Last updated: August 2026
It is easier to understand all of this properly by watching two very different people go through it, step by step. Neither of them looks anything like the tidy funnel diagram most marketing plans are still built around.
Path one: a buyer looking near Manchester
Step one. They open ChatGPT and ask, “Is now a good time to buy a family home near Manchester?”
Step two. A Google AI Overview answers a follow up question about average house prices in a specific postcode.
Step three. They open Rightmove and Zoopla, browsing listings and checking the Zoopla Estimate against what they are being told elsewhere.
Step four. They check Google Business Profile and Trustpilot reviews for the two agents they have shortlisted.
Step five. A local Facebook group or Reddit thread gets searched for one specific, nagging question: is this area actually safe, actually good for families.
Step six. Only now do they land on an agent’s website, to request a valuation or book a viewing.
If that agent was not visible anywhere in steps one to five, step six simply never happens. Not because the agent was not good. Because the agent was never part of the conversation.
Path two: a facilities manager facing a dilapidations claim
This journey looks completely different, and takes place somewhere entirely separate from the one above, but the underlying lesson is identical.
Step one. They ask ChatGPT, “How do I challenge a dilapidations claim at lease expiry?”
Step two. They read RICS guidance and sector press for background on the process and likely costs.
Step three. They search LinkedIn and sector directories to shortlist two or three chartered surveying firms.
Step four. They check those firms’ own websites and published case studies for a track record on comparable assets, and confirm professional indemnity insurance cover.
Step five. They search a specific surveyor firm’s name alongside “reviews” or “case studies” on Google.
Step six. Only now do they land on a surveying firm’s website, to request a proposal or a fee quote.
Same pattern. Same lesson. Different audience entirely, different questions, different platforms, but if you are not visible somewhere in steps one to five, step six never happens, whichever of these two people, or the others like them, you are trying to reach.
The point of putting these two side by side
Property marketing plans are still too often built around a single imagined customer, usually a residential buyer. But a landlord, a commercial tenant, and a solicitor instructing a surveyor are all running their own version of this exact same search path, through entirely different sources, looking for entirely different proof.
Map your own content and case studies against each of these audiences properly, rather than assuming one “about us” page will do the job for all of them. Write the pages that actually answer the questions each of these people has, in the places they are actually asking them.
If you would like help mapping your content against these different audiences and closing the gaps, our AI Marketing team can help, and you can find out more about our work in the sector on our property and real estate marketing page.
This four part series, together with the overview, covers the full journey from the first AI assisted question through to enquiry, across every kind of property audience, not just one. For the full version, download the Guide to AI Search for Property.
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