Appearing on a specific category

[Archie53]

Good morning!

I am reletively new to being an Airbnb host, so I am still learning how to make my listing a more desirable place to stay.

I understand that listings can be put into categories. My listing is a 4 storey windmill in the Rutland country side (it is as beautiful as it sounds). I was wondering how I can get the listing onto the windmill catergory.

I hope someone can help!

Many thanks,

Archie.

[Joelle43]

Good morning @Archie53 

I'm afraid you've arrived too late to be put into categories - Airbnb have stopped them to the dismay of some.

The issue that a lot of us had was that it was AI who choose which category to put us in with some severe misses and oversights it has to be said.  As hosts, we had no control whatsoever on which categories we were put in (several options possible) and this posed serious issues for some hosts who were literally on the seafront but were shown to be 20 minutes out on the map!

[Archie53]

Thanks for the reply @Joelle43 

Oh okay I understand. From what you are saying it may be for the best!

Have a great day!

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

@Archie53 

Agree with @Joelle43 that guests loved Categories, but it was not a fully developed AI feature that led to alot of issues for Hosts. That said, the feature is still available behind the scenes and does still appear in the Listing Editor. I have a hunch Airbnb will bring Categories back at some point after the technology is better developed and perhaps use them as search filters (at least some of the more popular ones).

You can request to add (or remove) a category still, so I would go ahead and do that in the hopes Airbnb will still use the data in the future.

- Login to your Airbnb Account

- Type this in the browser: https://elevate.translated.com/categories

- Categories – Add

You can request to add up to 5 categories. In addition to "Windmills" I would apply for "countryside" and "historical homes"

[Joelle43]

Hello @Joan2709 and thank you for this information!  I've learnt something new from you (again😉)

I had a look at the list and that New! category has been deactivated I see.

But something struck me, there's a host on the French CC who posted this morning saying that when she makes a search for a room using the search filter, her listing just doesn't appear.  Could it be related that her listing is new and hasn't been put in the "Room" category do you think?  

Other listings close to her have that special open book with the picture of the host as a feature so imagine that they were put in the room category before the categories were suspended.  So might be worth sending her that link especially as the room category does exist as a search filter?  Haven't we had hosts saying that they can't find their listing when they select "room" and they only find their listing if they don't specify which type of listing they are searching for or am I thinking of any issue?

But good news for @Archie53 if it works! 

[Joan2709]

@Joelle43 

Yes...if you Host a Room on Airbnb you need to apply to be in the Rooms Category via Elevate in order for your listing to properly appear in a guest search when they use the Room search filter. Multiple Hosts have mentioned this issue and many Hosts that Home share are not even aware they are not appearing in search results when a guest uses the Room filter. The listing will only appear if the guest chooses the "Any Type" filter. This is problematic, as guests who want a "Room" are NOT going to choose "Any Type".

Of course, no where does Airbnb mention this. Sigh. This is a direct result of them removing categories, but keeping the rooms property type. The coding gets "lost" it seems as it is no longer an available category for guests to search for, but still is a "Type of Place" filter. The two need to be linked for the guest search to work properly using the Room filter. Airbnb previously accomplished this by using the Room Category, but Categories have been removed and the coding is not there to link them if you created a Room Listing after Cateories were removed in April 2025 (it seems).

Here is a Host Guide on the topic are some other threads:

Host Guide - Rooms Category

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-guides/Room-Hosts-Make-Sure-You-Are-in-Rooms-Category/td-p/...

Rooms Filter Issue - Threads

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Ask-about-your-listing/My-room-does-not-appear-when-room-filter-...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Ask-about-your-listing/Can-t-find-my-room-when-searching-for-roo...

Be advised there is also an issue with the Host profile photo. When a Host updates their profile photo in settings, it is not updating the profile photo that appears on the listing in the "passport" and otherwise. Another glitch that Airbnb probably didn't anticipate when removing Categories.

The New category I believe has been "retired" as it seems the algorithm has been modified for new listings. Not sure they receive the same "boost" in search rank anymore...still investigating that.

@Rebecca could you kindly forward this to Airbnb? This issue affects a lot of Hosts and both Airbnb and Hosts with Rooms are losing out as listings that should be appearing when guests use the Rooms filter are not appearing at all. Guests can't book a listing if it doesn't even appear in search results. This probably only affects listings created after Airbnb removed Categories in April 2025.