Fake listings have emerged as a major problem for Airbnb, threatening to scare off consumers and prompting the short-term rental service to use AI in an effort to crack down on fraudsters.

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Airbnb says it has removed 59,000 fake listings and prevented another 157,000 from joining the platform this year.

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Fake listings are among several issues that Airbnb said that its users highlighted in a company survey. Others included high cleaning fees and a desire for lower prices.

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The San Francisco company said more than 260,000 listings have lowered or removed cleaning fees this year, since it gave consumers the means to sort listings in order of all-in pricing.

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Airbnb says the change in how prices are displayed discourages hosts from touting low prices but piling on extra fees. However, only about one-third of Airbnb renters are using it.

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Airbnb also said that later this year it will begin verifying all listings in its top five markets including the United States and the United Kingdom to combat an outbreak of fakes.

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Fake listings create refunds and rebooking costs for Airbnb, "but the biggest risk is to our reputation," CEO Brian Chesky said in an interview. "If you can't trust when you book an Airbnb that it's real and you're going to like it, then you're going to stay in a hotel."

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The company plans to use AI to help it verify listings in the top five countries.

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It will have hosts go inside the property and open the Airbnb app. GPS will verify they are at the correct address, and AI will be used to compare live photos with pictures that the host uses on the listing.

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Properties in the US, UK, Canada, France and Australia that pass the test will get a "verified" icon on their listings starting in February. The company said it will verify listings in 30 more countries starting late next year.