AI Travel Oddities
Strange, wrong or outdated things AI assistants say when travelers ask where to go, eat and stay.
Each oddity below was observed in a real answer from GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet 5, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Perplexity Sonar to one of the travel questions TakeScout asks every month. Answers come from each provider's API model, not their consumer apps. Every oddity was then checked by a human against a source before being published here.
- Gemini declares Ottawa's famous jail hostel closed. It isn't
Gemini: closed permanently 2023; Claude: HI Ottawa Jail Hostel; GPT: Ottawa Jail Hostel (no brand); Perplexity: Saintlo (correct)
- Claude gives Brandon zero restaurant visibility
Names no restaurants
- Claude misnames and misplaces Halifax's signature rink
Halifax Oval in Garrison Grounds
- AI still books you a table at a restaurant that no longer exists
All four AI assistants still recommend Chez Muffy at the Auberge Saint-Antoine. In the October 2 check it appeared in 25 restaurant and food-experience answers; Perplexity picked it first for a romantic dinner and GPT-4o ranked it #2 among the best restaurants for couples.
- Two AIs still send families to a zoo that closed in 2012
Recommended as a family attraction in 7 answers across 4 questions.
- Ask Claude where to eat in Thompson and you get no names
Claude names zero restaurants in 4 Thompson food answers.
- AI still calls it Dover Downs, five years after the rebrand
Recommended under its old name for rainy days and family stays.
- The Green Room keeps coming back in AI answers
Presented as Hotel du Pont's current fine-dining restaurant in luxury-hotel answers.
- Claude still thinks the Original Pantry never closes
Described as open 24/7.