How does BNBCalc's AI pick Airbnb comps? (AI Underwriter)

What is AI Underwriter?

AI Underwriter is the second option under Choose your underwriting style in a BNBCalc property analysis, next to Select comps. Instead of starting from the top-earning half of the comps, it has AI review the closest candidate comps against your property and keep only the best matches. Your revenue estimate then becomes the median of those matches, and the line under the headline changes to "Median of the most similar comps selected by AI".

In the app's words, "AI reviews each listing and chooses the most similar based on capacity, amenities, and interior design." In practice, that means it looks at the listings' photos as well as their numbers. So a renovated home with a pool gets compared with other finished homes that have pools, rather than with every nearby home of a similar size.

When should I use AI Underwriter instead of Select comps?

Select comps works well when the comps near your address are broadly alike. AI Underwriter earns its keep when they aren't, for example when:

• your home is noticeably nicer, bigger or plainer than most of the comps around it;
• the area mixes very different kinds of rentals, such as resort homes and ordinary houses on the same street;
• an amenity like a pool, a hot tub or a game room matters to what your home earns, and you'd rather not judge every comp's photos yourself.

Since AI keeps a smaller set, its estimate can land above or below the Select comps figure. Both figures come from the same BNBCalc comps, so compare the two and read why AI picked each comp before you settle on the one that fits your home.

Who can use AI Underwriter?

AI Underwriter runs on analyses you own, on US properties with at least 4 comps. If something's missing, the option tells you why:

If you're signed out, clicking Search for property photos or Run AI Analysis opens the upgrade window instead. On a free account, you need at least one free analysis left to run it, although running it doesn't use that analysis up.

What photos does AI Underwriter need?

The AI compares your property's photos with the comps' photos, so it needs some. BNBCalc searches for photos of your property automatically when the analysis is created, mainly from public real-estate listings of the address, so it works for a home you're thinking of buying as well as one you already own. It needs at least 8 usable photos from that search. If it can't find enough, you'll see "BNBCalc couldn't find enough usable photos of this property. Add at least 5 of your own to run the analysis." You can also click Search for property photos to try again, and if a search fails, you can search again after 5 minutes.

The other route is Add your own photos, where you can upload 5 to 15 photos (JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC, up to 15 MB each) or paste image links, one per line. The app's tips are worth following, too: include the exterior, the main rooms, outdoor spaces and any standout amenities, and use wide daylight shots without people or floor plans.

Keep in mind that the photos you add show only in your own view of the analysis. In the app's words, they "stay hidden from anyone you share this analysis with."

How do I run AI Underwriter?

1. Open your analysis and scroll to the revenue section.
2. Click AI Underwriter under Choose your underwriting style. If it hasn't run yet, you'll see "Let AI pick the most similar comps".
3. If the option asks for photos, search for them or add your own (see above). Once it has enough, it reads "Ready for analysis".
4. Click Run AI Analysis. The note under the button says "Takes 30 seconds", and while it works you'll see stages such as "Preparing comp shortlist" and "Building benchmark set".
5. When it finishes, the headline changes to the new figure, the line under it reads "Median of the most similar comps selected by AI", and the comps table switches to the AI's picks.

How does the AI choose the comps?

AI Underwriter works from the comps BNBCalc already found for your address, so it never adds listings from elsewhere. First, it sets aside comps that are hard to judge or thinly booked: those with fewer than 2 photos, no nightly rate or occupancy, occupancy of 25% or less, fewer than 3 reviews, or a rating under 4.4. It ranks the rest by how closely their details match your home and sends up to 15 of the closest to the AI.

The AI then scores each of those candidates against your property and builds a benchmark set aimed at about five of the best matches. It needs at least three to replace your estimate, and it never keeps more than eight. It does see each candidate's revenue, occupancy and reviews, but it's told to match your home's tier rather than chase the top earners, so a high earner with a rarer amenity or a better spot nearby can be left out.

Your estimate becomes the median annual revenue of that set, and the occupancy and daily rate follow the same rules as Select comps. Since the set is small, ticking or unticking one comp moves the median more than it would in Select comps, so make sure to read that comp's note first.

How do I read AI Underwriter's results?

After a run, the comps table changes in four ways:

You can tick any comp in the Other comps list to bring it into the estimate, or untick one of the AI's picks. That way you keep the AI's judgment as a starting point while still making the final call.

As an example, a test run on a four-bedroom home in Kissimmee, Florida, on October 8, 2026, started from 25 comps. The AI reviewed 15 of them, picked 8 (the most it keeps) and listed the other 7 under Other comps, and the estimate moved from $48,905 a year on Select comps to $51,649. Your own result will differ, since every address has its own comps and the data updates over time.

What if AI Underwriter can't find enough good matches?

Sometimes the comps near an address are too different from your home for the AI to build a set it trusts. In that case you'll see "Not enough suitable comparables were found, so your current revenue estimate was kept." Nothing changes, and you can keep working with Select comps and its filters instead.

If the run fails for another reason, you'll see "We couldn't finish the analysis. Please try again." or a message that the AI service is temporarily unavailable. Wait a few minutes and run it again.

Can I switch back to Select comps?

Yes, at any time. Click Select comps and the estimate goes back to the median of your selected comps. Switching saves straight away, so the analysis reopens on whichever style you left it on, and once AI Underwriter has run, you can switch back to its picks without running it again. Clicking AI Underwriter before it has ever run doesn't change your estimate, and an analysis where it never ran opens on Select comps.

While AI Underwriter is the saved style, it carries through to the rest of your analysis. Viewers of a shared analysis see the AI-based estimate, and a printed report's comparable listing cards show the AI-picked set.

Can I get AI comps through the BNBCalc API?

Yes. When you create an analysis through the BNBCalc API, you can ask for AI comps in the same request, or add them later to an analysis your account owns. It works a little differently from the app, though. The API can't take uploaded photos, so it only runs when BNBCalc finds at least 8 listing photos of the property, and it sets revenue to the average of the AI-picked comps rather than their median. AI comps count as one AI step, which costs $0.10 on top of the report fee when it completes.