Is AI recommending your property business?

AI-powered search is changing how customers discover businesses. A Cape Town agency’s results reveal why property professionals should start paying attention.

• AI referrals emerge: A Cape Town business recorded 28 website visits from AI assistants, compared with none a year earlier.
• Search traffic surges: Google search visitors increased 67%, while direct website traffic climbed 87% over the same six-month period.
• Property industry implications: Estate agents, developers and property managers may need to rethink how AI discovers, evaluates and recommends their businesses.

AI is changing how customers find businesses

A year ago, artificial intelligence assistants were sending virtually no measurable traffic to many South African businesses. Today, platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity are emerging as another way for customers to discover products, services and professional expertise.

For South Africa’s property industry, the implications could be significant. Whether searching for an estate agent, comparing residential developments, finding commercial property or selecting a rental management company, buyers and investors are increasingly able to ask AI assistants for recommendations rather than relying exclusively on traditional search engines.

A recent case study involving Cape Town-based Big Talk Entertainment and Johannesburg digital marketing agency IMS provides an early indication of this shift.

Between February and July 2026, Big Talk recorded 28 website sessions originating from AI assistants, compared with none during the corresponding six months in 2025.

Although the numbers remain modest, other website performance indicators also improved substantially. New visitors from Google search increased by 67%, while direct website traffic climbed 87%.

“The direction is what matters,” says Francois Vorster, Chief Disruptor at IMS. “A way of finding customers that did not exist a year ago now does.”

Why this matters for property and real estate

Property is a high-value, research-intensive industry where credibility, reputation and access to reliable information strongly influence decisions.

Consider how prospective buyers and investors might increasingly search for information:

• Which estate agents specialise in luxury homes in Cape Town?
• Who are the leading commercial property brokers in Sandton?
• What are the best suburbs for rental property investment?
• Which property management companies operate in Pretoria?
• Which developers are building affordable housing in Gauteng?

Traditionally, these searches would lead users to Google results, property portals, agency websites and online reviews.

AI assistants introduce another layer by gathering and synthesising information from multiple sources, sometimes recommending specific businesses or directing users to relevant websites.

For property companies, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge: being visible on Google does not automatically mean being recommended by AI.

“Property decisions involve a lot of money and a lot of trust, so people research thoroughly before they speak to anyone, and more of that research now starts in an AI tool and not a Google search,” says Vorster.

He cautions, however, that the case study cannot establish precisely how much of the improved website performance resulted from AI-focused optimisation rather than conventional search improvements.

What IMS did differently

IMS combined traditional search engine optimisation with techniques designed to make Big Talk Entertainment easier for AI-powered systems to discover, understand and reference.

The strategy focused on three areas.

1. Strengthening website foundations

Improving the website’s technical structure so search engines and AI systems could more easily access and interpret its content.

2. Creating answers to real customer questions

Rewriting website content to address the questions potential customers actually ask, rather than relying heavily on generic promotional language.

3. Building consistent digital credibility

Ensuring that company information, services and contact details were clear and consistent across relevant online sources.

For property businesses, these principles translate into practical actions: publishing detailed suburb and development information, explaining services clearly, showcasing verifiable credentials and maintaining accurate listings and contact information.

An estate agency, for example, could strengthen its digital presence through useful local market reports, neighbourhood guides, property investment insights and answers to common buyer and seller questions.

The objective is to make the business a reliable source of information that search engines and AI tools can understand and potentially reference.

Deon Schlebusch, Managing Director of Big Talk Entertainment, believes businesses cannot afford to ignore changing customer behaviour.

“We’ve been in this industry for over 30 years, and how people find entertainment suppliers has changed more in the last two than in the two decades before that,” he says.

“We are not walking away from the channels that have always worked for us, but we’d be foolish to ignore a new one that’s starting to send us business leads.”

A word of caution: The numbers are still small

While the results are encouraging, IMS is careful not to overstate the findings. The analysis compares website performance between 1 February and 31 July 2026 with the same period in 2025.

Because traditional SEO improvements and AI-focused optimisation were implemented together, it is impossible to isolate their individual contributions to overall traffic growth.

Similarly, the 87% increase in direct website traffic cannot conclusively be attributed to customers first discovering the business through AI recommendations.

The 28 AI-referred sessions demonstrate a measurable new traffic source, but do not establish how many visitors became paying customers.

“This is a young industry, and a lot of the advice out there is still unproven,” says Vorster. “We would rather show what we can actually measure than overclaim.”

For South African property practitioners, accuracy is equally important. Information about property prices, listings, qualifications, professional registrations and investment returns must remain truthful and comply with applicable requirements, including those of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority, the Consumer Protection Act and POPIA.

What is GEO and why should property businesses care?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of making digital content easier for AI-powered search and answer systems to discover, understand, reference and potentially recommend.

It works alongside traditional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), but the emphasis differs. SEO primarily aims to improve a website’s visibility in search engine results.

GEO focuses on helping AI systems recognise a business or its content as a relevant, credible source when generating answers to user questions.

For a property company, an effective GEO strategy could include:

• Publishing authoritative, regularly updated property market information.
• Creating clear answers to common buyer, seller, tenant and investor questions.
• Demonstrating expertise through credible articles, market commentary and case studies.
• Maintaining consistent business information across websites, directories and professional profiles.
• Structuring content so AI systems can interpret services, locations and areas of specialisation.

Importantly, GEO does not guarantee that an AI assistant will recommend a particular business. AI-generated answers vary across platforms, questions and available sources.

The strongest approach is therefore to combine traditional SEO, high-quality content, accurate business information and ongoing performance measurement.

The next competitive advantage in property marketing?

The Big Talk Entertainment results do not suggest that AI search is about to replace Google, property portals or established referral networks.

They do, however, highlight an emerging shift in how customers research and discover businesses. For estate agencies, property developers, commercial brokers, managing agents and other property professionals, the lesson is increasingly relevant.

Businesses that invest in credible information, clear digital positioning and genuinely useful content may be better placed to compete as AI-powered discovery develops.

The question for property businesses is no longer simply whether customers can find them online. It is whether AI systems can find enough reliable information to recommend them when potential clients ask.