The Impact of Reviews on Airbnb Listing Ranks: The Magic Number Revealed

Understanding how guest reviews influence where your Airbnb listing ranks can have a major effect on your success as a host. Ever wondered what the magic number of reviews is that gives your property the best shot at appearing on Airbnb’s first page? We’ve done the research — and the results are fascinating.

Revenue IQ’s Analysis

Trying to decode Airbnb’s search ranking algorithm can feel overwhelming. A question we hear often is: How many reviews does a listing actually need to rank well in search results?

To find out, we analyzed 4,000 listings and over 150,000 data points to explore the link between the number of reviews a property has and its search performance — specifically, its first-page impression rate.

Breaking It Down

In this study, we looked closely at the average first-page impression rate for listings across different review counts. While we expected some level of correlation, the data revealed several surprising insights that hosts will find valuable.

You might assume a property with only one review would struggle to show up on the first page — but that’s not entirely true. Listings with just one review had an average first-page impression rate of approaximately 36%.

That’s higher than most would expect, showing that even a single review can positively impact ranking performance.

As the number of reviews grows, so does the average first-page impression rate — but only up to a point. We observed a rapid rise early on, followed by a slowdown that eventually leveled out around 46%.

The Magic Number

Here’s the key takeaway: it only takes about 27 reviews for a listing to reach that 46% first-page impression rate.

This means roughly 90% of the ranking benefit that comes from accumulating reviews is achieved once you’ve hit 27. While continuing to collect reviews is always helpful, the incremental value beyond that number becomes smaller.

Conclusion

So, what’s the magic number of reviews you need to maximize your Airbnb listing’s visibility? Based on our extensive analysis, the answer is 27.

This is an important insight for hosts aiming to improve their ranking. It highlights how impactful reviews truly are — and that even a relatively small number can make a meaningful difference in how often your listing appears on Airbnb’s first page.