How many characters of an Airbnb description do guests see?

On the listing page the description is cut after roughly the first 500 characters, with a “Show more” link; on the app it is a little less. The title is cut at 32 characters in search results and on the card. Most guests never tap “Show more”, so the first 500 characters and the 32-character title are the whole listing for them.

What should the first 500 characters of an Airbnb description say?

Three concrete things in the order guests search for them: what the place is (bedrooms, type, street), the one or two things reviews mention most (the hot tub, the walk to the river, the desk), and the rule or fact that stops a wrong booking (dogs welcome, no air conditioning, stairs). Distances in minutes, sizes in numbers, no adjectives that every listing uses.

What should an Airbnb title be?

Thirty-two characters: three concrete things guests search for, in the order the reviews mention them, like “Hot tub, river trail, real desk”. Not “Cozy” or “Beautiful”, because every listing says those and they tell a guest nothing. Count the characters; the cut is at 32 and a title that ends mid-word reads as careless.

Should I put the house rules in the first 500 characters?

One of them, the one that would otherwise cause a cancelled booking or a bad review: the dog rule, no air conditioning, the 10 pm quiet rule, the three flights of stairs. The full rules go in “Other things to note”. A guest who reads the dog rule in the first screen either books happily or moves on; either is better than a booking followed by a question.

Does Airbnb rank listings on the description?

Airbnb does not publish its ranking rules, and nobody can promise a search position or a booking from a description. What a better first 500 characters reliably changes is what happens after the click: whether a guest keeps reading, and whether the guests who book are the right ones.

Guide · 17 October 2026

The first 500 characters of an Airbnb description: what guests see before “Show more”.

Airbnb shows about 32 characters of your title and the first 500 characters of your description before the “Show more” link, and most guests never tap it. This page is what to put in that space, in what order, with a before-and-after example you can copy the shape of.

Rewrite my listing, $39

Mara and her house in Bend, in the example, are made up. A real rewrite comes only from the host's own eight answers.

The short answer

Guests decide from the card and the first screen. On the card: a photo, about 32 characters of title, the price, the rating. On the listing page: the photos, then the first 500 or so characters of your description, then “Show more”. So the title names three concrete things guests search for, and the first 500 characters say what the place is, the one or two things your reviews mention most, and the one rule that stops a wrong booking. Minutes, numbers and nouns; no “cozy”, no “beautiful”, no “close to everything”.

What the cut looks like

Before: the whole description, 202 characters, and still nothing to go on

“Beautiful cozy 2 bedroom home in Bend! Fully equipped kitchen, close to everything, hot tub, perfect for your getaway. We love our home and hope you will too! Dogs allowed with fee. Fast wifi. Book now!”

Six adjectives, one fact (two bedrooms), one real selling point (the hot tub) buried in a list, and the dog rule with no number. A guest learns nothing they could not get from the photos.

After: the same house, 363 characters, every sentence a fact

Two-bedroom house on a quiet street in Bend, 12 minutes’ walk to the Deschutes River Trail from the back gate. Hot tub on the deck under two big ponderosas. A proper work setup in the second bedroom: 27-inch monitor, real chair, fast wifi. Dogs welcome (two max, $40). Old Mill District is a 4-minute drive, two breweries a 15-minute walk, Mt Bachelor 35 minutes.

What the place is, the three things reviews mention (the trail, the hot tub, the desk), the dog rule with its number, and four distances in minutes. It fits before the cut with room to spare, so the guest who taps “Show more” is already sold.

What goes in the 500 characters, in order

What it is, in one sentence. Bedrooms, the kind of place, the street or the part of town, and one locating fact: “Two-bedroom house on a quiet street in Bend, 12 minutes’ walk to the river trail from the back gate.” About 100 characters.
The one or two things your reviews mention most. Open your last twenty reviews and count. Whatever guests wrote about unprompted (the hot tub under the trees, the desk, the view from the bath) is what the next guest is looking for. One sentence each, with a detail they can picture: “under two big ponderosas”, “27-inch monitor, real chair”. About 200 characters.
The rule that stops a wrong booking. Dogs (and the fee and the limit), no air conditioning, stairs, a shared entrance, a strict quiet hour. One line, plain, with the number. About 50 characters. It costs you the bookings you did not want.
Distances, in minutes, from this door. Two to four places guests actually go, split walk and drive: “Old Mill District 4-minute drive, two breweries a 15-minute walk.” About 120 characters. This is what “close to everything” was hiding.

