The problem
Guests ask what's on during their stay: a farmers' market, an agricultural show, which attractions are open out of season. A welcome guide written in spring is out of date by August. If the owner spends an hour a week checking event pages for the week's arrival emails and answering 'what's on' messages, that's about 4.3 hours a month.
What the AI does
Perplexity answers with inline citations to the pages it used, on every plan, the free one included. Each week, the owner asks what's on within 20 miles during the coming week's stays, which attractions are open and any road closures, asking for organizers' and venues' own pages. The owner opens each link, checks the date and opening times on the organizer's site, and adds the checked list to the pre-arrival email in the booking system. This keeps a short, dated 'this week nearby' section separate from the main welcome guide.
A worked example
A 5-unit glamping site near Hay-on-Wye sends a pre-arrival email to about 10 bookings a week. The owner uses Perplexity's free plan every Monday to build the week's list of what's on.
Before
About 1 hour a week researching events and answering 'what's on' messages: about 4.3 hours a month
After
About 20 minutes a week, including checking each organizer's page: about 1.4 hours a month
What it's worth
About $96£72€86A$138C$135 a month in owner time saved, on Perplexity's free plan. 40 minutes saved a week is 172 minutes a month (40 × 4.3), about 2.9 hours at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour.
How to set it up
- Create a free Perplexity account; cited answers are on every plan.
- Each Monday, ask what's on within 20 miles for the coming week's dates, which attractions are open and any road closures, asking for organizers' and venues' own pages.
- Open each link and check the date, times and price on the organizer's own site; drop anything you can't confirm.
- Add the checked list, with links, to the pre-arrival email in your booking system.
- Keep the main welcome guide for things that don't change and the weekly list for things that do.
What goes wrong
- Events get canceled or moved, and an answer can cite last year's page. Check the date on the organizer's page.
- Small village events are sometimes only posted in local social media groups that Perplexity may not find. Keep an eye on those yourself.
- A recommendation reflects on the site. Only include places you'd be happy for guests to visit.
- The free plan limits Deep Research, but a weekly question with cited answers doesn't need it.