How people search for information is constantly evolving. The Yellow Pages and paper A-to-Zs were consigned to the bin when Google arrived. Web developers were quick to advise on SEO strategies, with agents consumed by topping Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Is that effort wasted? Will you have to delete all your property website copy and start again? There is good news if you have been trying to please the SEO overlords as GEO and AEO share core objectives, although adjustment will be necessary.

Copy is still king

“Current copy on an agent’s website is far from redundant. In fact, it’s more important than ever,” says Pernilla Tweddle at PropertyStream. “The value of copy hasn’t changed – it’s the technology that interprets it that has.”

The old nirvana of packing copy with key words isn’t dead – SEO still has its place in – but Pernilla points out that AI-driven tools understand context, tone and intent in addition to key words. “Well-written, descriptive content – without waffle – now has a bigger impact than key word stuffing ever did.” 

Searching in more than one place

Understanding how property website copy should be structured moving forwards means understanding where people now search online and why. “AI-powered searches complement, supplement and sometimes replace Google searches,” says Superb Digital’s Paul Morris.

AI-powered search platforms, including ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Perplexity and Google’s Gemini, have muscled in at great speed. Collectively known as large language models developed by OpenAI, they crawl vast amounts of online information and respond to requests using human-like dialogue.

When it comes to real-time, comprehensive and verified search results, Google is still the go-to.”

“Search behaviour is diversifying, not shifting wholesale,” adds Pernilla. “People often use AI for conversational answers, summaries and inspiration but when it comes to real-time, comprehensive and verified search results, Google is still the go-to. As such, agents should prepare for a world where customers use both Google and AI-powered search platforms.”

The art of AI conversation

AI-powered search platforms have quickly established themselves as the favoured place to ask questions in a way Google never has. “AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini are evolving into answer engines,” comments Art Division’s Nelly Berova.

It’s a search format people are lapping up, with a 2025 survey conducted by Innovating with AI revealing 83% of respondents found AI search tools more efficient than traditional search.

In fact, Nelly believes it’s entirely plausible that AI tools will start to displace property portals as the first stop for property seekers. “A buyer might ask ChatGPT “Show me 3-bedroom homes near good schools in Bristol under £450k,” instead of manually filtering on Rightmove.”

If you’ve ever used ChatGPT et al, you’ll instinctively ask it a question. Instead of a Google-esque list of urls to click, AI-powered search platforms answer questions in full. “They pull information directly from authoritative online content, such as blogs, areas guides and evergreen articles, serving more than just one line of text”, adds Nelly.

Now for the million dollar question – how does an agent appear in an AI-generated answers?

Are you being served?

We’re now in the territory of GEO – Generative Search Optimisation. “An AI bot wants to answer a question as comprehensively as possible, using exclusively what it finds online,” comments Daniel Lack from Estate Track.

Movers will naturally ask questions like Who are the best estate agents in Tonbridge? and Is there a letting agent in Lincoln that has a very good reputation for looking after landlords? The answers will come from websites that provide the best match. Crucially, the names and urls of the best matching agents will be shown.

“GEO is looking for very high relevancy levels,” adds Daniel. “If an agent wants to be in the mix of answers, their website content will need to be structured in a GEO friendly way.” So, what does that look like in practice?

“The ideal property website should have a content knowledge bank that answers every question a mover might have,” adds Daniel. “This should be the core content objective even before considering GEO.

“It’s a double win – if a comprehensive website is a mover’s first port-of-call, it might be the only place they need do their research, keeping them close to your business. If they’re exclusively using an AI-powered search platform, a content-rich website will help your agency appear in the answers.”

Snippets are also special

It was just over a year ago that Google made AI Overviews widely available in the UK. These snippets of information now appear at the very top of SERP pages when someone asks Google a question. They even appear above sponsored links, making them a super-valuable search currency. The snippet provides a direct answer to the question, presenting, ‘when’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ information in easily digested bullet points.

So how do agents appear in an AI Overview? It’s now we introduce AEO – Answer Engine Optimization. AEO helps a business appear in AI Overviews by, in part, using structured data and schema markup to answer people’s questions.

While some of this is for a web developer to tackle, there is good news when it comes to content. There’s a strong synergy between AEO and GEO, so creating copy that primarily answers commonly asked property questions works across both.

Zero or hero?

Serving users with large amounts of data from a variety of sources, in the form of AI Overviews or AI-generated answers, has created a new search phenomenon – zero-click searches.

You can keep engaging with ChatGPT, for example, until you have rinsed every piece of property data online dry – no clicking on links or opening new tabs – and it’s this convenience that should compel agents to create GEO and AEO content.

Agents should create copy that targets AI Overviews because these ‘answer boxes’ are where users increasingly find their information.”

“Many users now get what they need without clicking through to a company’s website. This can reduce organic traffic to an agent’s website,” observes Pernilla. “Agents should create copy that targets AI Overviews because these ‘answer boxes’ are where users increasingly find their information.”

