Pick a holiday destination for three friends from their questionnaires with ChatGPT and Gemini Deep Research

Posted

Jun 19, 2025 by Josephine Watson (TechRadar)

·

Last checked

Oct 17, 2026

·

Method:

How we verify

Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.

Context: In a comparison test: from a head-to-head chatbot review, not a standalone agent test.

Outcome

For an AI-planned trip with two colleagues, TechRadar's Josephine Watson sent the same Deep Research prompt and three completed preference questionnaires to ChatGPT and Gemini: four days, one base, about $2,000 each, scenic and filming-friendly. Gemini returned five well-known picks such as Lagos and Mallorca in under five minutes. ChatGPT asked follow-up questions first, then ran 110 searches across 34 sources in 16 minutes and suggested Santorini, Madeira, the Bay of Kotor, Cappadocia and Essaouira. ChatGPT came out on top in their head-to-head.

Agent

ChatGPT, Gemini

Exact prompt as published in the source.

I'm going on a vacation with two friends on the last week of May, and we're trying to decide on a location - we want you to help. I've attached three completed questionnaires with each of our answers - please can you suggest five destinations that will meet a balanced mix of our needs, while considering the context below: - We will be filming videos on this trip, so it needs to be a country without majorly disruptive filming restrictions. It also needs to be scenic with plenty of great filming locations. - We have a mid-range budget of roughly $2,000 per person, but we can be flexible by $500-1000 for the best possible trip. - We will be travelling for four days, so please consider how much travelling there might be once we arrive as we don't want to spend the whole time on the road. - We want to stay in just one location for the entire trip.

Please explain your thinking in your response, using the following structure so we can select our favorite:

Destination:
Topline information:
Rough cost estimate:
Pros:
Cons:

Thanks!

Let's work this out together. I'll tell you what I know, you suggest options and ask what you need, and we'll narrow it down step by step. Nothing gets booked, bought or sent until I say so.

Goal: Help our group choose one holiday destination that balances everyone's wishes, budget and travel time.

What I'll share as we go:
- Each person's likes, dislikes and must-haves (a short questionnaire each)
- Dates and trip length
- Budget per person and how flexible it is
- Any practical limits (one base, visas, filming, mobility)

Rules:
- Ask follow-up questions before researching if anything important is unclear.
- Suggest five destinations, each with topline information, a rough cost per person, pros and cons.
- Say which person's wishes each destination serves best, and where it falls short.
- Name your sources for costs and rules, and flag anything that could have changed.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Check the visa and entry rules for our nationalities before recommending.

Output: Five destination cards in the same format, then a one-line recommendation and why.

You'll know it worked when: each of us can see our own wishes reflected and we can shortlist two in one conversation.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/i-actually-followed-chatgpts-travel-advice-for-my-vacation-and-now-i-cant-hate-it-anymore