Merit-based search ranking

How hosts rise in search

Finding Retreats rewards excellence, not spend. Every ranking factor can be improved through genuine effort. None require paying more commission.

The five pillars

Your composite score is a weighted sum of these five categories.

Listing Quality

15%

Completeness of your listing and host profile — photos, bio, qualifications, identity verification.

Guest Trust

37%

Guest reviews, guest experience sub-ratings, and repeat bookings. The most weighted pillar because social proof is the largest driver of retreat purchase decisions.

Host Engagement

20%

Response speed, response rate, and how findable your listings are in search (SEO quality).

Operational Reliability

23%

Host cancellation rate, calendar freshness, and onboarding completeness (banking, verification, first listing).

Community & Contribution

Programme diversity and platform contribution — small positive weight.

Plus a safety veto: any substantiated safety incident caps your composite score at 40 until resolved.

Ranking tiers

Your composite score maps to a visibility tier.

Tier	Score	What it means
Premier	85–100	Featured placement, homepage, category top
Established	65–84	Strong organic placement in search
Active	45–64	Standard search placement
New	25–44	Lower placement, "New" badge shown
Inactive	0–24	Deprioritised, listing review recommended

What cannot buy ranking

The following are explicitly excluded from the algorithm. We publish this list publicly so there's no ambiguity.

Commission rate paid to the platform
Advertising spend or promoted-listing fees
Relationship with the platform team
Length of time listed (beyond the new-host grace period)
Number of external social-media followers

How to improve

Complete your host profile: photo, bio (50+ words), qualifications.

Verify your identity via Stripe Identity — a binary signal that significantly lifts Category A.

Reply to guest inquiries within 4 hours to maximise Factor 11 (the most weighted engagement signal).

Keep your calendar fresh — update availability at least monthly.

Set a high SEO score on your listings using the built-in editor tools.

Deliver excellent retreats. The Guest Trust pillar is weighted at 37% for a reason.

Appeals

If you believe a factor score is wrong, you can submit an appeal. Appeals are acknowledged within 48 hours and decided within 5 working days. Force-majeure cancellations, vexatious disputes, and platform errors are all legitimate override grounds.

Contact support

The ranking system is deliberately published because transparency is the point. If anything here is unclear or feels unfair, we want to hear about it.