Airbnb’s new AI review system

Airbnb’s new AI review system

Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes

Okay i just confirmed that Airbnb has a new review system that AI pulls the most relevant reviews to the top. This is the default setting for guests so people will see the AI-pulled reviews first no matter how many recent reviews you have. 

The issue is they usually pick lengthy, negative ones to the top even you have other hundreds of good reviews. 
This is a game changer for hosts in review handling since we can’t bury bad reviews by getting good reviews anymore. (This is what Airbnb tells the host to do when you ask about bad reviews) Waiting 2 weeks tactic doesn’t work anymore so a lot of authors need to rewrite their books 😂


I just saw it pulled my only 3 stars review out of 200+ reviews from this one property to the first page. This review is 2 years old. Now your one bad review will forever hunt you haha. Good luck guys! The game is getting more and more challenging for sure!

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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
1y

Luckily, I get most of my bookings from Vrbo.

Even then, I have only had two 4 star reviews in 10 years. Everything else is 5 stars!

See this reply in the discussion

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    1y

    Luckily, I get most of my bookings from Vrbo.

    Even then, I have only had two 4 star reviews in 10 years. Everything else is 5 stars!

  • Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    You should call them and complain.  Do they want guests to book on their platform, or do they want to scare them away with the only bad review you (and others) have?  Most companies put the best reviews as "the most relevant" which is what Airbnb is doing now.

    • Member since 2023 · 188 posts · 111 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

      You should call them and complain.  Do they want guests to book on their platform, or do they want to scare them away with the only bad review you (and others) have?  Most companies put the best reviews as "the most relevant" which is what Airbnb is doing now.

       I think this is what AI companies are selling as a feature and the industry is moving toward that direction. We will soon live in the world the AI will schedule the whole trip starting from airplane ticket to restaurants and we will be just a part of it. All reviews will be written by AI and AI will read them for analysis 😂

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

      You should call them and complain.  Do they want guests to book on their platform, or do they want to scare them away with the only bad review you (and others) have?  Most companies put the best reviews as "the most relevant" which is what Airbnb is doing now.


       A good point! Why are they scaring guests away!!!! I read the reviews AI has been pulling to the top and they are really not relevant at all. Hopefully they get better

  • Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    Uggh.. I just checked all my properties and they are still showing up in chronological order. I hope they are just in a testing phase and will receive enough complaints to pull this back.

    • Member since 2023 · 188 posts · 111 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Ken Boone:

      Uggh.. I just checked all my properties and they are still showing up in chronological order. I hope they are just in a testing phase and will receive enough complaints to pull this back.

      I see this applied to all my properties. Since they haven’t announced it officially I think they are in a testing phase. Probably region by region and super hosts first then full on. They rolled back a few different features previously so hopefully that is the case! 

  • Property Manager · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2024 · 28 posts · 13 votes
    1y

    Thanks for sharing, Laura! Our reviews are being reordered as well. 


    It’s definitely a game-changer for hosts. Seems like we’ll need to rethink review management strategies moving forward. Curious to see if Airbnb refines this system over time!

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Mark Driskell:

      Thanks for sharing, Laura! Our reviews are being reordered as well. 


      It’s definitely a game-changer for hosts. Seems like we’ll need to rethink review management strategies moving forward. Curious to see if Airbnb refines this system over time!


       Yes, this is an interesting change. I don't see much thought behind the current system since AI is just pulling lengthy and most complaining reviews to the top. Maybe it is because they are under the testing period. I think they will probably go to the path showing reviews from family trip to families and short stay to short stay... since this was another new feature they added not too long ago. 

  • Property Manager · USA · Member since 2018 · 85 posts · 50 votes
    1y

    That is interesting news! Is this for all listings:? I just checked a few and it doesn't seem to be the case for me. Unless a hosts view is different than a guests view? 

    IN any event, yes this makes it more challenging but also confirms the case that you need to constantly listen to guests complaints and take action. Hosting is a never ending game of improving. 

    On the other hand, we also have a dedicated person who removes negative, unfair reviews. It's not easy getting them removed and we need to open multiple cases, but its not fair that a permanent review should be left for a temporary issue that came up out of the host's control especially when the host made every effort to rectify the situation.


    Just for fun, here is a screenshot of a 5 star review that I wished wouldn't have been posted. LOL.

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Jacob Morgenstern:

      That is interesting news! Is this for all listings:? I just checked a few and it doesn't seem to be the case for me. Unless a hosts view is different than a guests view? 

      IN any event, yes this makes it more challenging but also confirms the case that you need to constantly listen to guests complaints and take action. Hosting is a never ending game of improving. 

