Hands On With Algorithms: Understand Your Listing’s Visibility

Your listing was easy to find last week. Today, it seems to have slipped. Should you change your title, lower your price, or replace your photos?

Before changing everything, start keeping a record.

In this Firecircle Live Session, guest Firekeeper Denise Miller of Experience Saghalie joined Kerri Howarth to demonstrate how she tracks the visibility of her Airbnb accommodation in Kamloops, BC.

Her approach gives operators a practical way to observe patterns and make more informed decisions.

Watch the recording below, then try the process with one of your own listings.

1. Establish a Baseline

Start by recording where your listing appears before making changes.

Denise compares four search windows:

• A weekday stay about one month ahead.
• A weekend stay about one month ahead.
• A weekday stay about two months ahead.
• A weekend stay about two months ahead.

For each comparison, record the actual dates, destination, number of guests, and relevant filters. Keep those details consistent when repeating the search.

If a booking or calendar change means you need different dates, document that adjustment.

Denise demonstrated searching while signed out, using a private browsing window. Whatever setup you use, keep it consistent. A private window does not create a universal ranking: results can still vary with the search criteria and other factors.

2. Record More Than Your Position

Denise’s visibility tracker brings several observations together:

• The date of each check.
• The platform and listing being checked.
• The page and position within each search window.
• New bookings and inquiries since the previous check.
• Changes to pricing, titles, descriptions, or photos.
• Other relevant observations, including changes to search dates.

This helps you look beyond an isolated result. A position change becomes more useful when you can see what else happened around it.

If you use the read-only template demonstrated in the session, save your own working copy before entering information.

3. Make Small, Documented Changes

Denise shared examples of adjusting her title, changing the order of featured photos, and updating descriptions as the season changed.

The practical lesson is to keep track of what you changed and when.

Changing several things together makes it harder to understand what may have contributed to a result. Choose a manageable adjustment, record it, and allow time to observe.

Denise described improvements she saw after making changes to her own listing. Those observations are useful examples, but they do not establish a guaranteed result or a single cause.

4. Describe What Matters to Your Guests

A business name may mean something to you while telling a new visitor very little about the stay.

Denise explained how she used specific details about privacy, nearby trails, and access to the university and hospital to describe her accommodation.

Her photos also help guests understand the layout, kitchen, bathroom, and pet-friendly features.

Apply that thinking to your own listing. Why do people visit your area? What are they looking for? Which details help them decide whether your place is right for them?

Use accurate descriptions and images that reflect what guests will actually find.

5. Keep the Business Numbers in View

More visibility is useful when it leads to bookings that work for your business.

During the session, Denise discussed pricing, minimum stays, turnover work, and the experience she wants to provide. These decisions are connected.

Alongside search observations, review the costs and time involved in delivering each stay. Consider what your guests value and how your offer compares with relevant alternatives.

A fuller calendar needs to make sense for the business and the people running it.

6. Review Patterns Over Time

Denise suggested starting with a baseline, monitoring without changes during the first week, and continuing to record observations over the following month.

Choose a schedule you can maintain. One listing may be manageable to check frequently; several properties will need a different routine.

At your review, look at visibility, inquiries, bookings, availability, and the changes you recorded. Treat patterns as clues to investigate. Seasonality and changes elsewhere in the marketplace may also affect results.

Denise uses AI to help review her information, while keeping responsibility for the interpretation and decisions herself.

Resources From the Session

Use Denise’s presentation alongside the STR Visibility Intelligence Tracker to work through your own observations.

• View the presentation (PDF)
• Open the STR Visibility Intelligence Tracker

The tracker includes a field guide and space for two accommodations across seven readings. Save your own working copy and adapt it to the listings you manage.

Resources by Denise Miller, Experience Saghalie Consulting.

Start With One Listing

Choose one listing, define your search windows, and record your first observations.

You will have a clearer starting point the next time you wonder what changed.

Join the Firecircle Community for practical live sessions and conversations with other tourism entrepreneurs.

For additional platform context, read Airbnb’s explanation of how search results work.