# Text-reading vs visual AI agents: how each books a hotel

> Some AI agents read a page's structure as text, others look at screenshots and click. They fail in different places on hotel booking sites.

_UK and US · Updated 2026-10-27 · Akkrev, https://akkrev.com/blog/text-reading-vs-visual-ai-agents-hotel-booking/_

"An AI agent visited my website" can mean two quite different things. Some agents read the page as structured text. Others look at the screen and click, like a person. Many do both. Each type finds different parts of a hotel booking journey hard.

## Text-reading agents

A text-reading agent loads the page and reads its structure: headings, links, buttons, form fields, prices. It often uses the [accessibility tree](https://akkrev.com/glossary/accessibility-tree/), the same view a screen reader uses.

**Strengths:** fast, cheap and precise. It can read every price on a room list in one go and spot the cancellation terms under each rate.

**Weak points:**
- Buttons that only work through scripts, with no visible destination.
- Calendars where days aren't labelled with full dates.
- Prices drawn as images, or inside widgets it can't read.
- Content that loads only after scrolling or clicking.

Our [pilot of 28 UK hotels](https://akkrev.com/blog/what-we-learned-testing-28-uk-hotel-booking-engines/) used a text-reading scripted browser. Its main problems were hidden booking links and date pickers.

## Visual agents

A visual agent, sometimes called [computer use](https://akkrev.com/glossary/computer-use/), takes screenshots and decides where to click or type. Anthropic, OpenAI and Google all offer versions of this.

**Strengths:** it sees what a person sees, so it can cope with pop-ups, odd layouts and calendars a text agent can't read.

**Weak points:**
- Slow. Each step needs a screenshot and a decision. A long booking journey takes minutes.
- Can misread small text, similar-looking buttons or prices next to each other.
- Can be confused by animations, carousels and overlays that move.
- More expensive to run, so products may limit how long it tries.

## Most products mix the two

In practice, consumer agents often read text first and switch to visual steps when they hit something they can't handle. That means a hotel page that's readable as text gets the fast path, and a page that isn't gets the slow, error-prone path, or no path if the agent gives up.

## What this means for a hotel

You can't choose which agent a guest uses. What you can know is whether your booking journey works for both:

- Booking links with real web addresses.
- Prices, room names and policies as text.
- Dates that can be set without a fragile calendar.
- No overlays that block the page.

These also tend to help people using screen readers, so the work is rarely wasted.

## What this means for AI recommendations

Text-reading assistants are also how most AI recommendations are made. What your site says in plain text, not just shows in images, decides what AI can repeat about you.

## How to check

Try two agents on the same task: a chat assistant that browses, and a browser with an agent built in, such as [Gemini in Chrome](https://akkrev.com/blog/can-gemini-in-chrome-book-a-hotel/). Ask each to find a price for a specific date on your own site. Compare where each one slows down. Our [free agent check](https://akkrev.com/ai-agent-booking/#free-agent-check) can do this for you.

## Questions

### Which type of agent do consumers use?

Many products combine both. They read text where they can, because it's faster and cheaper, and fall back to screenshots when a page needs clicking. The exact mix varies by product and changes often.

### Which type did Akkrev's pilot use?

A scripted browser that reads pages as text. Visual agents might do better on calendars and worse on speed. We plan to test consumer agents next.

### Should a hotel design for one type?

No. A page that is readable as text and works with ordinary clicks suits both.

### Are visual agents better at booking?

They can handle pages that text agents can't, but they're slower and can misread screens. Neither type is better everywhere.

### Do agents identify themselves?

Some do through their user agent string or newer signing standards. Many browser-based agents look much like ordinary visitors.

## Sources

- [Anthropic: Computer use tool documentation](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/agents-and-tools/tool-use/computer-use-tool)
- [Akkrev: Agent Booking Index methodology](https://akkrev.com/agent-booking-index/methodology/)

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