      On the other hand, we also have a dedicated person who removes negative, unfair reviews. It's not easy getting them removed and we need to open multiple cases, but its not fair that a permanent review should be left for a temporary issue that came up out of the host's control especially when the host made every effort to rectify the situation.


      Just for fun, here is a screenshot of a 5 star review that I wished wouldn't have been posted. LOL.


       I believe it is a regional update for testing. I checked with my "guest" account, and it seems like AI is pulling negative and longest reviews to the top. Removing review is never an easy task but certainly possible. Yes, I am not sure what is so relevant about showing someone complained about snow in summer months!!!

    • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
      Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Jacob Morgenstern:

      That is interesting news! Is this for all listings:? I just checked a few and it doesn't seem to be the case for me. Unless a hosts view is different than a guests view? 


      I think it is based on the account of the person viewing the listing.  For instance if I look at my listing in an incognito chrome window the reviews on my listing show up in a different order than if I view the same listing while logged into Airbnb. 

      Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
  • Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1y

    Airbnb is the worst and somehow continue to outdo themselves time and time again.

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

      Airbnb is the worst and somehow continue to outdo themselves time and time again.


       Hahaha I think their intention was great XD

    • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
      Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

      Airbnb is the worst and somehow continue to outdo themselves time and time again.


       I swear it's something new every quarter.

      Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
  • Member since 2022 · 527 posts · 413 votes
    1y

    At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

      I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

    Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.

    • Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.



      Mine have been reordered too, although they are all 5 stars.

      Although some other sites will put "most relevant" reviews first, usually those are ones people "liked" or commented on.  For Airbnb to put any critical reviews higher than all good ones goes against their best interest and ours, for sure. 
      For instance, Amazon always shows their "top reviews" first, which are the ones people have clicked the "helpful" button for.  And I always change that to "most recent" when buying something because those are the most relevant reviews to me. 
      BTW, I just read that Airbnb has deleted 400k accounts.   https://www.rentalscaleup.com/400000-listings-gone-why-airbn...

       
    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.


       The problem is if you get hundreds and thoursands reviews, you will receive bad reviews no matter how perfect your service is. It is a matter of when not if. Some people simply say 5 stars don’t exist because God is the only perfect thing in this world. The issue is those lower rating reviews is showing on top regardless of how irrelevant the review is to the current booking. The Airbnb’s policy toward review has been, that bad reviews happen so just do better to collect 5-star review to bury the bad ones. Now this doesn’t work anymore

    • Member since 2022 · 527 posts · 413 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Laura Winters:
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.


       The problem is if you get hundreds and thoursands reviews, you will receive bad reviews no matter how perfect your service is. It is a matter of when not if. Some people simply say 5 stars don’t exist because God is the only perfect thing in this world. The issue is those lower rating reviews is showing on top regardless of how irrelevant the review is to the current booking. The Airbnb’s policy toward review has been, that bad reviews happen so just do better to collect 5-star review to bury the bad ones. Now this doesn’t work anymore


       I agree but do we know for sure that lower rating are always in fact first?  I personally never keep a companies preferred rating system myself and reorder...hoping that's what guests would do also - especially if they see that the review is older.

    • Member since 2022 · 527 posts · 413 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.



      Mine have been reordered too, although they are all 5 stars.

      Although some other sites will put "most relevant" reviews first, usually those are ones people "liked" or commented on.  For Airbnb to put any critical reviews higher than all good ones goes against their best interest and ours, for sure. 
      For instance, Amazon always shows their "top reviews" first, which are the ones people have clicked the "helpful" button for.  And I always change that to "most recent" when buying something because those are the most relevant reviews to me. 
      BTW, I just read that Airbnb has deleted 400k accounts.   https://www.rentalscaleup.com/400000-listings-gone-why-airbn...

       

       Interesting article.  It benefits all of us if Airbnb gets rid of the bad hosts.  I'm tired of the bad press of Airbnb because of some bad apples.  I want guests to love booking platforms.

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.



      Mine have been reordered too, although they are all 5 stars.

      Although some other sites will put "most relevant" reviews first, usually those are ones people "liked" or commented on.  For Airbnb to put any critical reviews higher than all good ones goes against their best interest and ours, for sure. 
      For instance, Amazon always shows their "top reviews" first, which are the ones people have clicked the "helpful" button for.  And I always change that to "most recent" when buying something because those are the most relevant reviews to me. 
      BTW, I just read that Airbnb has deleted 400k accounts.   https://www.rentalscaleup.com/400000-listings-gone-why-airbn...

       

       Yeah not sure why they think pulling old bad reviews to the top was a good idea. I know Airbnb used to encourage employees to host on Airbnb. I understand they got too big too fast and probably these values are lost. If they ever hosted before, they wouldn't make changes like this.

