# What is an AI agent?

> An AI agent takes a goal, such as booking a hotel, and does the steps itself: searching, clicking, filling in forms and asking before it pays.

_UK and US · Updated 2026-10-27 · Akkrev, https://akkrev.com/glossary/ai-agent/_

An **AI agent** is an AI system that doesn't just answer questions but acts on them. Give it a goal like "book me a quiet double room in Bath for Friday under £180" and it plans the steps, opens websites, compares options, fills in forms and comes back to you before anything irreversible, such as paying.

Most consumer agents are built on a large language model plus tools: a web browser, sometimes a payment method, and memory of your preferences. Examples include [ChatGPT agent](https://akkrev.com/glossary/chatgpt-agent/), Gemini in Chrome, Claude, Perplexity Comet, and personal agents such as Meta's Muse and Instinct.

## How an agent differs from a chatbot

A chatbot answers. An agent does. When a guest asks a chatbot for a hotel, it gives a list. When a guest asks an agent, it tries to make the booking, which means it has to get through a real website.

## Why hotels should care

An agent books where it can. If a hotel's own [booking engine](https://akkrev.com/glossary/booking-engine/) blocks it or confuses it, the agent picks another route, usually an [online travel agency](https://akkrev.com/glossary/online-travel-agency/), or another hotel entirely. Being bookable by agents is becoming as important as being findable on Google.

## Related terms

[Agentic browser](https://akkrev.com/glossary/agentic-browser/), [agentic commerce](https://akkrev.com/glossary/agentic-commerce/), [Model Context Protocol](https://akkrev.com/glossary/model-context-protocol/).

## Why it matters for AI visibility

Agents act on the shortlist an AI assistant builds. Being on that shortlist is the job of AI visibility work.

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