I'm not sure if this is the reason, but it's possible that if you haven't actually booked a guest yet (which it sounds like?), Airbnb doesn't note the response rate in your stats.
@Ginny7 Hi Ginny, just a heads up, a Level 10 Host does not have anything to do with being an expert (at least not in my case) it is just a host who posts a certain number of posts. You too can be a Level 10 🙂
You beat me to it, just what I was going to say. When I started I didn't realise that merely answering a query was not the same as pre-approving or declining. Airbnb are so strict on this even though sometimes a little conversation between guests and hosts is sometimes required before a host can determine whether or not to accept or decline. I guess you just have to make a snap decision as to whether you want to approve a guest or not.