Founding operators pay 60% below the standard rate, and that rate is held for as long as they stay with us, and it does not rise on renewal, or when the standard rate does. Retainers start at RM 600 a month, the audit at RM 1,200. Founding rates close on 31 December 2026. Anyone who joins before then keeps the price permanently; anyone after pays the standard rate.
What you actually have to buy
Three steps, and only the first is compulsory. Most operators stop and think after it, which is the point of doing it first.
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Compulsory · start here
1 · The Audit
RM 3,000RM 1,200 one-timeYou walk away with: a dated record of what all four AI engines say about your property today, who they name instead of you, and what that gap costs you in ringgit against your own booking numbers, plus a fix list in the order that pays.
About an hour of your time. The report is yours to keep and act on even if you never speak to us again.
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Optional · only if you need it
2 · The Fix Sprint
RM 9,000RM 3,600 one-timeYou walk away with: the build work done. A site engines can actually cite, your listings and Business Profile in order, and a booking path that stops handing your own guests back to the OTAs.
Two to three weeks, about two hours of your time. Some properties come out of the audit needing very little, and we’ll say so.
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The ongoing one · cancel any month
3 · The Retainer
from RM 600 a month
You get, every month: your citation score and your direct-booking share on one page, the content and review work done for you, and your position defended as the engines keep changing.
About fifteen minutes of your time a month. No lock-in, no notice period, no exit fee.
The first operators shape the service, and they keep the founding rate for as long as they stay.
Every founding property tunes how the audit reads, how the monthly report looks and where the retainer spends its hours. Founding operators get that say, the founder on WhatsApp, and a rate held at 60% below standard for as long as they stay. Operators who join later get the settled practice at the standard rate.
Founding rates close 31 December 2026. After that the standard rates below apply to new clients only, never to anyone already enrolled.
How much does it cost to get a homestay found by AI assistants?
Stayfarer charges from RM 600 a month to get a 2 to 9 room homestay found by AI assistants, at the founding rate. The retainer is the product. The audit and the sprint below exist to make it work; the retainer is what holds and grows the position once it is won. Priced by the size of the property, because that is what determines both the size of your leak and the work involved.
| Your property | Typical OTA leak | Standard | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homestay · 2–9 rooms | ~RM 1,500–2,000 /mo | RM 600 /mo | |
| Boutique · 10–40 rooms | ~RM 12,600 /mo at 20 rooms | RM 1,200 /mo | |
| Hotel · 40–120 rooms | Larger again | RM 2,600 /mo | |
| Portfolio · several properties | Per property, added up | RM 4,800 /mo |
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What owners can pay elsewhere to be found by AI
On 15 September 2026 Stayfarer read the prices the AI visibility tools and services publish. A tracking tool that shows whether the engines name you costs USD 29 to 300 a month to start and leaves the work to you. The one agency we found that prints a fixed price charges USD 333 or USD 999 a month. Stayfarer’s retainer, which does the work for a 2 to 9 room homestay, is RM 600 a month at the founding rate.
| What you buy | Published price, read 15 Sep 2026 | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|
| A tracking tool, entry plan | USD 29 to 300 a month: Otterly USD 29, Peec AI USD 95, Profound USD 99 billed yearly, Scrunch USD 300 | You. The tool reports whether the engines name you |
| A done-for-you AI visibility service with a printed price | USD 333 or USD 999 a month, from the one agency we found that prints a fixed price | The agency |
| An agency retainer in the US and Canada | USD 4,000 to 12,000 a month, the range in a published June 2026 pricing guide | The agency |
| Bookings taken inside ChatGPT and Claude (Beeline) | 5% of each stayed booking, with a USD 0 monthly fee | Beeline takes the booking |
| An OTA listing | 15 to 25% of each booking, worked through here | The OTA owns the guest |
| Stayfarer’s retainer, 2 to 9 rooms | RM 600 a month, founding rate | Stayfarer, with a monthly report of where the engines name you |
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What you get, by tier
Everything below is in every tier. What changes with size is how much of it there is. More rooms means more room types to structure and a wider set of traveller questions to track each month.
