--- title: "The Most Recommended Airline in AI Search Is Also the Most Complained About: 2026 Aviation AI Visibility Index | Opttab" description: "We tested 6,918 prompts across 12 countries to find which airlines AI recommends most. Ryanair leads with 26.3% — but with only 44% positive sentiment, that visibility is a double-edged sword." source_url: "https://opttab.com/aviation-airlines-ai-visibility-index-2026" --- # The Most Recommended Airline in AI Search Is Also the Most Complained About: 2026 Aviation AI Visibility Index | Opttab > We tested 6,918 prompts across 12 countries to find which airlines AI recommends most. Ryanair leads with 26.3% — but with only 44% positive sentiment, that visibility is a double-edged sword. --- Travellers don’t search only on Google, they frequently ask qeustions to [ChatGPT](https://chat.openai.com/), [Gemini](https://gemini.google.com/app/), AI Mode and other LLMs when it comes to where to go, which airline to choose, where to find cheap flights and deals. This makes [AI visibility](https://opttab.com/ai-visibility) a crucial concept for the companies in Aviation and Airlines industry. It’s not only important to appear when people ask for flights but also important to impact the decision when target audience of airline company asks LLMs where to go. If ChatGPT suggests a destination where your brand does not have a flight to, then your competitors will make that user a customer. [In Aviation & Airlines industry AI visibility index](https://app.opttab.com/dashboard/user/industry-index-v2?industry=IND_AVI&execution=4&tab=overview), we analyzed ontology of the industry and bring visibility for each brand that operates in this industry. When people ask an AI assistant which airline to book, they’re not just looking for the cheapest flight. They’re asking for a recommendation they can trust. What the AI says next — which brand it names, how it frames it — has become one of the most important moments in the airline booking journey. We ran **6,918 prompts** across **12 countries** in local languages to find out exactly which airlines dominate that moment. The results reveal a visibility landscape full of contradictions. *Opttab 2026 Aviation AI Visibility Index Results* ### Ryanair: the most mentioned airline in AI — and the most at risk Ryanair appears in **26.3% of all AI aviation responses**, making it the single most visible airline brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode globally. That’s a commanding lead over EasyJet at 22.0% and Lufthansa at 18.3%. But here’s the problem: Ryanair’s sentiment score is just **44%** — the lowest positive sentiment of any brand in the top 10. In Opttab’s Brand Positioning Matrix, Ryanair sits in the **“At Risk”** quadrant: high visibility, negative sentiment. AI mentions Ryanair constantly, but not always in flattering terms. When someone asks “is Ryanair worth it?” or “what are the downsides of Ryanair?”, the AI has a lot to say. This is the paradox of awareness without affinity. Being the most mentioned airline in AI isn’t the same as being the most recommended. ### Qatar Airways and Emirates: the hidden opportunity While Ryanair dominates by volume, **Qatar Airways** (90% sentiment) and **Emirates** (87% sentiment) sit in the Leaders quadrant — high visibility, positive sentiment. They appear in roughly half the responses Ryanair does, but when they appear, it’s almost always favourably. If Qatar Airways or Emirates invested in AI visibility strategy, the gap between their current visibility and Ryanair’s could close fast — and every percentage point of that gain would come with overwhelmingly positive sentiment attached. ### The full leaderboard **\#****Brand****Visibility Score****Sentiment****Top Category**1Ryanair26.3%44% ⚠Low-cost Carriers2EasyJet22.0%61%Low-cost Carriers3Lufthansa18.3%69%Aviation & Airlines4Skyscanner16.2%78%Flight Booking Platforms5Wizz Air15.9%44% ⚠Low-cost Carriers6Google Flights14.0%81%Flight Booking Platforms7Qatar Airways12.9%90%Middle East Routes8Emirates12.3%87%Middle East Routes9British Airways11.6%72%Transatlantic Flights10Vueling10.6%66%Low-cost CarriersThe story of two airline types is clear: low-cost carriers dominate by volume but suffer on sentiment, while premium and full-service carriers (Qatar, Emirates, Lufthansa) hold the AI trust high ground even at lower visibility. Notably, **Skyscanner and Google Flights** both break into the top 10 — flight aggregators are capturing AI recommendation share that should arguably belong to airlines. When someone asks “how do I find cheap flights?”, AI is as likely to recommend a booking tool as an airline. ### What the intent funnel reveals The 6,918 prompts break down into a buying journey that skews heavily toward the middle and bottom of the funnel: - **Comparison**: 1,390 prompts — people using AI to shortlist airlines - **Recommendation**: 1,281 — active “which airline should I use?” queries - **Transaction**: 909 — close-to-booking questions - **Agentic**: 452 — early but real AI-driven booking intent forming The 769 **Reputation** prompts are worth noting for airlines specifically. That’s a large volume of people asking AI things like “is \[airline\] reliable?” or “what are people saying about \[airline\]?” — and Ryanair’s 44% sentiment score is the answer AI gives to those questions. ### The source that shapes airline AI responses Across 134,031 citations, **reddit.com accounts for 9,551** — the dominant source for aviation AI recommendations. This is particularly significant for airlines because Reddit’s r/travel, r/flying, and r/solotravel communities generate enormous volumes of candid, detailed airline reviews. An airline’s Reddit reputation directly shapes its AI reputation. **→ Find out how AI is representing your airline across 12 countries.** [**Get your free AI visibility report**](https://opttab.com/ai-visibility-report) *Methodology: 6,918 prompts run across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode in 12 countries, June 2026.* [Back to Blog Overview ](https://opttab.com/ecommerce-ai-visibility-index-2026/) [Next Post ](https://opttab.com/high-value-prompts-ai-search-monitoring/)