When Airbnb introduced Categories in 2022, it transformed the way guests discover listings on the platform. With over 60 different categories currently live, from “Earth homes” to “Chef’s kitchens,” Airbnb created a new layer of visibility that determines whether a guest ever finds your listing in the first place.
But what many hosts still don’t realize is that categorization can significantly affect your listing’s performance. Appearing in a category doesn’t just look good on your listing; it determines how often you’re shown, who sees you, and how relevant your property appears to Airbnb’s search algorithm.
In this blog, we’ll explore how categorization actually works behind the scenes, how it impacts bookings and ranking, and what you can do to improve your chances of being placed in more categories.
What are Airbnb categories and how they function
Airbnb categories are thematic search filters designed to help guests find listings that align with their travel style, destination preferences, or interests. Categories like “Luxe,” “Tiny homes,” “Ski-in/out,” and “Design” are more than just labels, they’re dynamic collections of curated listings powered by Airbnb’s machine learning systems.
Every listing on Airbnb is eligible to appear in multiple categories (maximum 5), depending on how well it fits the category’s criteria. This fit is determined by a combination of data signals, including your listing’s title, description, amenities, photo quality, reviews, pricing, and geographic location. For example, a listing near a ski resort with mountain views and ski storage may be added to “Skiing”. Further in this blog, we will go deeper into how exactly Airbnb’s algorithm determines which listings get which category tag.
The four clusters of Airbnb categories
The Airbnb categories can be divided in 4 bigger category groups:
- Memorable locations: National Parks, Islands, Desert, Tropical, Countryside, Lake, Arctic, Coastal, Beach, Top of the World, Iconic Cities
- Activities: Camping, Golfing, Skiing, Surfing, Play
- Types of homes: Barns, Trulli, Towers, Hanoks, Shepherd’s Huts, Earth Homes, Windmills, Yurts, A-frames, Historical Homes, Caves, Treehouses, Cabins, Mansions, Castles, and more
- Amenities: Creative Spaces, Grand Pianos, Chef’s Kitchens, Amazing Pools, Bed & Breakfasts
The full list of Airbnb categories
Airbnb has over 60 categories.
They consist of:
- A-frames
- Amazing pools
- Amazing views
- Arctic
- Barns
- Beach
- Beachfront
- Bed & breakfasts
- Boats
- Cabins
- Campers
- Camping
- Casas particulares
- Castles
- Caves
- Chef’s kitchens
- Containers
- Countryside
- Creative spaces
- Cycladic homes
- Dammusos
- Desert
- Design
- Domes
- Earth homes
- Farms
- Golfing
- Grand pianos
- Historical homes
- Houseboats
- Iconic cities
- Icons
- Islands
- Kezhans
- Lake
- Lakefront
- Luxe
- Mansions
- Minsus
- National parks
- Off-the-grid
- OMG!
- Riads
- Ryokans
- Shared homes
- Shepherd’s huts
- Ski-in/out
- Skiing
- Surfing
- Tiny homes
- Towers
- Treehouses
- Tropical
- Trulli
- Vineyards
- Windmills
- Yurts
How categorization impacts your Airbnb performance
According to Airbnb, listings that appear in a curated category receive more bookings than those that don’t. That’s because categories dominate the homepage experience and are often used by guests as their first point of entry into the platform’s search journey.
In contrast, if your listing isn’t categorized, or is miscategorized, you’ll likely be buried deeper in generic location-based search results. Worse, you may miss out on valuable opportunities during seasonal peaks or events, such as summer beach travel or ski season, when category searches surge.
What Airbnb categories earn the most?
Your Airbnb category can have a big impact on your revenue. Data from 2024 shows that listings in the Treehouses category had the highest average daily rates, around $270 per night. In contrast, categories like Campers/RVs and Campsites earned much less, averaging between $100 and $150 per night. So, the category your listing appears in doesn’t just affect visibility, it can directly influence how much you earn.
How Airbnb categorizes listings
Airbnb doesn’t just guess where your listing belongs, it follows a multi-step process that combines rules, human input, and machine learning to figure it out. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Spotting the right signals
First, Airbnb looks at your listing using a method called the "weighted sum of indicators." That’s just a fancy way of saying it scores your listing based on certain clues. For example, if your place is near a lake, mentions “lakefront” in the title, has photos of lake views, and guests talk about kayaking nearby, that adds up to a strong signal that your listing belongs in the Lakefront category.
