Booking confirmation emails that Gmail and assistants understand: LodgingReservation structured data

Updated 10 November 2026

When a guest books, the confirmation email can carry, alongside the text, a block of schema.org structured data of type LodgingReservation: hotel name, address, phone, check-in and check-out dates, booking number and guest name. Google documents this "Email Markup" for Gmail, and Microsoft has published that Outlook reads it too. This guide sums up what the official sources say as of 10 November 2026, what you need and, above all, what it does not guarantee. The markup does not make any AI recommend your hotel: it helps the booking the guest already has to be read correctly.

What email markup is

What Google's developer documentation says (updated 10 September 2026):

It is schema.org structured data inside the email. According to Google, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Search and the Google app use this data to surface key details and offer quick actions.
It covers flight, hotel, restaurant, train, bus, car rental and event reservations, as well as orders, parcel deliveries and invoices.
Formats: Gmail supports JSON-LD (a <script type="application/ld+json"> block inside the email body) and microdata (itemscope, itemtype and itemprop attributes in the HTML). Google gives examples of both.
schema.org (version 30.1, September 2026) defines LodgingReservation as a reservation for lodging at a hotel, motel, inn, etc., and says it is for actual reservations, not for describing the hotel.

Which fields Google requires for a hotel booking

According to Google's "hotel reservation" page (10 September 2026):

Required: reservationNumber, reservationStatus, underName with the guest's name, checkinDate and checkoutDate, and reservationFor (the property, type LodgingBusiness) with name, telephone and the full address: streetAddress, addressLocality, addressRegion, postalCode and addressCountry.
Recommended for confirmation cards and Search answers: modifyReservationUrl (page to change the booking) and modifiedTime.
Optional, among others: price and priceCurrency (three-letter ISO 4217 code), numAdults, numChildren, lodgingUnitDescription (the room), url (page to view the booking), checkinUrl, cancelReservationUrl and bookingAgent.
Watch the names: for Gmail, Google asks for checkinDate and checkoutDate; schema.org defines checkinTime and checkoutTime. If your system builds the email for Gmail, follow Google's documentation. Google warns that some of its schemas are still being standardised and may change.
Minimal outline, simplified from Google's example: <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "LodgingReservation", "reservationNumber": "…", "reservationStatus": "http://schema.org/Confirmed", "underName": {"@type": "Person", "name": "…"}, "reservationFor": {"@type": "LodgingBusiness", "name": "…", "telephone": "…", "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "…", "addressLocality": "…", "addressRegion": "…", "postalCode": "…", "addressCountry": "…"}}, "checkinDate": "2027-05-14T15:00:00+02:00", "checkoutDate": "2027-05-16T11:00:00+02:00"}</script>
The data in the block must match what the guest sees in the email: same hotel name, same address and same dates.

How to test before sending to guests

According to Google's "Test your schemas" page (10 September 2026):

You can send the email to yourself: if sender and recipient are the same Gmail account, registration is not needed.
Even so, the email must be authenticated with DKIM or SPF.
Google's Email Markup Tester validates the markup and shows the extracted data and any errors.
For Outlook, Microsoft asks you to validate with the Schema Markup Validator: if the block has errors or warnings, it is not processed.

Registering as a sender with Google

For it to work in the emails your guests receive ("Register with Google" page, 10 September 2026):

Registration is required before sending marked-up emails to users.
Steps: meet the guidelines; send a real email with the markup, from your production server (or with matching DKIM, SPF, From and Return-Path headers), to schema.whitelisting+sample@gmail.com; check beforehand that it has no errors; and fill in the registration form. A forwarded email does not work, because forwarding strips the markup.
Authentication: DKIM or SPF, and the SPF or DKIM domain must match the From domain. If you only use SPF, the Return-Path must match too.
Send from a fixed address (for example, reservations@yourdomain), following Gmail's guidelines against blocking and spam, with very low spam complaints.
Volume: Google asks for a consistent history of high-volume sending to Gmail, "on the order of hundreds of emails a day" for at least a few weeks. Our reading: a small hotel will rarely reach that on its own; usually the markup is added by the booking engine or PMS that sends the confirmations. Whether Google accepts a small sender is not confirmed.

