How to write your property description on Google, Booking.com, Airbnb and your website: limits, rules and what AI reads (2026)

Updated: 10 November 2026

Your property description is not written the same way everywhere: on Google you get a field with a limit and rules, on Booking.com the platform generates the text from your data, on Airbnb you can write it but with rules, and on your website you are in charge. This guide sums up what the official help pages of Google, Booking.com and Airbnb and Google Search Central's documentation say (checked on 10 November 2026). Whatever we could not confirm is marked «not confirmed». Nobody can guarantee that a search engine or an AI will show your text.

The short answer

The essentials:

Google Business Profile: up to 750 characters, no URLs or HTML code, and about the business, not promotions, prices or sales.
Hotels on Google: the «Hotel details» description is written by Google's team of writers. Whether a hotel profile can edit the business description: not confirmed.
Booking.com: the description is generated automatically from your extranet data; you don't write it, you request corrections for factual errors.
Airbnb: titles without emojis, symbols or misleading information (ideally under 50 characters), and no links taking guests off Airbnb.
Your website: Google builds snippets mainly from page content; for its AI features there are no special tricks: clear, indexed, consistent text.

Google Business Profile: 750 characters and what to leave out

According to Google Business Profile Help («Edit your Business Profile» and «Manage your Business Profile description»):

Limit: 750 characters in the description field. It appears in the «From the business» section.
Not allowed: URLs and HTML code. Google asks you to focus on the business «instead of» promotions, prices or sales.
How: on your profile, next to «Description», click Edit and then Save. Google reviews changes: they usually show in about 10 minutes and in some cases take up to 30 days.
In some regions and languages Google offers a suggested description based on your profile and other sources such as your website. Google warns that it «writes creative text»: check every fact before accepting it.
What to cover according to Google: what you offer, what sets you apart, how long you have operated and other useful information.

Hotels on Google: the description you don't write

What Google Hotel Center help says (FAQ for hotel owners, answer 7219055):

Descriptions in the «Hotel details» section are «summaries created by Google's internal team of writers» to give at-a-glance information.
Hotel amenities can be corrected in your dashboard if they are wrong: that is the way to make what Google says about you accurate.
Whether a profile in a hotel category can also edit the business description (750 characters): not confirmed. Official help pages don't say; a hotel technology provider (unofficial source) states that Google does not allow it. If you don't see the field, this is the likely reason.
Apartments, rural houses and other non-hotel categories usually see the «Description» field (not confirmed for every category).

Booking.com: Booking writes the description

According to Booking.com's Partner Hub (pages on the description and the host profile, updated about 3 months ago):

«The descriptions on your property page are automatically generated based on the info you provide on the Extranet». This lets Booking.com translate them: it is working to cover its 45 languages.
They are not changed unless there is a factual discrepancy. To ask: Extranet > Property > View your descriptions > report an error and describe the change. For each room, «Request a correction». No timeframe is given.
What you do control: facilities, services and room details, which feed the description. If a fact is wrong, fix it at the source.
Host profile: you can write about the property, the neighbourhood and/or yourself, in a personable yet professional tone. Personal details such as phone number, date of birth or email are not displayed.
The fine print cannot include mandatory costs, taxes, deposits or cancellation or payment policies: they go in their own fields.

Airbnb: title and description

According to Airbnb's Help Centre and Resource Centre:

Title: free, but without misleading information, symbols or emojis. Airbnb recommends under 50 characters (longer ones are shortened in search), a capital only on the first word, and not repeating the city or number of beds, which are already shown.
Hotels and multi-unit properties: title and description are generated automatically and you can change them whenever you like.
Title changes can take up to an hour to show.
The Content Policy applies to titles and descriptions: it bans content made mainly to advertise another business (including links or company names), spam and disclosing private information.
The off-platform policy bans links on listing pages that take people off Airbnb, and pre-booking communication must happen on Airbnb. Description character limit: not confirmed.

Your website: meta description and what Google's AI reads

According to Google Search Central («How to write meta descriptions», updated 20 April 2026, and «AI features and your website», updated 10 December 2025):

Google's snippets come mainly from page content; the meta description is used sometimes, if it describes the page more accurately.
There is no length limit, but it is truncated to fit the screen. Write a different one for each page, not a list of keywords, and include concrete facts.
AI Overviews and AI Mode: Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations. The page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet, with important content in text and structured data matching what is visible.
Google warns that indexing and serving are not guaranteed. The nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex tags limit what is shown.
How other assistants use your site (ChatGPT, Gemini outside Google Search, Claude, Copilot, Perplexity): not confirmed in official sources for this guide.

One fact sheet for every platform

Practical tips:

First write a list of verifiable facts: location and access, room types, check-in and check-out times, parking, pets, accessibility, languages and services with their hours.
From that list: 750 characters for Google (if you can edit), the Booking.com extranet fields, the Airbnb title and description, and a full page on your website.
Same facts everywhere: if you change a time or a service, change it everywhere on the same day.
Avoid superlatives you cannot prove and keep prices and offers out of descriptions: they expire and Google advises against them.
Keep screenshots of what you publish and of each correction request.

How iQuota helps

iQuota connects your property with AI assistants for direct booking, with no commission and payment at the property:

Your listing data (services, terms, availability) is what the assistant checks when searching and booking, written by you.
We don't promise bookings or that a given AI will show you: it depends on each assistant.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters can a Google Business Profile description have?

Up to 750, with no URLs or HTML code, focused on the business rather than promotions, prices or sales.

Why can't I edit my hotel's description on Google?

Google Hotel Center says the «Hotel details» description is written by its writers. Whether a hotel can also edit the business description is not confirmed in official help pages.

Can I write my own description on Booking.com?

Not directly: it is generated from your extranet data. You can request a correction for a factual error and write your host profile.

Can I put my website or phone number in my Airbnb listing?

Airbnb bans links on listings that take people off the platform and asks that pre-booking communication happen on Airbnb. An explicit ban on phone numbers in the description: not confirmed.

Do I need to optimise my description for Google's AI?

According to Google, there are no special requirements or optimisations for AI Overviews or AI Mode: helpful, text-based, indexed content eligible for a snippet is enough. Appearing is not guaranteed.

Sources

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