By the Unity Stays directors, Marcus Chong & Gadir Al-Khatib · Last updated 12 August 2026
In short: No platform publishes its ranking algorithm, but visibility consistently correlates with fast responses, no host cancellations, strong recent reviews, competitive pricing for the dates searched, an accurate calendar and photographs that convert views into bookings. Complete every amenity field too — guests search by filters, and a blank amenity removes the listing from those searches entirely.
The platform's incentive tells you most of it
A booking platform earns when a guest books and has a good stay. Everything it rewards follows from that, and you can reason from the incentive rather than chasing rumours.
It therefore favours listings that convert searches into bookings, that do not cancel, that answer quickly, that get good reviews, and that are priced competitively for the dates being searched.
Almost every credible ranking factor is a version of one of those five. Anything that does not map onto them is probably folklore.
The levers a host genuinely controls
In rough order of how much they matter, and all of them are within your control.
- Response time and rate — measured, visible to the platform, and the easiest thing to lose
- Cancellations by the host — the most damaging single action available to you
- Review score and volume, with recent reviews weighted more than old ones
- Conversion — how often people who view the listing book it, which is largely photographs and price
- Calendar accuracy and availability — a stale calendar is read as an inactive host
- Competitive pricing for the searched dates, which is what dynamic pricing is really for
- Listing completeness — amenities filled in properly, because filters are how guests narrow a search
- Instant Book, which generally helps, with sensible requirements attached
Amenities are filters, not decoration
This is the most under-used lever available to a host. Guests do not scroll a thousand listings; they filter, and a listing that has not declared an amenity is invisible to anyone filtering on it.
Wifi speed, workspace, parking, washing machine, dishwasher, pets allowed, step-free access — each of these is a filter that removes you from a search if it is left blank.
Go through the amenity list properly once. It takes half an hour and it changes which searches you appear in at all, which matters more than where you rank within a search you never entered.
The myths
"New listings get a boost." There is often a visibility window for new listings, but it is short and it is not a strategy. What matters is converting it into early bookings and good reviews.
"Log in every day and edit something." Editing for its own sake does nothing. Editing the price, the amenities or the calendar because something has changed does.
"Undercut everyone." It fills the calendar with the lowest-value bookings and teaches the pricing system to expect a low rate. Conversion improves more from better photographs than from a lower price.
"Ranking is the same everywhere." It is personalised to the searcher, their dates and their filters. Two people searching the same city see different orders, which is why checking your own position tells you very little.
Do not build the business on one platform
Ranking is the platform's decision, it changes without notice, and an account can be restricted for reasons that have nothing to do with you.
The defence is distribution. Listing across several channels means a change on one does not empty the calendar, and different platforms carry different demand — which matters most in the shoulder months when a single audience thins out.
We list across 15 platforms and take direct bookings alongside them. Our direct bookings guide covers what that is genuinely worth.
Platform ranking systems are proprietary and change frequently. This describes generally observed factors, not published rules, and nothing here is guaranteed to move a specific listing.