How to Get More Customers as a Airbnb Host in Australia

Published by MoneyNearMe | Updated June 2025 | 10-minute read

Introduction

Most Airbnb hosts in Australia still rely on the platform's built-in search algorithm and the occasional word-of-mouth referral to fill their calendars. That approach worked fine in 2015, when there were a fraction of the listings competing for guests. Today, the landscape looks radically different.

Australia now has over 300,000 active short-term rental listings. Travellers compare options across Airbnb, Booking.com, Google Maps, social media, and increasingly, AI search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Research shows that 97% of consumers search online before making a purchase decision — and booking accommodation is no exception.

If you're an Airbnb host wondering why your occupancy rate has dropped, why enquiries have slowed, or why competitors with inferior properties seem to stay booked solid, the answer almost always comes down to online visibility. You're not getting found where guests are actually looking.

This guide walks you through exactly how to get more customers as an Airbnb host in Australia — step by step. We'll cover everything from Google Business Profile optimisation and local SEO to review generation, content marketing, and the emerging world of AI search. With the average Airbnb booking in Australia sitting between $150 and $400 per night, even a handful of additional bookings each month translates to thousands in extra revenue.

Let's get into it.

TL;DR

• This is a step-by-step guide to getting more customers as an Airbnb host in Australia
• We cover Google Maps, reviews, website optimisation, content marketing, and AI search
• Average Airbnb host booking value: $150–$400 per night
• Small improvements across multiple channels compound into significant occupancy gains
• You can DIY these steps or work with a specialist like MoneyNearMe to accelerate results

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Step 1: Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most powerful free tool available to you as a short-term rental host. When someone searches "Airbnb near Bondi Beach" or "holiday rental Byron Bay," Google serves up a map pack of local results before any website listing appears. If you're not in that map pack, you're invisible to a massive pool of potential guests.

Here's how to set it up properly:

Claim your listing. Head to business.google.com and either claim your existing listing or create a new one. Choose the category "Vacation Rental" or "Short-Term Rental" — whichever best fits your property. Google will verify your address via postcard, phone, or email.

Complete every single field. This isn't optional. Fill in your property name, address, phone number, website URL, business hours (or check-in/check-out times), and a detailed description. Google rewards completeness. Listings with full profiles receive 7x more clicks than incomplete ones.

Write a keyword-rich description. Don't just say "lovely apartment." Write something like: "Modern 2-bedroom holiday rental in Surry Hills, Sydney. Walking distance to Central Station, Crown Street dining, and Hyde Park. Perfect for couples and business travellers visiting the CBD." Weave in the suburbs and landmarks your ideal guests are searching for.

Upload high-quality photos. Listings with more than 10 photos generate 200% more direction requests. Photograph every room, the view, the neighbourhood, parking, and any unique amenities. Update photos seasonally — nobody wants to see a Christmas tree in July.

Post regular updates. Google lets you publish posts directly on your profile. Share local events, seasonal offers, property upgrades, or guest testimonials. This signals to Google that your listing is active and relevant.

Set up messaging. Enable the messaging feature so potential guests can contact you directly through Google. Respond within minutes, not hours. Google tracks your response time and factors it into ranking decisions.

Your GBP is effectively your shopfront on the world's largest search engine. Treat it like one.

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Step 2: Get Your Website Ranking for Local Keywords

Your Airbnb listing page is rented real estate — Airbnb owns it, controls the algorithm, and takes a cut of every booking. Your own website is property you own outright. Building a website that ranks for local keywords sends direct bookings your way, eliminates platform fees, and gives you full control over the guest relationship.

Start with your core keyword pages. You need dedicated pages targeting phrases like "Airbnb host [your suburb]," "holiday rental [your city]," and "short-term accommodation [your area]." Each page should target a specific location and service combination. For example, if you host in both Manly and Dee Why, create separate pages for each.

