We stayed at the House of the Grouse, and we build websites for a living — so we looked at how a new guest finds your cabins, scored what we found across five categories, and built you a demo site. Scan the QR code below to see it on your phone. No commitment, no pressure — page 2 answers the questions you're already thinking.
Your Current Score (owned presence)
15
/ 100
Your Airbnb game is elite. This measures what YOU own.
Local SEO (Google Search)
15%
Trust Signal Ownership
45%
Score is our professional assessment, not a tool-generated metric.
Your score over time with The Refiners Co
AI Search is an emerging category — no site scores 100% today. 88% reflects the realistic ceiling with full optimization. Projections based on site structure, SEO signals, and consistent monthly work.
You Rent the Shelf You Sit On
Ten years, eight cabins, 1,657 five-star reviews — and every bit of it lives on platforms you don't control. If Airbnb changes its algorithm, fees, or rules tomorrow, your business changes with it. There is no website, no brand name, and no guest list that belongs to you.
Google Already Loves Your Cabins — Someone Else Gets the Click
Search "grand marais cabin rentals" and Google's top result shows YOUR cabins ($174-$197/night, pulled from OTA feeds). The click goes to the platform, which takes its cut. Meanwhile, small owner-run cabin sites (Bearskin, Skyport, Eve's Place) rank on page 1 with far weaker review counts than yours.
1,657 Guests You Can't Reach
Your reviews prove people love staying with you and come back. But the platforms own every guest relationship — you can't email past guests a winter offer, a new-cabin announcement (Gray Duck has 4 reviews and needs exactly that), or a simple "we have openings this fall."
AI Search: No Signals Present
ChatGPT and Google AI now answer "best cabins in Grand Marais" directly, pulling from structured data and owned websites. With no site, your only AI presence comes through aggregators. Roughly 2,200 searches a month happen in the Grand Marais lodging cluster — nearly double that in July.
A Brand Home for All Eight Cabins
One site that presents the whole collection — harbor bungalows to off-grid saunas — with your story, your reviews, and your voice. Which means a guest who loved the Grouse discovers the other seven, instead of losing you in Airbnb search.
Nothing About Your Bookings Changes (Yet)
Every button on the demo books through your existing Airbnb calendars. When you're ready, a booking engine (OwnerRez, Lodgify) adds true direct booking that stays synced with Airbnb and Vrbo — no double bookings, ever.
Built to Rank for Grand Marais Searches
LodgingBusiness schema, city-specific copy, and pages structured for the searches that matter: "grand marais cabin rentals," "grand marais lodging," "north shore cabin rentals." The sites outranking you today are weaker than yours would be.
Built to Be Cited by ChatGPT and Google AI
Structured FAQ content ("which cabins have saunas," "which sleeps 12"), schema markup, and an llms.txt file. When someone asks AI where to stay in Grand Marais, your cabins have what it takes to be the answer.
The Search Demand
~2,200/mo
Monthly searches in the Grand Marais lodging cluster (Google Ads data, July 2026). Peaks near double in summer.
What Direct Bookings Keep
~15%
The platform layer on every booking. At your listed $174-$197/night, that's real money on every single stay, every year.
Your Investment
Scoped Together
This is a custom build, not a package. We'll scope it to what you actually want — brand site first, booking engine when ready.
![QR code to preview the cabin collection website]()
Scan with your phone
Your website is already built.
See it right now.
All eight cabins, your real reviews, your real story — on a site that belongs to you. The name "Grand Marais Cabin Co." is just our placeholder; the brand is yours to name. Tell us what to change and we'll change it.
