Why private jet buyers can't find you in ChatGPT

Most of your flying comes through brokers sourcing on Avinode. They add their margin, keep the client, and your name never reaches the passenger. The way out is direct bookings, and in 2026 those start in search, increasingly in AI. In this episode, Jacob from Epic Edits explains why AI skips most charter websites, and the three moves that get you named when a buyer asks ChatGPT who to fly with: make your site readable, get talked about, and sort your reviews.

Try it yourself: ask ChatGPT "best private jet charter in [your city]" and see if your name comes up. Find out if AI can see your company at epicedits.co.uk.

Transcript

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Right now, somewhere, a broker is sat on Avenode pricing up a trip. They're going to book one of your jets. They will add their margin around maybe 10% and quote it to their client. You will do the flying, the fuel, the crew, the risk is all yours. And the passenger likely will never know your name. The broker owns that client. You were just a tail number. And today I want to show you the one thing that starts to break that. So I'm Jacob, I run Epic Edits, and I get private jet operators found so buyers come to you direct instead of through a broker taking a cut. Stick with me on this one, it will be a quick one. So let's be honest about how it works today. Most of your flying likely comes through brokers, and most of those brokers likely found you on a marketplace like Avernode, unless there was a previous relationship there. You are one of four and a half thousand aircraft on there, sorted by price and availability, and there's nothing wrong with that. Brokers feel your empty legs, and let's be honest, you need them. Brokers are essential, but if brokers are the only way work comes in, you are not a brand. You are a wholesale supplier. You compete on price, the broker keeps the margin, and the broker keeps that relationship for next time. The way out is direct booking. So the client comes to you and you keep the full margin and you own that client. So the next trip and the one after, the client comes back to you and not to a broker's inbox. Every operator I speak to wants more direct work, they want less reliance on brokers, less reliance on marketplaces like Avenodes. And the only real question is how a buyer find you in the first place. So the 2026 shifts, and here is what has changed, and it has changed fast, and it continues to evolve every single day. The buyers who want to go direct they start by searching, and more and more they do not even open Google, they ask an AI tool. Who is the best private jet company in London? Who can fly me to Nice on Friday? You know, bottom of the funnel questions. And ChatGBT gives them two or three, maybe four names, and that is the short list. They won't list like Google does, they won't list a load of blue links showing all the different people for that search. So why are you invisible in that list? And why does the AI skip you? So there's many reasons, but two of the reasons can be that first, it just cannot read your website. And most charter sites are built to look expensive, luxurious. You know, there's a big silent video in the hero section, a logo, a phone number, and almost no actual words. AI reads text, it cannot watch your video. If your site does not say in plain words what you do and where you fly, the AI has nothing to work with. Don't get me wrong, these websites look amazing and they're great things for potential clients to land on and get that kind of credibility, but in a real sense, they don't really do anything for you on Google, AI platforms, or just really anything online. And there's three fixes for this. One is to make your site readable, so say it plainly what you do. For example, you're a private jet charter from London serving Europe and the US, empty legs, group charter, cargo. Then answer the real questions buyers type. So, how much to charter a jet Tonice? How fast can you get a jet in the air? And answer these clearly, and you become the source that AI quotes. Two, get talked about. So get your name on the best charter company lists, get into the aviation press, get listed in the right directories. And every time a trusted site says your name, and the key is trusted and relevant, the AI trusts you a little more. Uh, think of it as like a building a reputation the machine can see. Obviously, getting mentioned on, for example, a home renovation site, even though it's got authority, it's just not going to do anything for you because it's just not relevant. Um, so sometimes there's a caveat over authoritativeness and relativity. Um, but these are all things that you'll kind of learn as your campaigns kind of progress. Three, you want to get reviews, so real ones where buyers leave them. Chat GPT pulls reviews into more than half its answers, and if you have none, you have handed that ground to the operator who has. And obviously, this is a bit harder in aviation sometimes due to um privacy, etc. But whatever you can get is gonna be a massive help. So here is your homework. Open Chat GPT in an incognito window, do not log in, and just type in a a search phrase, a buying intent search phrase. So for example, who is the best private jet charter in your city? And make sure it can search the web for this. And if your name is not in that answer, that is a direct business walking to a broker or to a rival every single day. Finding out whether AR can even see you, this is the first thing we check at Epic Edits. And there's a link below. That's it for today. I hope this made sense. Um, and I'll see you next time.