Tripadvisor defends AI hotel summaries against claim they can mislead

Tripadvisor has defended the use of AI summaries of hotels in the face of a Which? probe claiming they appear to be misleading.

 

The consumer champion found guest reviews questioning hygiene standards at a Riu property in Cape Verde while Tripadvisor AI-generated content described the hotel as “spotless”.

 

Another of Tripadvisor’s AI tools, an interactive trip planning bot called Ollie, also failed to warn holidaymakers about poor hygiene. 

 

When asked directly about the risk of contracting food poisoning at the Riu Palace, Ollie said food poisoning was “quite unlikely”, and that the resort had a “strong reputation for high hygiene standards”. 

 

When Which? asked Tripadvisor about its AI summaries, it said it prioritises “transparency and impartiality” and its summaries “surface a range of both positive and negative community feedback associated with listings”. 

 

Tripadvisor also said that AI chat assistant tool Ollie “draws from a selection of reviews based on detail and recency, and matches by language and context”, but it added that it is a “product in development”, and that it is now actively looking into several examples the consumer body provided where reviews did not match. 

 

Tripadvisor said its summaries “use large language models and natural language processing to read recent reviews, identify the most common themes and then turn those themes into short, plain-English overviews”, and that its goal was to “make content from Tripadvisor’s reviews and opinions as easy as possible to digest, but also to capture and highlight the broad spectrum of positive and negative opinion without favouring one sentiment or the other”.

 

It told Which? that summaries are updated on a monthly basis “and are rooted in the previous 12 months of reviews at the time of each update”, and that reviews are treated equally regardless of rating, highlighting what reviewers mention most often. 

 

For comparison, Which? looked at rival platform’s approach to AI summaries for hotels.

 

Google’s overview for the Riu Palace warned of “potential for illness” and flagged “outbreaks of illness” and “concerns over birds in the buffet areas”.

 

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: "Tripadvisor may insist users can still fact-check its summaries against real reviews, but this ignores the fact that it made the decision to push these summaries to the very top of the page. This failure to surface critical safety information is unacceptable and potentially life-threatening.

 

“The platform has a responsibility to revisit the accuracy of its AI summaries and AI chatbot.

 

“In the meantime, users should scroll past these summaries and look at guest reviews, particularly one-star ratings, and at reviews on other sites, to make sure their next stay is a safe one.”

 

A Tripadvisor spokesperson told Which?: “We fundamentally disagree with the premise of this investigation. Our AI summaries have been designed to uphold the integrity and transparency that has made Tripadvisor trusted by millions of travellers for over 25 years.

 

“They provide snapshots based on high volumes of user generated content and explicitly are not intended to replace individual reviews. Users can easily click to see the traveller quotes behind each review element or access all reviews for that listing, eliminating any need to blindly trust AI-generated content.

 

“We also have comprehensive safeguards in place to ensure important safety information is properly reflected across our platform. Our AI systems are designed to capture all types of traveller feedback and we continuously monitor and refine our models.

 

“Our systems automatically suppress AI summaries for listings that feature warnings from travellers about serious safety incidents such as death, drugging or sexual assault, helping ensure this content is highly visible to our community.

 

“Our AI-powered chat assistant draws from a selection of reviews based on detail and recency, and matches by language and context. We are actively looking into the examples where reviews did not match the intended property, and, as with all products in development, we will use the feedback to improve the traveller experience.

 

“No review content has been suppressed or hidden by the introduction of these tools, and the suggestion they pose danger to travelers is an unfounded claim that seems designed to generate controversy rather than inform readers. We believe our community understands that AI technology is still developing and has the common sense to check any AI advice against Tripadvisor’s billion-plus reviews and contributions.” 

 

A spokesperson from Riu Hotels & Resorts told the consumer group: “The health and safety of our guests is always our main priority. RIU has been operating in Cape Verde for 20 years and currently manages six hotels, totaling 4,650 rooms and employing 3,307 staff members. We maintain an average occupancy rate of over 90% year-round, and in 2025 alone, we welcomed over 400,000 guests.

 

“Let us assure that we operate with the highest standards of professionalism and service, placing hygienic-sanitary safety as our top priority. Our hotels in Cape Verde follow the strictest international health and hygiene standards, certified by external prestigious consultancy firms, specialised in health and safety.

 

“We reiterate that the health and well-being of our customers comes first. Our commitment is to always provide maximum safety and high-quality service to provide an enjoyable holiday experience for everyone.”