Step 2: Human review
Once a listing looks like a good match for a category, Airbnb’s internal team steps in to double-check. A reviewer will confirm (or reject) the category match, choose a photo that best represents that category, and rate its quality. They’ll also update missing location data, like if your property is next to a lake that Airbnb didn’t already have in their system.
Step 3: Expanding the pool
Some categories are harder to fill, like “Creative Spaces” or “Amazing Views.” In these cases, Airbnb uses smart tools to find more listings. If a listing is already confirmed for a category, Airbnb finds others that are similar in style or content. It might also look at nearby homes or related keywords to surface more options for review.
Step 4: Machine learning takes over
Once Airbnb has enough examples reviewed by humans, it starts training machine learning models to do the job automatically. These models learn to recognize the same patterns and signals. When the model becomes confident enough, it can start assigning listings to categories without needing a manual check.
Airbnb’s introduction of Categories has reshaped how guests browse and book, and that shift is especially important for hosts and property managers. With millions of listings available, ranking high in the right category can mean the difference between getting noticed or getting buried.
Let’s break down how Airbnb’s ranking system works, and what you can do to take advantage of it.
How categories changed Airbnb’s ranking algorithm
How Airbnb ranks categories
Since the introduction of the Airbnb categories, the algorithm now needs to decide which categories appear first on the homepage or search results. Airbnb uses several factors to make this decision:
- Guest location: What’s nearby?
- Seasonality: What types of stays are relevant right now? (e.g., Skiing in winter, Lakefront in summer)
- Popularity and booking trends: Which categories are performing well?
- Available inventory: Are there enough listings in the category?
- User behavior: What has the guest clicked on or saved before?
How Airbnb ranks listings within categories
Once a guest clicks into a category, the next algorithm comes into play: listing ranking. This system decides the order in which listings appear within a category.
Here’s what it looks at:
- Photo quality tier: Airbnb reviews your listing’s images and scores your cover photo based on how well it represents the category. Listings rated as “Most Inspiring” or “High Quality” rank higher.
- Human vs. AI assignment: Listings that were approved manually by Airbnb’s internal team often get a boost over those placed automatically by the machine learning model.
Pyramid Structure: Airbnb category ranking logic overview
The triangle below represents Airbnb's logic for selecting which listings to show at the top of category search results. It emphasizes quality-driven prioritization.
1. Top tier: "Most inspiring"
These listings are the cream of the crop. They are visually appealing, unique, and highly relevant to the selected category.
Listings here are most likely to appear at the top of the search results within a category.
2. Middle tier: "High quality"
Listings in this tier still offer a strong guest experience but might not be as exceptional or category-perfect as the “Most Inspiring.”
3. Lower Tiers: "Acceptable" and "Low quality"
The acceptable listings meet baseline quality and relevance standards. While the low quality listings are less suitable for the category due to either poor visual appeal, weak reviews, or irrelevant features.
Why this matters for you
Even if you’re in the right category, you still need to stand out. A sharp, well-composed image that captures the vibe of the category can help push your listing to the top. Think of it as your listing’s first impression, the better the fit, the more guests will click.
How to influence and improve your category placement
Getting your listing into the right Airbnb category isn’t just luck, and while the process is powered by algorithms and machine learning, there’s still a lot you can do to influence where your property ends up. The key is making sure your listing clearly matches the theme of the category you’re aiming for, both in words and visuals.
Let’s walk through how you can take control and guide Airbnb’s system in the right direction.
Find out which categories your listing is in
Before making changes to improve your category placement, it's important to check which categories your listing is already part of. Airbnb allows you to do this via the Listing Editor in your host dashboard:
- Go to Listings and select the property.
- Under Your space, click on Property type.
- You'll see the current Airbnb Categories assigned to your listing.
If your listing isn’t assigned to any category, or not the ones you expected, you can take steps to optimize for better placement which we will explain further in this blog.
Update your Airbnb listing’s content
Your listing description and title play a bigger role than you might think. Airbnb’s algorithm scans your written content for keywords and themes that match category definitions. That means you want your content to "speak the language" of your target category.
For example, if you’re aiming for the Cabins category, describe your place using words that highlight its rustic charm. Talk about the wood-paneling, the fireplace, how it’s tucked away in the woods, or how cozy it feels during fall. Phrases like secluded retreat, wood-burning stove, or surrounded by nature help the system understand where your listing fits.
On the flip side, if you're targeting Design, emphasize elements like minimalist decor, open-concept layouts, or statement lighting pieces. Make sure your language reflects the experience guests are looking for in that category.
