/4
#1
—
16
Booking.com
7
1.7%
4/4
#1
—
17
Qatar Airways
7
1.7%
4/4
#1
—
18
Mandarin Oriental
6
1.5%
3/4
#2
—
19
Soneva
6
1.5%
3/4
#3
—
20
Black Tomato
5
1.2%
3/4
#1
—
21
Emirates
5
1.2%
4/4
#1
—
22
Beaches Resorts
4
1.0%
4/4
#1
—
23
JetBlue
4
1.0%
4/4
#3
—
24
Lindblad Expeditions
4
1.0%
2/4
#2
—
25
Much Better Adventures
4
1.0%
3/4
#3
—
26
Responsible Travel
4
1.0%
3/4
#2
—
27
Singita
4
1.0%
2/4
#3
—
28
Abercrombie & Kent
3
0.7%
2/4
#2
—
29
Adventures by Disney
3
0.7%
3/4
#6
—
30
Backroads
3
0.7%
3/4
#4
—
31
Capella Hotels & Resorts
3
0.7%
2/4
#1
—
32
Cheval Blanc
3
0.7%
1/4
#2
—
33
Club Med
3
0.7%
3/4
#2
—
34
Disney
3
0.7%
2/4
#1
—
35
One&Only
3
0.7%
2/4
#5
—
36
Royal Caribbean
3
0.7%
3/4
#4
—
37
United Airlines
3
0.7%
2/4
#2
—
38
Withlocals
3
0.7%
3/4
#3
—
39
AAA Travel
2
0.5%
2/4
#4
—
40
Airelles
2
0.5%
1/4
#4
—
41
American Airlines
2
0.5%
1/4
#2
—
42
ANA
2
0.5%
2/4
#2
—
43
Auberge Resorts Collection
2
0.5%
2/4
#2
—
44
Carnival Cruise Line
2
0.5%
2/4
#6
—
45
Disney Cruise Line
2
0.5%
2/4
#3
—
46
Drury Hotels
2
0.5%
1/4
#3
—
47
EatWith
2
0.5%
2/4
#5
—
48
Expedia
2
0.5%
2/4
#2
—
49
Google Flights
2
0.5%
2/4
#1
—
50
Holiday Inn
2
0.5%
2/4
#2
—
51
IHG
2
0.5%
1/4
#4
—
52
Kayak
2
0.5%
2/4
#2
—
53
Maybourne
2
0.5%
1/4
#3
—
54
Oberoi Hotels & Resorts
2
0.5%
2/4
#3
—
55
Original Travel
2
0.5%
2/4
#3
—
56
Paravel
2
0.5%
2/4
#1
—
57
Regent
2
0.5%
1/4
#4
—
58
Rickshaw Travel
2
0.5%
2/4
#5
—
59
Skyscanner
2
0.5%
2/4
#3
—
60
St. Regis
2
0.5%
2/4
#5
—
61
The Peninsula Hotels
2
0.5%
2/4
#4
—
62
ToursByLocals
2
0.5%
2/4
#4
—
63
VRBO
2
0.5%
2/4
#3
—
64
&Beyond
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
65
1 Hotels
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
66
Ace Hotel
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
67
Alaska Airlines
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
68
Alaska/Hawaiian Atmos Rewards
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
69
Alila
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
70
Allianz Global Assistance
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
71
Amex Platinum
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
72
Anantara Hotels & Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
73
Andaz
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
74
AndBeyond
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
75
Artisans of Leisure
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
76
Atlantis Bahamas
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
77
Autograph Collection
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
78
Away
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
79
Bamba Experience Group
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
80
Bellroy
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
81
Best Western
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
82
Beyond Green
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
83
British Airways
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
84
Butterfield & Robinson
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
85
Byway Travel
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
86
Cathay Pacific
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
87
Chase Sapphire
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
88
Costco Travel
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
89
Design Hotels
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
90
Dreams Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
91
EF Go Ahead Tours
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
92
Excellence Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
93
Exodus Adventure Travels
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
94
Explora
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
95
Flash Pack
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
96
Global Entry
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
97
Great Wolf Lodge
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
98
Hard Rock Hotels / Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
99
Iberostar Hotels & Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
100
Japan Airlines
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
101
Kalahari Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
102
KLM
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
103
Korean Air
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
104
Local Alike
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
105
Modern Adventure
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
106
Monos
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
107
Mr & Mrs Smith
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
108
National Car Rental
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
109
National Geographic
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
110
Natural Habitat Adventures
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
111
Nomad Palm Springs
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
112
Oetker Collection
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
113
Oetker Hotels
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
114
Orient Express
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
115
Our Habitas
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
116
Pack Up + Go
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
117
Pan Am
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
118
Patagonia
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
119
Peak Design
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
120
Planeterra
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
121
REI Co-op
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
122
Rimowa
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
123
RIU Hotels & Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
124
Rome2Rio
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
125
Rough Guides
1
0.2%
1/4
#7
—
126
Samsonite
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
127
Sandals Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
128
Scandic Hotels
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
129
Scott Dunn
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
130
Secrets Resorts & Spas
1
0.2%
1/4
#3
—
131
Selina
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
132
Silversea Expeditions
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
133
Soho House
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
134
Taj Hotels
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
135
The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
136
The Oberoi
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
137
Traveling Spoon
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
138
TravelLocal
1
0.2%
1/4
#1
—
139
Tribute Portfolio
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
140
Trip.com
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
141
Tripadvisor
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
142
True Travel
1
0.2%
1/4
#2
—
143
TUI
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
144
Universal Orlando
1
0.2%
1/4
#6
—
145
Universal Orlando Loews Resorts
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
146
Vestige Collection
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
147
Virgin Atlantic
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
148
Virgin Australia
1
0.2%
1/4
#5
—
149
Wilderness
1
0.2%
1/4
#4
—
150
Accor
0
0.0%
0/4
—
—
151
CitizenM
0
0.0%
0/4
—
—
152
Kimpton
0
0.0%
0/4
—
—
153
Shangri-La
0
0.0%
0/4
—
—
ARA / ALGORITHM READINESS ANALYSIS / ARACO.AI — 4 models x 15 buyer questions, top 7 answers per cell. MEASURING AI TRUST IN BRANDS. Naming variants merged before counting: Aman / Carnival Cruise Line / Delta Air Lines / Disney / EatWith / JetBlue / Lindblad Expeditions / One&Only / Rosewood / Soneva / Southwest Airlines / United Airlines. Query counts for merged brands are upper bounds.