GuideGeek is a new personal AI travel assistant recently launched by Matador Network, a leading travel publisher. In its first-week debut, GuideGeek has already helped thousands of travelers plan and book trips in more than 15 languages.
Built on ChatGPT technology from OpenAI, GuideGeek is a free service that provides travel recommendations customized to the user’s specific needs and interests. “Build a five-day itinerary through Vietnam that would make Anthony Bourdain proud,” one person requested in a scroll of recent user queries.
“When it comes to technology and innovation, the trillion-dollar travel industry has been stuck in the dark ages for decades,” says Matador Network CEO Ross Borden. “AI will usher in a new golden age of travel by radically changing how hundreds of millions of travelers plan, research and book travel.”
With travel levels set to reach all-time highs in 2023, GuideGeek provides all that vacationers are searching for: hotels, Airbnbs, restaurants, safety information, train schedules and even must-know local customs. GuideGeek can instantly answer niche requests, such as, “Where can I find the best ramen in Tokyo?” and build entire itineraries based on a simple prompt, for example, “4-day budget itinerary for NYC with two teenagers.”
“My wife and I decided to let GuideGeek plan an evening of exploring different speakeasies in Mexico City,” says Michael Motamedi, who shared his experience in a video with his quarter of a million TikTok followers. “It was the most fun we’ve had in a long time. GuideGeek didn’t just tell us where to go — it recommended what we should order, and it didn’t miss.”
GuideGeek pulls in additional travel integrations beyond ChatGPT’s baseline, including live flight data from 1,000 OTAs and airline websites, as well as the best vacation rentals in major cities around the world. The Matador team also adds the human touch by monitoring chats to train the AI and curating content from Matador’s site and social channels, where it is a leader in vertical travel video.
“I’ve been using GuideGeek on WhatsApp the last few days and I have to say I’m fully invested,” says Stephanie Cheap, a singer and travel influencer from Scotland with over 225,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. “It even taught me something about my own hometown! It’s an insane piece of tech!”
Currently, travelers can message GuideGeek for free anywhere in the world on WhatsApp. Instagram and other messenger integrations are slated to launch in the coming days.
“For many people, finding time to plan trips is the biggest barrier to traveling more often,” says Borden. “It’s been amazing to see how fast people move down the travel-planning funnel when they get instant answers to any question they have. It’s a zero-friction environment.” (PRNewswire)