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More home movers are starting their property search with AI. Instead of scrolling through pages of Google results, they are asking tools like ChatGPT and Claude direct questions such as which estate agent to use in a specific town, or who is best for lettings in a particular area.
This change matters because AI tools do not simply surface a list of websites. They actively make recommendations. They shortlist, summarise and suggest. For estate agents, that creates both a risk and an opportunity.
The reassuring part is that succeeding here does not require a complete shift in strategy. Much of what helps estate agents perform well in general and in search engines also helps them appear in AI-generated recommendations. The difference is that instead of thinking only about SEO, it is now important to consider Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO.
Generative Engine Optimisation refers to the steps that make it easier for AI tools to trust and confidently recommend your agency.
It overlaps heavily with modern SEO, but the goal is slightly different. SEO focuses on ranking your pages highly in search results. GEO focuses on ensuring your agency is included when AI tools generate answers, summaries, or shortlists.
For estate agents, this distinction should feel reassuring rather than intimidating. The fundamentals still matter. Clear structure, fast-loading pages, useful content and strong trust signals remain the foundation. GEO simply places more emphasis on clarity, consistency, and credibility, because AI systems are far less tolerant of ambiguity.
AI-generated answers are typically built using a combination of learned patterns and live information pulled from the web. This includes trusted websites, local listings, reviews, brand mentions, and structured content such as FAQs and service pages.
In practical terms, this means AI tools are constantly cross-checking information. They look for consistency across your website, your Google My Business Profile, review platforms, and other third-party sources. They also assess whether your site clearly explains who you are, what you do, and where you operate.
If your website is slow, vague, or inconsistent, AI systems struggle to recommend you with confidence, even if your service is excellent. Uncertainty is often enough to remove an agency from consideration altogether.
If you are unsure where to start, there are a small number of areas that consistently deliver the greatest return. These are not new ideas, but they matter more than ever in an AI-driven discovery environment.
AI tools and search engines both rely on clean, accessible websites. Your pages should load quickly on mobile devices, key content should be easy to crawl and index, and navigation should feel simple and intuitive. Clear, readable URLs also help AI systems understand how your site is structured.
Strong technical foundations remain one of the most reliable drivers of visibility and lead volume. Without them, even the best content struggles to perform.
AI systems prefer certainty. Your website should make it obvious what services you offer, where you operate and who each service is designed for. Sales, lettings, and property management should be clearly explained, along with the towns, villages, and catchment areas you cover.
It should also be immediately clear what differentiates your agency from others nearby. If this information is vague or scattered, AI tools are forced to infer. In recommendation systems, inference introduces risk, and risk often leads to exclusion.
Estate agency is built on trust, and AI tools look for many of the same signals that humans do. Named team members with photos, detailed branch pages with real contact information, visible reviews and testimonials, and evidence of professional memberships or awards all help establish credibility.
These human signals make it easier for AI systems to assess whether your agency is legitimate, established, and worth recommending.
AI tools prioritise content that reduces uncertainty for users. This includes practical, locally relevant information such as how long it typically takes to sell in a specific area, the difference between guide price and asking price, EPC requirements, typical fees, and when an instant valuation is appropriate versus a home visit.
The key is to avoid writing content purely for algorithms. Content created to genuinely help buyers, sellers, and landlords tends to perform best across both traditional search and AI-driven discovery.
AI systems often verify information by comparing multiple sources. Your Google My Business Profile should match your website, your name, address, and phone number should be consistent across directories, and the services you list online should accurately reflect what you offer in practice.
Regular, responded-to reviews also play a role. Consistency builds confidence, and confidence increases the likelihood of recommendation.
Once the foundations are in place, there are a few additional tactics that can strengthen visibility and recommendability.
Adding FAQ sections to key pages is a simple but effective step. FAQs are easy for users to scan and easy for AI tools to interpret, particularly when answers are written clearly and in plain English. Valuation pages, landlord pages, branch pages, and contact pages are all strong candidates for this approach.
Publishing genuinely local content is another powerful lever. Articles based on local authority data, recent market activity, or area-specific insights tend to outperform generic property content. Topics such as what a certain budget buys in a particular town, realistic selling timelines, school catchment considerations, or local market commentary are useful to customers and difficult for competitors to replicate.
Finally, it is worth focusing explicitly on recommendability. Make it easy to understand why your agency deserves to be shortlisted. Clearly explain your service promise, response times, sales and lettings process, any specialisms or niches, and evidence of local success. The less effort required to understand your value, the more confident an AI system can be in recommending you.
Use this as a simple baseline to assess how well your website is positioned for both search engines and AI recommendations.
AI-driven discovery is evolving, but it does not replace the basics. Estate agents who invest in clarity, structure and trust are already doing much of what GEO requires. The goal is not to chase trends or game algorithms, but to make it easy for both customers and AI tools to understand who you are, what you offer, and why you are worth recommending.
If you would like a clearer picture of how your website performs across both search and AI discovery, our free AI assessment highlights practical improvements you can prioritise with confidence. Sign up here.
