Estate agents are being urged to overhaul their digital strategy as AI-driven search reshapes how homeowners find property professionals.
With tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews increasingly delivering direct answers rather than traditional search listings, visibility is no longer just about keywords and rankings. It is about whether AI systems recognise an agent as a trusted, authoritative source.
Marketing group Nurtur says many agents risk losing long-term brand equity by relying too heavily on third-party portals and external AI platforms to generate exposure.
The warning centres on three emerging disciplines: AIO (AI Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). While often bundled together, they represent a structural shift in how online authority is built.
OPTIMISATION MATTERS
Ben Sellers (main picture), Co-Founder of Starberry, part of Nurtur, says agents must ensure this optimisation happens on their own websites rather than on external platforms.
And he adds: “Crucially, this optimisation must happen on the agent’s own website, where long-term value and authority are built.”
He warns that while some AI visibility tools promise quick wins by enhancing portal listings, the authority and trust signals generated typically benefit the host domain, not the agent.
LONG-TERM VISIBILITY
He says: “As AI search accelerates, estate agents need to think carefully about where their authority is being built. Optimising for AIO, AEO and GEO directly on your own website means you are building long-term visibility, trust and brand equity that you actually own.
“Too often, agents are being encouraged to feed content into third-party platforms without realising that the authority and AI trust signals accrue to that platform, not their own brand.”
Sellers adds that agents who invest early in owning their AI visibility will be far better positioned as homeowners increasingly turn to AI tools to ask who they should trust to sell their property.