| What you get | Homestay | Boutique | Hotel | Portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly report, where engines cite you, and your direct-booking share | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Weekly |
| Traveller queries tracked each month | 12 | 20 | 30 | 30 per property |
| Engines checked (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Properties covered | 1 | 1 | 1 | All of them |
| Content & review cadence run for you | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Listings and facts kept consistent everywhere | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| What changed in your market this month | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Room types structured for engines to read | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cross-property reporting and per-market pages | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Direct access to the founder, no account manager | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lock-in | None | None | None | None |
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What "held for life" actually means
The rate you enrol on is the rate you pay for as long as the engagement runs. Here is every situation that could change it, including the two that do:
| What happens | What it does to your rate |
|---|---|
| Our standard rates rise, and they will | Nothing. You stay on your founding rate. |
| Founding rates close on 31 December 2026 | Nothing, if you enrolled before then. The deadline governs who may join, never what an existing client pays. |
| You simply keep going, month after month | Nothing. There is no renewal uplift and no annual increase. |
| Your property grows into a bigger tier, so nine rooms becomes twenty | It changes. You move to that tier, at that tier's founding rate rather than its standard rate. |
| You ask for work outside the retainer's scope | Quoted separately, as it would be for anyone. |
| You cancel | The rate ends with the engagement. No notice period, no exit fee. |
| You cancel, then come back a year later | You come back at whatever rate is current then. |
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Questions owners ask us
What do AI visibility tools and services cost for a homestay?
On 15 September 2026 Stayfarer read the published prices: tracking tools start at USD 29 to 300 a month and leave the work to you, one AI visibility agency prints USD 333 or USD 999 a month, Beeline takes 5% of each stayed booking made inside ChatGPT and Claude, and Stayfarer’s retainer for a 2 to 9 room homestay is RM 600 a month at the founding rate.
Is the standard rate a real price or a made-up one to make the discount look bigger?
Real, and it is what new clients pay from 1 January 2027. You can check it against the market yourself: the table above lists the prices AI visibility tools and services published on 15 September 2026, from USD 29 a month for a tracking tool you run yourself to USD 999 a month for a done-for-you service, and a published guide puts agency retainers in the US and Canada at USD 4,000 to 12,000 a month.
What happens on 1 January 2027 if I have already enrolled?
Nothing. Your rate is unchanged, permanently. The deadline governs who may join at founding rates, never what an existing client pays.
Why is the audit required before a retainer?
Because without a dated baseline, the monthly report has nothing to compare against, and "we think it is working" is exactly the kind of claim this practice exists to replace. The audit is the before picture. It also occasionally tells us a property does not need a retainer yet, and we would rather find that out at RM 1,200 than three months into a monthly fee.
Do you guarantee we will be recommended by ChatGPT or ranked by Google?
No, and be careful with anyone who does. Nobody outside those companies controls what an engine answers, so a guaranteed citation is weather being sold to you. What is promised here is the evidence base, the work, and a monthly report honest enough to show you when it is not moving.
Which tier am I if I run several small units rather than one property?
Count rooms across the units and use the room count, not the number of buildings. A host with three three-bedroom units is a nine-room operator, not three homestays. The Portfolio tier only makes sense once the properties are distinct businesses with separate markets and separate reporting.
Can we pay in a currency other than ringgit?
Yes. The work is delivered remotely and clients outside Malaysia are expected. Quotes outside Malaysia are converted at the time and the same founding discount applies. Ask and we will put a figure in your currency in writing before anything starts.
Every engagement starts the same way, and it is not with a contract.
Send your property's name and where it is. You will get back what the engines currently say about you and an honest read on whether an audit is worth your money, and if it is not we will say so. If you would rather see for yourself first, the Position Check asks nothing of you at all.
It is the founder who replies. Founding rates close 31 December 2026.
Notes on these numbers
- All prices are in Malaysian ringgit and exclude any applicable tax. Retainers are billed monthly in advance; one-time work is quoted and agreed in writing before it starts.
- Market prices in the comparison table were read on 15 September 2026 from each vendor’s own pricing page (Otterly, Peec AI, Profound, Scrunch, Beeline, and one AI visibility agency’s services page) and, for the US and Canada retainer range, from DoodleWeb’s GEO pricing guide of 17 June 2026. They are re-read every month.
- The RM 12,600 monthly leak figure used above is the worked 20-room illustration from the OTA commissions guide, not a claim about your property. Your own statements are the only figure that settles it.
- Founding-rate window: opened 28 Jul 2026, closes 31 Dec 2026.