What AI is saying, and what to do about it

Field notes on AI discovery and destination measurement, written for the people who have to defend a budget. Published first on Signals, mirrored here.

Articles

Subscribe on Substack

Latest

Content & themes17 min read

The 2027 DMO Media Budget: What I'd Cut, Keep, and What AI changed

OpenAI’s dots and Meta’s Muse just made AI assistants mainstream. What that means for programmatic, paid search, PR, co-op, your agency contract and the ROI story you tell your board, with the numbers

October 8, 2026Read

Field notes23 min

The Citation You Can't Cash: 14 Studies on How Visitors Decide Now, and How DMOs Prove Its Part.

If AI is the new gatekeeper of travel discovery, your imagery loses value if the algorithm cannot read it. Here is the playbook for making your destination the trusted source AI points to.

September 17, 2026

Measurement16 min

Your Consideration Set Is Being Rebuilt in Real Time. DMOs Measure It Once a Year.

Reach was always purchasable. Specificity never has been. This may be the most level our playing field has been in twenty years.

July 30, 2026

AI discovery16 min

As If Tourism Didn’t Need More Acronyms

Ten new acronyms, one trustworthy answer key from Google, and the story of why I built Zertura.

July 15, 2026

Field notes9 min

What Happens When the World Comes to America and Discovers A Waffle House

On international visitors, a billion pints of beer, the best diplomatic relationship on earth right now, and of course, the latest AI stats and numbers.

June 18, 2026

Strategy11 min

The Search Bar Changed. The DMO Strategy Has Not.

For DMOs trying to make sense of the new Google search bar, the latest visitor data, and the AI experiment freaking me out.

May 28, 2026

Field notes20 min

DMOs and the New Visibility Economy

We optimized ourselves into a corner. (Whoops.) The data, the diagnosis, and what matters right now.

May 7, 2026

Field notes12 min

The Airport Is a Dumpster Fire and SXSW Was a Lot. A DMO Debrief.

Godspeed at the airports. AI took over a third of SX sessions. Gas prices are a mess. We need to talk.

March 26, 2026

Field notes19 min

Bye Bye Bye to the Website as Your Front Door

The AI disruption timeline DMOs are not ready for, and what to build before the window closes.

March 6, 2026

Field notes18 min

51% of Americans Cut Spending to Afford a Vacation. Your Destination Better Be Worth It.

The PTO Recession is real. Here's what the latest data says...and what to do about it.

February 19, 2026

Strategy14 min

The Invisible Elimination of DMOs

2026 travel planning belongs to feeds, algorithms, and AI.

January 20, 2026

Strategy12 min

2026 Travel Megatrends: What’s Actually Going to Matter

For DMO leaders who want to survive the AI wave, and their board.

January 8, 2026

Guides, webinars, and benchmarks

See all resources

Guide

The Zertura Algorithmic Audit Kit

A do-it-yourself reading of how AI assistants describe your destination. Twenty questions, three assistants, eight asks each, and the math in the open. Includes the Audit Workbook that does the arithmetic for you.

Open

See it work on your destination.

We run your destination through the AI assistants and walk your team through what it means for your content, media and board plans.

See it on my destination