That is roughly 350 to 470 characters, which leaves room before the cut. Count them in a notes app before you paste; Airbnb's box does not show you where the cut falls.

The 32-character title

Three concrete things, in the order the reviews mention them, with commas: “Hot tub, river trail, real desk” (31 characters). The test for each word: would a guest type it into a search? “Hot tub” yes. “Cozy” no. “Stunning” no. Names of the neighbourhood, the beach or the mountain are worth their characters; “home away from home” is not. Count to 32 and stop; a title that is cut mid-word on the card reads as careless, and the card is the first thing a guest sees.

Three mistakes that waste the first screen

Opening with a welcome. “Welcome to our lovely home! We hope you enjoy your stay as much as we do.” That is 70 characters of nothing, in the most valuable space on the page. Start with what the place is.
Adjectives instead of nouns. “Beautiful, cozy, spacious, modern, perfect.” Every listing in your town says these, so they cannot help a guest choose yours. Replace each with the thing it was describing: “spacious” becomes “dining table for six”; “modern” becomes “renovated in 2024, induction hob”.
The rule hidden below the cut. A dog fee, no air conditioning or three flights of stairs discovered after booking is the one-star review you can see coming. Put it in the first screen, with its number, and the wrong guests select themselves out.

See the whole rewrite

The sample rewrite shows Mara's original, the eight answers she sent, and every section rewritten: the title, the first 500 characters, the space, guest access, other things to note and the neighbourhood, each with one line on why. That is exactly what a real order looks like.

Would rather we wrote it from your facts?

Our listing rewrite: you send the listing link and eight answers (your best guests, what reviews say, the three things you would mention first, the rules, what is near, the platform, the country) and within 1 day you get the 32-character title, the first 500 characters, and every other section rewritten from your facts, inside each box's limit, with one line on why for each. You paste it in from your own account; we never log in. One free round of changes. Nothing invented, and no ranking or booking result promised.

Rewrite my listing, $39

$39 · £32 incl. VAT · A$59 · C$55 · back in 1 day · one free round of changes. A guest broke something? The damage claim, written, $29.

Questions

How many characters of an Airbnb description do guests see?: On the listing page the description is cut after roughly the first 500 characters, with a “Show more” link; on the app it is a little less. The title is cut at 32 characters in search results and on the card. Most guests never tap “Show more”, so the first 500 characters and the 32-character title are the whole listing for them.
What should the first 500 characters of an Airbnb description say?: Three concrete things in the order guests search for them: what the place is (bedrooms, type, street), the one or two things reviews mention most (the hot tub, the walk to the river, the desk), and the rule or fact that stops a wrong booking (dogs welcome, no air conditioning, stairs). Distances in minutes, sizes in numbers, no adjectives that every listing uses.
What should an Airbnb title be?: Thirty-two characters: three concrete things guests search for, in the order the reviews mention them, like “Hot tub, river trail, real desk”. Not “Cozy” or “Beautiful”, because every listing says those and they tell a guest nothing. Count the characters; the cut is at 32 and a title that ends mid-word reads as careless.
Should I put the house rules in the first 500 characters?: One of them, the one that would otherwise cause a cancelled booking or a bad review: the dog rule, no air conditioning, the 10 pm quiet rule, the three flights of stairs. The full rules go in “Other things to note”. A guest who reads the dog rule in the first screen either books happily or moves on; either is better than a booking followed by a question.
Does Airbnb rank listings on the description?: Airbnb does not publish its ranking rules, and nobody can promise a search position or a booking from a description. What a better first 500 characters reliably changes is what happens after the click: whether a guest keeps reading, and whether the guests who book are the right ones.
Can someone rewrite my listing for me?: Yes. On this site a host sends the listing link and eight answers (best guests, what reviews say, the three things you would mention first, the rules, what is near) and we rewrite the title, the first 500 characters, the space, guest access, other things to note and the neighbourhood, within 1 day, for $39 (£32 incl. VAT, A$59, C$55). You paste it in from your own account; we never log in. Nothing is invented and no booking result is promised.