      I think delisting bad properties are good thing for good hosts like us. They are the reason why Airbnb has a bad reputation. I actually think there are too many bad listings right now. A lot of listings are illegal and borderline safe hazards. I could tell the Airbnb I visited in developing countries all had hidden cameras in the house. Maybe that is the culture and norm there but I think it is just not the right thing to do.

    • Member since 2021 · 124 posts · 87 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:
      Quote from @Laura Winters:
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.


       The problem is if you get hundreds and thoursands reviews, you will receive bad reviews no matter how perfect your service is. It is a matter of when not if. Some people simply say 5 stars don’t exist because God is the only perfect thing in this world. The issue is those lower rating reviews is showing on top regardless of how irrelevant the review is to the current booking. The Airbnb’s policy toward review has been, that bad reviews happen so just do better to collect 5-star review to bury the bad ones. Now this doesn’t work anymore


       I agree but do we know for sure that lower rating are always in fact first?  I personally never keep a companies preferred rating system myself and reorder...hoping that's what guests would do also - especially if they see that the review is older.


       Yes, all my listings pulled bad reviews to top when they have hundreds of other good and more recent reviews. I think they want to mix bad and good reviews. Even the bad reviews are 1% of overall reviews which is the problem with this change. 

    • John UnderwoodPro Member
      Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
      Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

      At first, I thought I wasn't impacted - yet.  I viewed all 4 of my listings though my host dashboard but low and behold, I searched using a private browser and indeed, they are rearranged to most relevant (which is consistent with most rating systems, which is hard to determine how they come up with most relevant).  For those of you that said you didn't see it on yours, check it with a private browser.

        I only have 5 star reviews in Airbnb so I can't really tell how they chose the one they did to be first (it was a January 2025 5 star review).  I have newer ones since.  I will say that the newer ones are short and sweet but they aren't at the bottom of the list, they are about 1/3rd of the way down.  From what I can tell, they took one or two reviews per month in chronological order going backward and after 2024, peppered in the shorter newer ones.  That said, I have some lengthier ones that date back to Jan 2024 and prior and they are still lower down.  Maybe they are looking a having some from each month starting with the newest and selecting based on different key words?  FWIW, most of my business came from VRBO until Q2 2024 and then it completely flipped.  

      Not sure I care about this honestly as most people know there is a filter to change how things are ranked and use it.  I never use Most Relevant when I'm looking as something.  I always like to say best comments and worst so I usually look at both and don't scroll through whatever search engine believes is relevant to me.



      Mine have been reordered too, although they are all 5 stars.

      Although some other sites will put "most relevant" reviews first, usually those are ones people "liked" or commented on.  For Airbnb to put any critical reviews higher than all good ones goes against their best interest and ours, for sure. 
      For instance, Amazon always shows their "top reviews" first, which are the ones people have clicked the "helpful" button for.  And I always change that to "most recent" when buying something because those are the most relevant reviews to me. 
      BTW, I just read that Airbnb has deleted 400k accounts.   https://www.rentalscaleup.com/400000-listings-gone-why-airbn...

       

       Deleting bad properties and bad owners/PM's accounts is exactly what they should be doing.

  • Member since 2022 · 527 posts · 413 votes
    1y

    One other thought, the review they did pull first, while a 5-star review, did have a critique in it, so maybe they are looking for balanced reviews?  Interestingly, the critique was about it being quiet, and the second review they showed also shows "quiet".  I don't think any of my other reviews have the word quiet in them...

  • Property Manager · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2018 · 178 posts · 134 votes
    1y

    I don't see how this benefits anyone if the bad review is about something that was fixed after the review.

  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    1y

    My only 2 bad reviews are still good reviews where someone just couldn't select 5 stars. One of those I found out was because the neighbors were loud. Something I had no control over.

  • Investor · Atlanta · Member since 2022 · 146 posts · 72 votes
    1y

    Hi Laura, this AI review shakeup is definitely a curveball for Airbnb hosts! AAs an STR/MTR host & co-host in North Atlanta, I've seen how critical reviews are to bookings—especially now that negatives can't be buried. It's frustrating, but it reinforces the need for proactive guest experience management. For a 3-bedroom client property in Cobb County, we dodged a potential 3-star review by quickly addressing a Wi-Fi glitch mid-stay—turned it into a 5-star rave about our responsiveness. That kind of hands-on care is more vital than ever.If stabilizing income is a goal amid this uncertainty, we've had success with a hybrid co-hosting model: we shift Airbnb listings to trusted corporate housing partners for mid-term stays (e.g., $7,300/month vs. $2,300 long-term rent), then revert back. It cuts turnover and keeps cash flow steady, softening the blow of review volatility.

    Are you seeing this AI tweak across all your properties yet, or just some? Curious to hear how you’re navigating it!

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