Where the booking can show up

What official help pages and blogs say, with dates:

Google Calendar: Calendar Help says hotel and restaurant reservations, flights, trains, buses and ticketed events are added automatically. In the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the UK and Japan it is off by default: the guest has to turn on smart features and "Show events from Gmail". It is not added if the email goes to a mailing list, the guest is cc'd, or it is redirected from another account.
Gmail summary cards: Gmail Help says there are cards for travel, orders, events and bills, "generated based on the information from your email", and that they need smart features and conversation view (off by default in the EEA). It does not mention schema.org markup. Google announced travel cards in October 2024, with details such as the hotel's check-out time.
Google Travel: in May 2019 Google explained that flight and hotel reservations confirmed in Gmail appeared in a trip timeline at google.com/travel. How "Your trips" works today: not confirmed.
Gemini: in August 2026 Google explained that, if the user turns on Personal Intelligence, Gemini can take into account hotel, flight and restaurant confirmations in their Gmail. It does not say it uses the markup.
Whether these features read the LodgingReservation block or the email text: not confirmed. A clear email with all the details in the text helps either way.

Outlook and Microsoft

According to the Microsoft 365 Developer Blog (16 December 2025):

Outlook uses schema.org in emails to show a summary card at the top of the message and create a calendar event. Supported types include LodgingReservation; other valid schema.org types may not be recognised.
Microsoft recommends JSON-LD, placed once at the beginning of the email.
You have to ask Microsoft to allowlist your sending domain (about two weeks), validate the markup with no errors or warnings, and send 2 or 3 test confirmations.
DMARC, DKIM and SPF are strongly recommended: if they fail, no event is created. The user needs "Events From Email" turned on in Outlook.
The post does not mention Copilot: whether Copilot uses this markup is not confirmed.

What it does not guarantee

Worth being clear about:

Neither Google nor Microsoft promises that the booking will appear: it depends on sender registration, email authentication and each guest's settings (in Europe, many features are off by default).
If the guest forwards the email, is cc'd or receives it through a list, the event will usually not be created.
No official source says the markup improves the hotel's ranking or makes an AI recommend it. It helps the booking already made to be read correctly.
Nor does it replace a well-written email: address, phone, check-in and check-out times, cancellation policy and payment method should all be in the text.

If you run a property

Practical checklist:

Ask your booking engine or PMS whether its confirmation emails include LodgingReservation and whether it is registered as a sender with Google and Microsoft.
Send confirmations from your own domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC properly set up.
Check that the name, address and phone in the email match your website and your Google listing.
Make a test booking to a Gmail account and to an Outlook account and see whether the card or event appears.

How iQuota helps

iQuota makes independent properties available to AI assistants with direct booking, payment at the property and 0% commission, with the price and terms each property sets. The markup in your confirmation emails depends on the system you send them with. We cannot guarantee that an AI assistant will recommend you.

Want AI assistants to give your real price and terms, with direct booking and no commission? The first 30 hotels join free until 30 June 2027.

See the Founding Hotels programme

Frequently asked questions

What is LodgingReservation?

A schema.org type for describing an actual lodging reservation. Google uses it in Gmail (Email Markup), and Microsoft has published that Outlook supports it too.

Which fields are required for Gmail?

According to Google: booking number and status, guest name, checkinDate, checkoutDate, and the property with its name, phone and full address.

Do I have to register with Google?

To send it to guests, yes. To test it by sending the email to your own account, no, but the email must be authenticated with DKIM or SPF.

Will the booking show up in Google Calendar?

It can if the guest has "Show events from Gmail" turned on. In the EEA, Switzerland, the UK and Japan it is off by default.

Will it make ChatGPT, Gemini or another AI recommend my hotel?

No. No official source says so. The markup helps read the booking the guest already has.

Sources

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