Using AI to write listings. Yay or Nay?

Question

I've spent the last few years managing vacation and experimented with AI - I am guessing most of us have. I've found that while it's been a great tool, it's not a replacement for knowing your property / guest avatar. I've found it really helpful to improve and organize our airbnb listings - for example, by organizing lists of amenities into easy to digest bullet points. But... if you use it to write the whole copy the listings end up sounding remarkably similar. They focus on features instead of experiences and tend to rely on the same generic phrases about "perfect getaways" and "lasting memories" which are just space fillers.

The highest-performing listings in our portfolio aren't necessarily the biggest or most expensive. They're the ones that clearly communicate what makes the experience unique. For example, we have a tiny 1 bedroom cottage that is a real wealth generator because the description captures its charm. AI often misses because it doesn't know the home, the market, or the guest as well as I do. It seems like it's best to use AI as an assistant, not a total replacement. Just like revenue management software won't run the business, AI won't write a great Airbnb listing without my input. Have others had similar experiences with it? Curious to know!

John Underwood · Answer

I would absolutely use ot to critique your existing listing description and make tweaks, but not let it write the whole thing.

I've used to review contracts and legal documents and it has been amazing.

Randy Dubiskas · Answer

Just today I used the free Google AI to re-write my "thanks for booking" message that reminds travelers with pets to go back and check the box that they are bringing pets on their trip.  I have had a small number of guests that bring a dog (we are pet friendly) but don't list it and the pet fee is not included in their booking.  I would say that AI did a pretty good job at not irritating guests that are without pets and reminding those with pets that we monitor the outside security camera to ensure that guests have successfully checked in.  Here is the message it came up with:

Dear  GUEST_FIRST_NAME  GUEST_LAST_NAME,   Thank you so much for choosing to stay with us! We are thrilled to host you and want to ensure you have a seamless, five-star experience from the moment you arrive. As we prepare for your upcoming stay, please take a quick moment to review your booking details to ensure everything is accurate:STAY_DATES Number of guests: 6 or lessPets: [Pets Y/N or "Please confirm if bringing a furry friend"]A Quick Note for Pet Travelers 🐾We proudly welcome four-legged guests! To ensure our home stays comfortable and pristine for everyone, our house rules limit stays to a maximum of two dogs, 50 lbs or under each (though we are happy to consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis—just ask!).Because extra deep-cleaning is required after a pet departs, we do charge a $68 flat pet fee. If you already added your dog(s) to your booking: You are all set and we cannot wait to welcome them! If you are bringing a dog but missed checking the box during checkout: Please reply to this message directly so we can chat about your pup and update your reservation.Please note: For transparency and security, we utilize external cameras to assist with smart-lock check-ins. If our check-in team notices an undisclosed pet arriving with your party, a standard request for the $68 pet fee will be submitted through VRBO.If you are not traveling with a pet, please disregard this note!We will send your formal check-in instructions and smart lock codes closer to your arrival date. In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions. Warm regards,

Ryan Moyer · Answer

I am in love with AI for productivity in STR. I just connected Claude to my phone and told it to write an SOP about the new offering I discussed with our guest services lead and upload that SOP to notion and it did all of that in 5 seconds. Freaking awesome.

But I will not let it write guest facing text, especially something as important as the listing. I still handle that by hand. It's too important, and no matter how much I train it, it just doesn't sound the same.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Most people can spot AI a mile away, and most people find it stiff and sterile. Also a sign of laziness in the writer.

I purposely will not patronize any product that has AI descriptions. Maybe that's just me...

Collin Hays · Answer

It's a great tool. Spell check on steroids.

Carolyn Fuller · Answer

I haven’t used AI to generate my listing descriptions because I wrote pre-AI and they are doing well. But I have used AI for other things and I totally agree, best as an assistant.

Lauren Kormylo · Answer

I only used it to edit a few sentences in my description that I wanted a little more fluid.  I don't want my description to sound like it was entirely written by AI, I don't like that in other listings.

Michael Baum · Answer

Everyone here has it right. Use AI for checking and making adjustments but not for the whole thing. AI replies and posts look like exactly what they are and it shows.

My son just graduated from WSU with a masters in architecture. He had a lot to say about AI in some of his classmates projects.

He uses AI (ChatGPT mostly) for polishing his text but not for writing. Some of his classmates use it exclusively to write what they need and he says it really comes across in presentations that they had no input on what it produced. They got dinged.

What he does use it for is to alter some of his hand drawn stuff. Make it more defined or sharper than a straight pencil drawing can do. In this case it was for his masters thesis which ended up being a storybook he created from scratch.

All hand drawn portraits of his classmates as characters in a story of the chaos in creating a new town from bare land on a remote island. He is an excellent writer and a great artist now, but you can really tell the difference between the hand drawn originals and the enhanced prints after running it through AI. Sharper images, cleaned up lines, removed smudges etc. Really cool stuff.

Mohammed Rahman · Answer

AI can be a great tool, but I wouldn't trust it to write an entire listing without some input from the person who actually knows the property.

I've found it works best as an assistant. Give it notes about the home, who you're trying to attract, and any keywords you want to hit, and it can do a decent job of organizing everything into something readable. Then I go back through and make sure it actually sounds like the property.

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of AI-generated listings start to sound the same after a while. They all talk about the "perfect getaway" or "creating lasting memories," but those phrases don't really tell a guest why they should choose that particular property.

The properties that seem to perform best are usually the ones that capture something unique about the experience. That's hard for AI to do on its own because it doesn't know the home or the guest as well as you do.

For me, AI is great for polishing the message, but the message itself still has to come from someone who understands what makes the property special.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

I think AI is an awesome tool especially for people like me who can write but are not necessarily creative.  That said, it is not copy/paste and go.  I think there are 2 good ways to do it, either write it out the old school way and have AI tweak it, or have AI write it and you tweak it.  Either way human input is needed.

Using AI to write listings. Yay or Nay?

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