Choose the right photo and make it count
Airbnb doesn’t just rely on your words. It also reviews your cover photo, the first image guests see and uses it to help determine your category placement.
In fact, your cover photo often becomes the “face” of your listing within a category, so it needs to visually match the category's vibe. If you're aiming for Design, your photo should be clean, modern, and editorial, maybe a wide shot of a stylish living room with designer furniture and natural light. If it’s Earth homes, consider a dramatic exterior shot that shows how your space blends into the landscape.
Avoid cluttered, dark, or low-resolution images. They don’t just turn off guests, they reduce your visibility, plain and simple.
Align your Airbnb amenities with guest expectations
Airbnb also uses your amenity list to determine category fit. So, make sure it's accurate and complete. For example, if you want to be included in the Chef’s kitchens category, you’ll need more than just a stovetop. Make sure you’ve listed things like a full range, quality cookware, and a kitchen island if you have one.
Similarly, if you're trying to appeal to families and show up in Fun for kids, include family-friendly amenities like cribs, toys, high chairs, or a fenced yard. These details might seem small, but they help signal to Airbnb that your listing is a strong match for that specific type of guest.
How to request an Airbnb category change
If your listing isn’t showing up in the right category, you can request a change through Airbnb’s Elevate tool.
- Sign in with your existing Airbnb host account at Elevate.
- You’ll see a list of your active listings and the categories they’re currently assigned to.
- Click “+ add a category” to suggest up to five new categories for your listing.
You’ll need to wait for those to be reviewed before submitting more. Airbnb’s team will manually review your request based on their guidelines.
To improve your chances, update your photos and description to clearly match the category. You’ll get an email once your request is approved or rejected.
Want to remove a category? Just click the “x” next to the category name, it will be auto-approved within five days.
How AI can help you show up in more Airbnb categories
Even for experienced hosts, optimizing for Airbnb categories can be time-consuming and unclear. It often involves trial and error, updating your listing, waiting to see if the changes take effect, then trying again if nothing happens. Since Airbnb doesn’t always notify you when your listing is placed in or removed from a category, tracking performance is difficult.
This is where automation becomes not just helpful, but necessary. AutoRank is a performance-driven optimization tool built specifically for Airbnb listings. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, AutoRank is trained on Airbnb-specific data and integrates directly with your listing to help you qualify for more categories and stay there.
The system analyzes your current listing content and rewrites your titles, descriptions, and soon also photo captions to align with category requirements. It uses live Airbnb search data, guest behavior trends, and keyword insights to insert high-performing language that the algorithm recognizes.
More importantly, AutoRank doesn’t stop after one update. It revisits your listing every 48 hours to reflect new search trends, pricing changes, seasonal demand, and guest behavior. This keeps your listing aligned with what guests are looking for and with what Airbnb’s algorithm favors.
By automating content updates and continuously aligning your listing with Airbnb’s evolving categorization system, AutoRank gives hosts a competitive advantage that manual optimization simply can’t match.
Final thoughts
Airbnb categorization is more than just a new feature, it’s a powerful lever for driving visibility, clicks, and bookings. As more guests browse by theme rather than destination, showing up in the right categories becomes essential to staying competitive.
While it is possible to influence your listing’s placement through strategic content updates, photography, and amenity management, doing so consistently and accurately requires time, effort, and experimentation. For hosts and property managers looking to scale their operations or maximize performance, automation tools like AutoRank provide a clear and effective solution.
If you're ready to appear in more categories, increase your exposure, and attract higher-intent guests, AutoRank is the tool built to get you there. Learn more about how it works and see what categories your listing could qualify for by booking a free trial today.
FAQ
What is the Airbnb OMG! Category?
It features the most unique and eye-catching listings, think UFO houses, giant boot homes, or mirror cubes in the forest. These are stays designed to make guests say, “OMG!”
How do I know which categories my listing is in?
Go to your Airbnb host dashboard → Listings → Your space → Property type. You’ll see your assigned categories there.
Can I request a different category for my listing?
Yes! Use the Airbnb Elevate tool to suggest up to five new categories. Airbnb will review your request manually.
Do categories impact my ranking and bookings?
Absolutely. Listings in curated categories can get up to 30% more bookings and 40% more impressions, according to Airbnb’s internal data.
How do I improve my chances of getting into a category?
Use category-specific keywords, update your photos to match the theme, and make sure your amenities are complete and relevant.
What if my listing fits more than one category?
That’s fine! Airbnb allows listings to appear in multiple categories, and you can submit more than one when requesting through Elevate.