YouGov recently published Searching for answers: How AI is changing online discovery in 2026, surveying over 2,000 people in Great Britain about how they look for information online - from search engines and maps to social media, video and AI assistants. It's a substantial piece of research, and there are some great take aways for destinations. So we've read it in full and pulled out the threads that matter most for DMOs, LVEPs, BIDs and leisure and retail destinations, so you don't have to.

What follows are the key findings we think every destination should know about, and what they mean in practice for your website, your visibility, and where you need to be showing up.

Nearly nine in ten online searchers in Great Britain (85%) used a search engine in the past 30 days, and it remains the default starting point for the tasks that matter most to destinations - 67% start there when asking a specific question, and 47% start there when finding a local place. It's still the foundation everything else builds on. Get your destination visible, well-structured, and answering the right questions in traditional search, and you've got a solid base to build the rest of your search presence on.

Search behaviour splits sharply by generation, and the gaps are wide. Gen Z leans hardest on social media (49%) and online forums (37%) to find information. Millennials are the heaviest users of AI assistants (42%). Baby Boomers+ stick closest to search engines and maps, with only 15% using AI assistants at all.

That's not just a channel decision - it's a content decision. A one-size-fits-all content plan won't work for any of them. The video content that pulls in a Gen Z audience browsing a Northumberland coastal itinerary on TikTok isn't the same content that gets a Baby Boomer to trust your Cotswolds accommodation page. Segment your audiences, and build content for how each one actually looks for information, not just where you'd like them to look.

Maps/navigation apps are used by 39% of online searchers in the past 30 days - well ahead of AI assistants (31%). More tellingly, when people are looking for a local place specifically, 36% start with maps. For a market town high street BID or a countryside DMO, that's not a footnote. If the directory or listings pages on your website are thin, out of date, or not structured for local search, you're making it harder for people to find your businesses and attractions on maps before they ever reach your site.

Social media (33%) and video platforms (32%) are both well-used discovery channels, particularly for entertainment ideas and inspiration. But they're not built for planning. Nobody's booking a Peak District weekend from a 15-second reel - they're getting the idea, then going elsewhere to work out where to stay, what's open, and how to get there. That "elsewhere" needs to be your website, with the practical detail social and video were never designed to hold.

Search isn't a single decision anymore, it's a sequence. Someone might see a destination on video, check it on a map, verify opening times on Google, and ask an AI assistant a follow-up question, all before visiting your site. If you're only optimised for one link in that chain, you're relying on visitors to do the joining-up themselves. Increasingly, they won't.

Three in five Britons (60%) usually search on a smartphone, rising to 71% among Gen Z. But a quarter (26%) still default to laptop or desktop, rising to a third among Baby Boomers+. Mobile-first is the right instinct. Mobile-only is a mistake - particularly if your audience skews older or your booking journey is more involved than a single tap.

Just over half of online searchers (58%) now start at least some queries with an AI assistant, and among that group, 71% say they're using it more than a year ago. But Great Britain sits near the bottom of the international pack for AI search adoption - 54%, against 89% in India and Indonesia, and 48% in the US. AI search here is still finding its feet.

Trust is the bigger story. Only 31% of all online searchers trust information from an AI assistant, compared with 77% for search engines - one of the widest trust gaps around. That trust nearly doubles to 49% among people who already use AI regularly, but it hasn't spread to the wider public yet.

Look at what AI assistants are actually used for, and the opportunity for destination websites becomes clear: 54% use them for direct answers, 34% for summarising, 28% for verifying information found elsewhere. AI is a quick-answer and fact-checking tool. It is not, for most people, a planning tool - and when people do click through from an AI answer, 22% follow the links it gives them straight back to a website. Your site's job is to be the credible, well-structured source that both people and AI tools are checking against.

• Search engines remain the essential foundation - 85% of searchers used one in the past month, ahead of every other channel tested
• Different generations use fundamentally different channels and expect different content - plan by audience, not as one undifferentiated visitor
• Maps and navigation apps are a top-tier channel (39%) and the leading tool for finding a local place (36%) - don't treat your map listings as an afterthought
• Social and video build inspiration; your website is still where planning and booking decisions get made
• People check multiple channels before visiting - being visible in only one leaves gaps for visitors to fall through
• Mobile is the default (60%), but desktop and tablet still matter, especially for older audiences
• AI assistants are growing fastest among people who already use them, but trust remains low (31% overall) compared with search engines (77%) - your website is the credibility layer AI tools and people both rely on

• Audit the directory or listings pages on your own website for accuracy and structure - and where you work with member businesses, encourage them to keep their own Google Business Profiles and map listings up to date too
• Map your content by audience - identify what a Gen Z visitor needs versus what a Baby Boomer visitor needs, and check you're producing both
• Check that the details on business listings and key pages key information like opening times, directions, accessibility, events info are structured clearly enough for AI tools to summarise accurately, since that's where most AI search use is concentrated
• Review your social and video content honestly - is it driving people to your website for the practical next step, or leaving them without one?

Do we need an AI search strategy right now? Yes. AI search use in Great Britain and the United States trails many other markets and trust is still low, but usage is growing fastest among people already using it - so the direction of travel is clear even if the timeline isn't.

Should we deprioritise our website in favour of social and video? No. Social and video are excellent for inspiration and reach, but neither does the practical planning work a website does. Use them to drive people to your site, not to replace it.

How important are Google Maps listings really? More than most destinations treat them. Maps and navigation apps are used by 39% of searchers, and 36% start there specifically when looking for a local place - on par with, or ahead of, several other major channels.

Is mobile the only thing that matters now for our website? It's the priority, but not the whole picture. 60% of Britons search on mobile, but a meaningful minority - particularly older audiences - still use desktop or tablet, so your site needs to work well across all of them.