How AI search may change everything 🔮

ChatGPT received a cool new piece of functionality last week: ChatGPT Search or (CGS).

If you're a Teams or Plus user, you can try it out right now.

OpenAI timed this release perfectly (as they usually do!) alongside some big announcements from Apple about their Intelligence features. The other Sam over at OpenAI seems pretty convinced this is another huge moment in the AI revolution we've been watching unfold over the last couple of years.

My First Week with CGS

I've been playing with CGS for about a week now, so think of this more as my first impressions rather than a deep dive review. It's like when you get a new gadget and can immediately see the potential, even if you haven't figured out all the features yet.

Could This Be Google's First Real Competition?

Here's something interesting - if you're using ChatGPT4, 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 (where do I put my inverted commas… ad where does that colon go!?

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 is already getting huge amounts of traffic. In September 2024, they had over 3.1 billion visits, which is 112% more than last year and nearly 19% more than 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? As the last couple of years have taught us, things can change pretty quickly in the tech world.

What Does This Mean for SEO?

Well, as usual, I’m glad you asked.

I've been thinking about this a lot this week - 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?

Speaking of bots, here's something interesting - ChatGPT has started adding its own tracking codes to links (they call it UTM_source), and we're seeing some pretty interesting 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.

This tells us something important: 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 we’ve started seeing portals use chatbots and natural language plus a myriad of other data points to help buyers on their journey.

Think about it - instead of clicking through all those dropdown menus and checkboxes on realestate.com.au or Zillow, what if you could just type: "Hey, 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?

This means we all must think differently about how we market properties online. Let me break down what I think we might see.

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 you needing to click around different websites

• We'll need to write property descriptions that both humans and AI can understand easily

• 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, perhaps with really clear 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 some more structured information for the AI to understand, something like this:

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

The more specific details you can add about the neighbourhood, schools, transport, and lifestyle, the better the AI will understand your listing.

Today, we might write: "Close to transport"

Tomorrow we might write: "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 probably help you format all this information. You'll need to check it's all correct.

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, here's what I'd be working on:

• Creating really detailed guides about different areas

• Setting up good tracking to see where my website visitors are coming from

• Writing helpful content about things like:

  • What's happening with property prices

  • Who lives in different suburbs

  • What's being built or developed nearby

  • Investment opportunities

  • Rental returns

  • Local shops, parks, and facilities

  • Common questions people ask about buying in the area

The Future of Search

For now, I think it's important to keep doing the usual SEO work that helps websites appear in Google searches.

But at the same time, we need to start thinking about how to make our content work well with AI systems.

Let's look at three big things that might shape the future of search:

1. First, there's Apple Intelligence. Apple is starting to work with ChatGPT in some ways, which might be why OpenAI launched CGS now. We might see more big tech companies either working together or competing to provide AI search tools.

2. Second, there's what OpenAI might do next. Some people think they might create their own internet browser, just like Google made Chrome. Imagine what it would mean for marketing if Google finally had some real competition in how people find information online.

3. Finally, there's the bigger question about how the internet itself might change. As more people start using AI tools like CGS to find information, fewer people might browse websites directly. Instead of clicking through different websites, people might just ask AI tools their questions and get answers right away. This could mean big changes in how we build websites - we might need to design them to work well with AI tools first, and human visitors second.

Happy Hunting! 🚀