Creating copy that makes the cut

If you’re wondering what makes property website copy AEO, GEO and SEO friendly, read on. AI powered searches are looking for content that follows the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles.

“AI powered platforms and Google search in a very human way, looking for EEAT benchmarks,” says Paul. “Agents need to position themselves as the authoritative, trusted thought leader using content.”

Be prepared to boast

You can improve your experience and expertise credentials by creating a Meet the Team page populated with staff profiles, adding any qualifications held by employees. Your About Us page should detail how many years you have been trading and how many branches are in your network.

Additionally, should always blog when you win an award or see an customer review rating improve – the effect will be amplified if you add an author bio at the end of each article, linking to their staff profile or LinkedIn page.

Display granular knowledge

Authoritativeness can be boosted with area guides. “Hyper local areas guides are great for ticking the AEO, GEO and SEO boxes,” adds Paul. “Talking about local schools, restaurants, coffee shops and gyms in a neighbourhood sends AI the signal that you’re the local expert. Additionally, content that examines house prices, rental values and completion timeframes in a localised area is more likely to answer movers’ questions when they’re in their discovery phase.”

Blog it like it’s hot

Blogs also allow agents to display expertise and authority on property subjects, especially when the provide the answers to movers’ most commonly asked questions. Agents should easily be able to identify what these questions just through experience.

Once there’s a list, a regular blog schedule can be created, tackling each topic. The blogs could even take a ‘frequently asked questions’ or Q&A form to clearly signal to AI bots that the content is relevant.

Paul adds that PR is increasingly relevant: “It’s a great way to endorse an agent’s position in a community. Of course, turn sponsorships or charity donations into a blog but send out a press release to local, national and trade publications too. It all matters, especially if it’s published online for Google and large language models to crawl.”

The long game

Even the length of your content will need consideration in the new AEO/GEO world, as Nelly explains: “Long- and short-form content both have their place but long-form is where the real power lies. A 300-word snippet won’t compete with a 1,500-word guide that goes into meaningful detail.”

Long-form content gets indexed better, increases dwell time and offers more material for AI systems to draw from.”

“Long-form content gets indexed better, increases dwell time and offers more material for AI systems to draw from. Shorter pieces, like news updates or quick market commentaries, can supplement this strategy but the foundation must be comprehensive, evergreen long-form content,” Nelly adds.

Social proof

At the time of writing, the trustworthiness elements of EEAT is the most critical. Any question that asks for the best, most reliable, fastest selling or professional agent in a given area will be answered by crawling review sites. And here’s the killer.

Each AI-powered search platforms will scan different sites, so agents need to pay attention to them all – Yell, Facebook, GetAgent, ThreeBestRated, AllAgents, Google, Trustpilot and Feefo. Even negative recruitment reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed will form part of the picture.

AI will read published testimonials and reviews, matching up keys words in the question with what exists online. “AI has never used an estate agent so it mines websites for positive reviews, looking for evidence of trust and authority,” comments Daniel.

AI prioritises quantity over scarce quality so those brilliant but boutique agents will need to invest in their online content and reptation.”

Social proof matters even more if you’re an independent or new agency. “If you’re a small agent trying to get listed in generative research, you’ll need to work harder against the bigger brands. They’ll have more exposure, more PR, more branches and more resources. Crudely put, AI prioritises quantity over scarce quality so those brilliant but boutique agents will need to invest in their online content and reptation,” adds Daniel.

Testing, testing

Daniel says the best way for agents to appreciate the importance of good customer reviews is to run their own tests on AI-powered search platforms and on Google.

Ask Gemini to recommend the best estate agent in your given area and examine the results.”

“Ask Gemini to recommend the best estate agent in your given area and examine the results. Then ask the same question in ChatGPT, then on Google. You’ll get different results every time, highlighting how agents need to be across all customer review portals. Tweak the question and the results will vary again.”

Agents can run similar tests to determine what other content they might need to improve their GEO and AEO profile. If you ask ‘What’s the average price for a three-bedroom house in Chichester,’ don’t be surprised if there isn’t a single answer taken from an estate agent’s website.

Instead, data will come from HousePriceHistory.co.uk or housesforsaletorent.co.uk. It’s this omission that presents agents with an opportunity to create hyper local content that AI will love.

It’s not a ‘one and done’ project

Finally, we can’t talk about property website content without mentioning relevancy and re-evaluation. Bear in mind AI loves to rank – it’s how it determines who is good enough to feature in answers and overviews. Current, accurate and newly published copy will be prioritised.

Paul suggests regular content audits: “While evergreen articles need a cursory check less frequently, agents will need to revisit time sensitive blogs that talk about stamp duty, house prices, mortgage rates, lettings law and fees on a regular basis. Update the figures, archive accordingly or create new copy.”

Daniel agrees: “Simple copy edits matter. If you have been trading for 10 years and you don’t update this figure annually, a competitor who is refreshing this stat may rank ahead of you on longevity – even if you’ve been open longer. AI doesn’t dispute content – it takes what’s written online as fact. It’s up to the agent to keep their data fresh and accurate.”