Build suburb-specific landing pages. This is where serious hosts separate themselves from amateurs. Create content-rich pages for every suburb or region you serve. A page titled "Holiday Accommodation in Margaret River" that covers local attractions, dining, seasonal events, and your property's proximity to each — that's what ranks in Google.

Nail the technical basics. Your site needs to load in under 3 seconds on mobile. It needs an SSL certificate (the padlock icon in the browser). It needs clean navigation, clear calls to action ("Book Direct" or "Check Availability"), and proper schema markup so Google understands your content is about accommodation.

Include your NAP everywhere. NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. It needs to appear consistently on every page of your site and match your Google Business Profile exactly. Inconsistencies confuse search engines and hurt your rankings.

Don't ignore internal linking. Every suburb page should link to your main booking page. Your blog posts should link to relevant property pages. This creates a web of relevance that helps Google crawl and rank your entire site.

If you're unsure where to start, our local SEO services for Airbnb hosts walk you through the entire process — or we handle it for you.

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Step 3: Build a Review Generation System

Reviews aren't just social proof — they're a ranking factor. Google weighs review quantity, quality, recency, and response rate when deciding which businesses to show in the map pack. Hosts with 50+ reviews and a 4.7+ star rating consistently outrank those with a handful of reviews, regardless of how nice the property is.

Ask at the right moment. The best time to request a review is within 24 hours of checkout, while the experience is still fresh. Send a short, personal message thanking the guest and including a direct link to your Google review page. Don't bury the ask — make the link the centrepiece of the message.

Use a template. Keep it simple:

"Hi [Name], thanks so much for staying with us! We really hope you enjoyed your time in [suburb]. If you have 60 seconds, we'd be so grateful if you could leave a quick Google review — it makes a huge difference for small hosts like us. Here's the link: [direct review URL]. Thanks again, and we'd love to host you next time you're in town!"

Respond to every review — good and bad. Thank positive reviewers by name and mention something specific about their stay. For negative reviews, respond calmly, acknowledge the issue, and explain what you've done to fix it. Potential guests read your responses just as carefully as the reviews themselves.

Automate where possible. Use a simple CRM or email tool to trigger review requests automatically after checkout. The less manual effort involved, the more consistently you'll collect reviews. Consistency is everything.

Never offer incentives for reviews. Google's guidelines prohibit it, and it erodes trust with savvy travellers. Just ask genuinely and make it easy.

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Step 4: Create Content That Attracts Customers

Content marketing isn't just for big brands. A well-written blog post can rank in Google for years, bringing a steady stream of potential guests to your website without a cent of ad spend.

Write local guides. "The 15 Best Restaurants Within Walking Distance of Our Airbnb in Fitzroy" is the kind of post that ranks for local food searches AND demonstrates the value of your location. Think about what your ideal guest would Google before or during their trip, and create that content.

Answer common questions. "Is it safe to walk around St Kilda at night?" "Where to park near Circular Quay?" "Best time to visit the Barossa Valley?" These FAQ-style posts capture long-tail search traffic and position you as a local authority. Guests trust hosts who clearly know the area.

Create seasonal content. Posts like "What to Do in Hobart Over Winter" or "Gold Coast Christmas Events 2026" capture seasonal search spikes and drive relevant traffic during peak booking periods.

Publish consistently. You don't need to write every day. Two well-researched, 800-word posts per month will compound over time. After 12 months, you'll have 24 pieces of evergreen content working around the clock to bring guests to your site.

Optimise every post. Include your target keyword in the title, first paragraph, at least one subheading, and the meta description. Add internal links to your property and booking pages. Include high-quality images with descriptive alt text.

For a deeper dive into content strategy for Airbnb hosts, check out our SEO guide for Airbnb hosts.

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Step 5: Optimise for AI Search (GEO)

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the newest frontier in digital marketing. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot are increasingly how travellers research accommodation. When someone asks ChatGPT "best Airbnb in the Blue Mountains for families," the AI pulls from web content to formulate its answer. If your property and brand appear in the sources it references, you get recommended.

