OpenAI has introduced a new feature called ChatGPT Search (CGS), giving users the ability to find answers directly through conversational AI, without needing to sift through endless links or ads.
This shift towards direct, natural language search could have major implications for how buyers discover properties, how agents write listings, and how real estate businesses attract and engage their audiences online.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening — and what it might mean for the future of search, content, and property marketing.
Could This Be Google’s First Real Competition?
ChatGPT received a cool new piece of functionality recently: ChatGPT Search (CGS).
Here’s something interesting — if you’re using ChatGPT-4, you might have noticed a little box pop up offering to install an extension that lets you skip Google altogether when searching. Pretty bold move, right?
From what I’ve seen of the tool, it also offers a radically different user experience by addressing a big pain point: the need to dig through search results and step over a vast array of ads to solve the problem you’re looking to solve.
CGS neatly sidesteps this by delivering direct, conversational answers.
Instead of typing something into Google and getting a wall of links, you just ask CGS a question like you’re talking to a friend. It gives you a direct answer and can even search the web if needed. Want to know more? Just keep asking questions naturally — no need for those weird search engine keywords we’ve all gotten used to.
This is taking Google head-on, because both are trying to do the same thing: help us find answers. It reminds me a bit of when Google first showed up and changed how we searched for things online, pushing past Yahoo and others.
But these days, the rate of change is much quicker than it used to be.
Just look at the numbers, ChatGPT had over 3.1 billion visits in September 2024, up 112% from last year and nearly 19% from just the month before!
Now, Google is still the giant here with 82 billion visits in the same time period. But the interesting question is: will it stay that way?
What does this mean for SEO?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot, almost as much as I worried about ChatGPT taking my job back in November ’23!
As someone who publishes content online, I’ve got so many questions spinning around in my head:
- Should I jump on this AI Search thing now, or wait and see what happens?
- What exactly should I be getting ready for?
- Should I start paying more attention to Bing SEO since CGS will be using some of their search results?
- When Google’s AI looks at my website, does that count as a real visit?
- Will actual humans still come to my site, or will it just be AI bots checking things out?
Some interesting signs: ChatGPT has started adding its own tracking codes (UTM_source) to links, and we’re seeing some noticeable patterns.
YouTube’s getting a lot more visitors from ChatGPT — jumping from barely any (0.17%) in July to almost 4% in September. Bing and Amazon are seeing similar increases.
What does that tell us?
When people use AI chatbots to find information, they’re actually clicking through to visit the recommended websites and that could be really good news for real estate businesses trying to get more visitors to their sites.
What About Real Estate? Some Big Changes Coming
I’ve been watching how property searches are changing, especially in the US, where portals are starting to use chatbots and natural language alongside a myriad of other data points to help buyers.
A world-first conversational AI-based Home Search Portal?
Following the acquisition of Sam Altman-backed company, ZeroDown, Flyhomes has entered the real estate portal wars, setting sights on Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and Homes.com.
Imagine: instead of dropdowns and checkboxes, you could just type
"Find me a 3-bedroom house in Broadbeach Waters, walking distance to the beach, good for kids with nice primary schools nearby, under $2.5 million."Way easier, right?
What Might Change
- Homeseekers will ask longer, more detailed questions about properties.
- AI tools will understand complex requirements in everyday language.
- You’ll be able to search for homes that are ‘like’ another one you love, but in different suburbs.
- The AI might give you answers without needing to click around different websites.
- We’ll need to write property descriptions that both humans and AI can easily understand.
- Less random browsing, more exact matches for what people want.
What This Means for Agents
- You’ll probably get more serious buyers because they know exactly what they want.
- Buyers will show up on your digital doorstep with clearer ideas about what they’re looking for.
- You’ll need better tools to match properties to what buyers want.
How to Write Property Listings in the AI Age
Right now, we write property listings to get people excited about homes. That’s not going to change, but if I were to make an educated guess, we might need to add more structured information for the AI to understand:
Example of future listing structure:
- Property Type: House
- Bedrooms: 3
- Bathrooms: 2
- Parking: 2
- Land Size: 450sqm
- Distance to Transport: 400m to bus stop
- School Zones: Within catchment for [School Names]
- Lifestyle Features: 800m to beach, café strip
Today, we might write: “Close to transport.”
Tomorrow, we might need: “800m walk to Bondi Junction station (12 minutes to CBD), 400m to express bus stops on Oxford Street.”
And don’t worry — the AI will likely help you format all this information. You’ll just need to make sure it’s accurate.
What Should You Do About Your Content?
Whether you’re trying to get found on Bing, CGS, Perplexity, or whatever comes next, you still need solid content to get found.
If I owned a real estate business right now, I’d be:
- Creating detailed suburb guides.
- Setting up good tracking to monitor website visitors.
- Writing helpful content about:
- Property price trends
- Who lives where
- Upcoming developments
- Investment opportunities
- Rental returns
- Local shops, parks, and facilities
- Common homebuying questions
The Future of Search
For now, it’s important to keep doing the usual SEO work.
But we also need to think about how content will work with AI systems.
Here are three big factors shaping the future:
- Apple Intelligence — Apple is integrating ChatGPT features. More tech companies might either collaborate or compete to deliver AI search tools.
- OpenAI’s next moves — Could they launch their own internet browser, just like Google did with Chrome? If so, it could radically change online marketing.
- Changing web behaviours — People might browse fewer websites directly. They’ll get answers through AI, meaning we may need to build websites that cater to AI first, and humans second.
This story was originally published on AI Powered Agents.
