SAN DIEGO -- Travel Leaders Network (TLN) is turning to AI to help members optimize their online profiles and filter legitimate client leads coming through Agent Profiler.
Agent Profiler, a consumer-facing lead-generation tool hosted on TravelLeaders.com, features 23,000 travel advisor profiles and has been the gateway for delivering more than 2 million client leads to advisors.
As the number of fraudulent or illegitimate leads have been increasing in the travel industry, it was important to put protective measures in place, said chief information officer Cory Voss at the network's EDGE conference, hosted here May 3 to 6.
"The use of AI tools has made it easier to personalize fraud," he said, noting that members often report spam emails and texts to the network, but that these messages are becoming more sophisticated and harder to identify as spam.
To combat the problem, TLN recently introduced new safeguards for Agent Profiler, including using Google's reCAPTCHA security feature, blocking international IP addresses and limiting the number of submissions per day, per consumer.
So far this year, the protections have blocked more than 50,000 suspicious submissions from making it to the advisor.
TLN is also beta-testing a program to add an extra level of security that Voss is calling "a virtual background check," with more details to be released at a later date.
Optimizing travel advisor profiles
Although most inquiries to Agent Profiler come from traditional search methods, traveler behavior has evolved, leading the network to focus on helping advisors optimize their profiles for generative AI search engines.
"Consumers aren't just typing keywords like 'all-inclusive Curacao' anymore," Voss said. "They're asking full questions. Just describing the scenarios, and they're looking for advice and recommendations. Search still matters, but now people are entering the conversation in new ways using natural language, intent-based questions and AI-driven discovery."
Voss announced that the network will be adding a natural-language search functionality to TravelLeaders.com, then funneling that search prompt to an advisor profile that matches the area of expertise the client is looking for.
"AI-driven leads are our highest-converting leads and our highest-quality leads," Voss said. "These travelers aren't casually browsing, they're further along in their planning and they're actively looking for an expert to help in this new GEO (generative engine optimization) world where quality and structure of content matters more than ever."
Voss also recommended that advisors build out their profiles with a new TLN tool, Agent Profiler AI Bio Helper, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks to help advisors write copy for their profiles.
"You cannot win with thin, generic content in your profile," he said. " This tool is a starting point. It's there to spark ideas, it's there to help the structure and to get you past that blank page, but it's still up to you to make it your voice, your experience and your unique story."