Intro (above the fold)
Capston Core defines the method. The playbooks show how to run it.
This page gathers the ten operational playbooks that sit underneath the methodology. Each one is a runbook — a sequence of steps, inputs, deliverables and milestones a practitioner can execute on a real client, in a real market, with real evidence.
Four playbooks cover the method itself: baseline, prompt sets, competitor sets, citation maps. Three cover the hospitality commercial layer: OTA capture, brand fact accuracy, direct booking recovery. Three cover hospitality sub-verticals: boutique hotels, resort groups and destination marketing organizations.
If the Capston Core research lab is where the evidence is built, the playbook library is where the work gets done.
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Why playbooks complement the methodology
A methodology answers the question what should be true. A playbook answers the question what do I do on Monday morning.
Most AI visibility work fails at the second question. Teams agree on the principles, then improvise the execution. Different consultants use different prompt sets. Different analysts pick different competitors. Different agencies score the same audit in three different ways.
The Capston Core playbook library closes that gap. Each playbook is written so two practitioners running it independently on the same brand, in the same week, produce comparable evidence. That is the bar.
Playbooks also make the work teachable. New analysts, certified partners, in-house teams and pilot clients all need a way to learn the method without re-deriving it from scratch. A playbook gives them a sequence to follow, a definition of done and a way to know when something is off-method.
Four method playbooks
These four runbooks cover the core measurement layer. They are the playbooks every Capston engagement runs first.
- How to Run an AI Visibility Baseline — the end-to-end sequence for producing a defensible baseline: scoping, prompt design, model selection, capture protocol, scoring and the baseline report itself.
- How to Build a Prompt Set — how to construct the structured question set that drives the baseline, including intent coverage, segment coverage, market coverage and the rules for keeping prompts stable across waves.
- How to Choose a Competitor Set — the framework for selecting the right comparison brands: positioning fit, market overlap, demand overlap, and the disciplines that prevent vanity competitor lists.
- How to Read a Citation Map — how to interpret the sources AI engines cite when answering brand-relevant prompts, including own-domain rate, OTA capture rate, media share and the diagnostic signals each pattern carries.
These four playbooks are sequenced. The baseline depends on the prompt set. The prompt set depends on the competitor set. The citation map reads the output of all three.
Three hospitality commercial playbooks
The next three playbooks address the commercial questions hospitality leaders care about most. They sit on top of the method playbooks and turn measurement into action.
- OTA Capture Defense Playbook — a runbook for the scenario where AI answers consistently route demand through OTAs instead of the brand. Covers diagnosis, content actions, schema actions, partner actions and the verification loop.
- Brand Fact Accuracy Audit — the sequence for finding, prioritizing and correcting factual errors in AI answers about a brand: room counts, restaurant names, location claims, certifications, awards, ownership and seasonal facts.
- Direct Booking Recovery Playbook — the longer-form runbook for hotels and resorts trying to recover share of voice from intermediaries. Combines the OTA capture work, the fact accuracy work and the entity authority work into a 90-day plan.
These three playbooks are commercial. They tie measurement to revenue conversations and give hospitality teams a way to defend AI visibility work inside the business.
Three hospitality sub-vertical playbooks
The last three playbooks adapt the method to specific hospitality sub-verticals. Each one carries its own prompt patterns, competitor patterns, source patterns and risk patterns.
- AI Visibility for Boutique Hotels — the sub-vertical playbook for independent and small-collection hotels: experience-led positioning, design-press citations, niche traveler segments and the limits of generic luxury prompts.
- AI Visibility for Resort Groups — the sub-vertical playbook for multi-property resort groups: segment-by-property prompt sets, brand-versus-property answer dynamics, group-level citation maps and parent-brand fact accuracy.
- AI Visibility for Destination Marketing — the sub-vertical playbook for destination marketing organizations: destination-level prompts, member-brand visibility, neighborhood and itinerary prompts, and the source authority of official destination sites.
These playbooks are not a substitute for the method playbooks. They are how the method is tuned for each sub-vertical context.
How to sequence them in a 90-day engagement
Capston Core engagements typically follow a 90-day arc. The playbook library is sequenced to match.
Days 1–30 — measurement. Run the prompt set, competitor set and baseline playbooks. Produce the citation map. End the period with a baseline report and a prioritized action list.
Days 31–60 — commercial diagnosis. Run the OTA capture and brand fact accuracy playbooks against the baseline. For sub-vertical clients, apply the boutique, resort group or destination playbook. Decide which two or three actions get implemented first.
Days 61–90 — recovery and verification. Execute the direct booking recovery playbook (for hospitality) or the equivalent commercial track. Re-run the baseline against the same prompt set. Document movement. Decide what carries into the next quarter.
This sequence is intentional. Measurement first, diagnosis second, recovery third, verification fourth. Teams that reverse the order tend to over-invest in content before they know what the AI answers actually say.
How this fits into Capston Core
The playbook library is one of two operational layers under the methodology.
The Capston Core research lab publishes the studies, baselines and longitudinal reports that explain why the method is built the way it is. The playbook library publishes the runbooks that put the method into practice. Both feed the Capston Core methodology, the hospitality scorecard and the AI visibility scoring system.
Certified partners are expected to know the method playbooks. Pilot clients see the commercial and sub-vertical playbooks as part of their engagement. Internal Capston teams use all ten to keep the work measurement-led rather than improvised.
FAQ
Are these playbooks public?
The summaries on this hub and on each playbook page are public. The full operational versions — with checklists, templates, scoring rubrics and verification protocols — are reserved for pilot clients and certified Capston partners.
Can a team run these without Capston?
A team can read them and adapt the principles, but the full value sits in the templates, the prompt libraries, the scorecard and the QA layer that ensures comparable results across analysts. That is what the certification program and the platform provide.
How often are the playbooks updated?
The method playbooks are updated as AI engines change behavior — model updates, citation pattern shifts, new answer formats. The hospitality playbooks are updated as commercial signals shift, particularly around OTA dynamics and direct booking flows.
Final CTA block
Run the first playbook.
A Capston Core baseline is the entry point into the playbook library. It produces the evidence the other nine playbooks build on.
Run a baseline
Read the methodology