How to get mentioned by AI search tools:

• Build topical authority. The more high-quality content you publish about your area and property type, the more likely AI models are to reference you. A host with 30 detailed blog posts about Byron Bay carries more authority than one with a single listing page.
• Get cited by third parties. AI tools weigh external mentions heavily. Guest reviews on Google, mentions in local tourism blogs, features in online publications — all of these increase your chances of being surfaced.
• Use structured data. Schema markup helps AI tools parse your content accurately. Mark up your property details, reviews, pricing, and location data.
• Answer questions directly. AI tools love content structured as clear Q&A. If your blog post directly answers "What's the best family Airbnb in Noosa?" with a concise, factual response, you're in the running.

GEO is still early, but the hosts who invest now will dominate as AI search adoption accelerates. We cover this in detail on our GEO for Airbnb hosts page.

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Step 6: Track Your Results

You can't improve what you don't measure. Here are the metrics that actually matter for Airbnb hosts focused on growth:

Google Business Profile insights. Track how many people viewed your profile, clicked for directions, visited your website, or called you. Monitor these monthly and look for trends after making changes.

Website traffic. Use Google Analytics (it's free) to track total visitors, traffic sources, and which pages get the most views. Pay close attention to organic search traffic — that's the channel with the highest long-term ROI.

Direct enquiries and bookings. Set up conversion tracking for your contact form, booking widget, phone calls, and email clicks. Knowing which channel drives actual bookings lets you double down on what works.

Keyword rankings. Track where you rank for your target keywords ("holiday rental [suburb]," "Airbnb [city]," etc.) using free tools like Google Search Console or paid tools like SEMrush. Movement in rankings is a leading indicator of future traffic growth.

Review velocity. Track how many new reviews you're getting per month. Set a target — say, four new Google reviews monthly — and build your system to hit it consistently.

Review your numbers every month. Marketing isn't a one-time project; it's an ongoing process of testing, measuring, and refining.

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When to Hire a Professional

Everything in this guide is achievable as a DIY project. But let's be honest — most Airbnb hosts got into hosting to earn passive income, not to become full-time digital marketers. If you're managing one or two properties while holding down a day job, finding 10+ hours a week for SEO, content, and review management isn't realistic.

That's where we come in.

At MoneyNearMe, we work specifically with Australian service providers and hosts who want to get found online by more customers. Our packages range from $500 to $2,000 per month depending on the scope — from basic Google Business Profile management and review systems to full-service local SEO, content marketing, and GEO optimisation.

What you get with us:

• A dedicated strategist who understands the short-term rental market
• Done-for-you Google Business Profile optimisation
• Local keyword research and suburb-level landing pages
• Monthly content creation and blog publishing
• AI search optimisation so you get recommended by ChatGPT and Perplexity
• Monthly reporting with clear, jargon-free results

If your average booking is worth $200 per night and our work generates just five additional bookings per month, that's $1,000 in extra revenue — minimum. Most of our Airbnb host clients see ROI within the first 90 days.

Get in touch with MoneyNearMe today and find out exactly what's holding your property back from full occupancy.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can Airbnb hosts get more customers online?

Optimise your Google Business Profile, build a direct booking website with local keyword pages, collect Google reviews consistently, and publish content that targets what travellers search for.

What's the fastest way to get more calls as an Airbnb host?

Claim and fully optimise your Google Business Profile. It's free, and most hosts see increased enquiries within two to four weeks of proper setup.

How much should I spend on marketing as an Airbnb host?

Allocate 5–10% of your gross rental income. For most Australian hosts, that's $500–$2,000 per month — enough to cover professional SEO and content marketing.

Is Google Ads or SEO better for Airbnb hosts?

SEO delivers better long-term ROI. Google Ads can supplement during peak seasons, but organic rankings and reviews generate consistent bookings without ongoing ad spend.

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Ready to stop losing bookings to competitors with worse properties? Talk to MoneyNearMe and let's build a marketing system that fills your calendar year-round.