Deployment record
In the tracker →- Organisation
- Choice Hotels
- System
- Charlie
- Stage
- Pilot
- Function
- property management
- 01Choice Hotels reported a tenfold increase in website visits from AI chatbots year over year, though this traffic still represents about 1% of overall visits.
- 02The company has made its website accessible to AI agents, allowing them to search, compare rates, and complete bookings, including secure payments.
- 03Choice's proprietary distribution channels account for approximately 60% of its franchisees' distribution, with a goal to reduce reliance on online travel agencies (OTAs).
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- 04The AI-enabled EasyBid platform has improved group booking request win rates by 210 basis points and contributed to a 27% year-over-year growth in group revenue.
- 05Choice Hotels' Q3 2026 adjusted EBITDA was approximately $193 million, with a 1% year-over-year increase, and revenue excluding reimbursables rose 3% to $285 million.
Choice Hotels
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During Choice Hotels’ Q3 2026 earnings call on November 2, 2026, CEO Dominic Dragisich said visits to choicehotels.com originating directly from large language models increased more than tenfold year over year.
Dragisich said the traffic is still a very small share of overall website visits, and in response to a question from Barclays analyst Brandt Montour, he put direct visits from these platforms at about 1% of volume.
Asked how large the share could become next year, he said it is too early to tell. "I am not gonna opine on whether or not that grows to 10% or 20% next year," he said.
Dragisich said the company's own research shows about half of travel research now begins with an AI tool, and that Choice is in the early stages of that shift.
Opening the Website to AI Agents
Choice has made choicehotels.com accessible to AI agents, which Dragisich said allows them to search, compare rates and complete bookings.
He said the entire booking process, including secure payment, can now be completed through Muse, the personal AI agent Meta launched in September.
The company is also investing in richer hotel content to improve how its properties appear on AI-powered search tools.
Dragisich described the goal as building shared infrastructure for shopping, booking and loyalty that connects directly to emerging platforms, without requiring guests to install anything.
Direct distribution is the main reason. Dragisich said Choice's proprietary channels account for about 60% of distribution to its franchisees, and that the company sees an opportunity to "wedge traffic away from those OTAs," referring to online travel agencies.
Choice Privileges, the company's loyalty program, grew 7% to 78 million members, and members' share of revenue rose more than 140 basis points year over year.
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AI Tools for Hotel Owners
Most of Choice's AI work described on the call is aimed at franchisees. Its AI-enabled EasyBid platform, which helps owners respond to group booking requests, is improving RFP win rates by 210 basis points and supporting 27% year-over-year growth in group revenue during the quarter.
An AI-enabled smart response tool, used to respond to guest reviews, has reduced reputation management fees by approximately 30%.
Choice is also expanding a pilot of Charlie, which Dragisich described as "our AI teammate" within the property management system, built to simplify routine tasks at hotels. He did not say how many hotels are in the pilot.
The company is rolling out RAIZ, its rate management tool, this quarter. Dragisich said it brings pricing, inventory and channel management into one place, and called it "the biggest game changer for us on the rate side of the house." He expects its benefits to show up more in the first half of 2027.
The Cost of the Build-Out
The spending is showing up in Choice's expense guidance. CFO Scott Oaksmith said the company now expects full-year adjusted SG&A, excluding Harvest Hosts, to increase 9% year over year, compared with its earlier expectation of mid-single-digit growth.
He attributed the change to increased spending on strategic initiatives and AI-enabled capabilities, along with higher accounts receivable reserves.
Oaksmith described the spending as primarily non-recurring, and said he expects adjusted SG&A growth to moderate to low-to-mid single digits in 2027.
AI is also affecting demand at Choice's hotels in a different way. Dragisich said about 30% of Choice's US hotels are located within 10 miles of a major data center, and those hotels delivered more than 400 basis points higher RevPAR growth than the rest of the system during the quarter.
Choice reported Q3 2026 adjusted EBITDA of about $193 million, up 1% year over year, and adjusted diluted EPS of $2.33, up about 11%.
Revenue excluding reimbursables rose 3% to $285 million. US RevPAR grew 3.8%, and global RevPAR rose 3.9% on a currency-neutral basis. International net rooms grew 7.3%.
The company raised the midpoint of its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $641 million to $651 million, and narrowed its adjusted EPS guidance to $6.92 to $7.07.
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