- All 8 cabins, one collection
- Your 1,657 reviews front & center
- Your North Shore story
- Books through your Airbnb today
- Direct-booking ready for tomorrow
- Explore-Grand-Marais local guide
- Built for Google and AI search
- Mobile-first, fast, yours
What the build covers across all five categories — and what it takes to go further
Website (Owned)
With Refiners Co: 90%
To reach 100%:
- A page per cabin with full photo galleries
- Your own domain and brand name (your call, not ours)
- Professional portfolio photography
- Seasonal availability highlights
Local SEO / Google Search
With Refiners Co: 78%
To reach 100%:
- Content targeting each search ("cabins with saunas," "sleeps 12," "pet friendly")
- Google Business Profile for the brand
- Listings on northshorevisitor.com and local directories
- Links from Grand Marais tourism and chamber pages
Trust Signal Ownership
With Refiners Co: 85%
To reach 100%:
- Review stream imported and updated monthly
- Guest email list built from day one
- Google reviews for the brand itself
- Press/feature mentions (your story is genuinely good)
AI Search Visibility
With Refiners Co: 88%
To maximize (ceiling ~90%):
- FAQ content refreshed as AI systems update
- Per-cabin schema so AI cites each stay by name
- Answer-first guide content AI can quote
- llms.txt kept current as the collection grows
Direct Booking Power
With Refiners Co: 69%
To reach 100%:
- Booking engine live (OwnerRez/Lodgify, synced calendars)
- Repeat-guest email offers (winter rates, new cabins)
- Direct-booking perk (early check-in, sauna hour)
- Gift cards for the holiday season
The pieces, so nothing is a mystery — all optional, all yours to sequence
| Piece |
What it includes |
Why it matters for you |
Price |
| Brand Site (this demo, finished) |
Your name and domain, all 8 cabins, story, reviews, local guide, schema, AI-readiness — polished with your input and photos |
The foundation everything else builds on. Even linking out to Airbnb, it captures search demand and builds YOUR brand, not theirs. |
Scoped together |
| Your Own Domain |
We register the domain you pick (grandmaraiscabinco.com and staygrandmarais.com both looked available as of July 11), connect it, and run the launch checklist |
A real address for business cards, guest welcome books, and word of mouth. |
At cost (~$12/yr) |
| Booking Engine Setup |
OwnerRez or Lodgify connected to all 8 calendars, direct checkout, payment processing, synced with Airbnb/Vrbo |
This is where direct bookings become real: guests book on your site, calendars stay perfectly synced, and the platform layer stays in your pocket. |
Scoped together |
| SEO Content |
2 posts per month targeting North Shore searches (from your own guidebook material), keyword tracking, citation audit |
Your Airbnb guidebook is already great content — publishing it on your own site is what makes Google and AI send you the traffic. |
$299/mo |
| Photo Coordination |
Local photographer sourced and briefed, shot list per cabin, photos delivered self-hosted and ready |
Your listings' photos work hard on Airbnb; a portfolio shoot makes the brand site (and the listings) hit harder. |
$99 + photographer |
Monthly services follow our standard terms: 3-month minimum, then month-to-month with 30 days notice. Project pieces are one-time and scoped before any commitment.
Questions you will probably ask us (and honest answers)
Why did you build this before talking to us?
Because we stayed at the House of the Grouse and loved it, and showing beats telling. Everything on the demo came from your public listings — your photos, your reviews, your bio. If any of it feels off, we change it or delete it. Your call entirely.
Will this hurt our Airbnb performance?
No — and this matters. The site sends bookings through your existing listings today, which Airbnb rewards. If you later add a booking engine, it syncs calendars with Airbnb and Vrbo in real time. Most successful hosts run hybrid: platforms for discovery, direct for repeat guests.
Do we have to leave Airbnb?
Absolutely not. Airbnb is excellent at finding you NEW guests. The site is about the 1,657 people who already stayed: when they want to come back, they book with you directly instead of paying the platform layer again — and Gray Duck gets announced to people who already love you.
What does something like this cost?
Honestly: it depends on how far you want to go, which is why the handout says "scoped together" instead of a number. A brand site is one conversation; a full direct-booking operation is another. We'll put real numbers on paper after we hear what you actually want. No obligation either way.
Who owns the website?
You do. The domain is registered in your name, the site is yours, and if we ever part ways you keep everything. We don't hold sites hostage — our only retention strategy is doing work you're happy to keep.
We're busy running 8 cabins. How much of our time does this take?
The demo is already built. From you we'd need: your reaction, your preferred name for the brand, and about an hour to get details right (which cabins allow pets, minimum stays, the stories behind the names). We handle everything else.