‍Search is Changing Forever

For the first time in Google’s history, organic search volumes are declining.

Bain & Company’s research shows a seismic shift in how individuals are searching. 80% of consumers now rely on AI-generated “zero-click” results for at least 40% of their searches, reducing organic web traffic by 15%–25%.

ChatGPT usage surged nearly 70% in the first half of 2025. Renters aren’t going to Google to start their apartment search anymore. They’re asking AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude for personalized recommendations.

For the entire rental housing ecosystem, this marks a turning point away from traditional funnels built on SEO, paid search, and ILS placement. Lead volume is becoming harder and harder to generate through these old methods that aim to drive traffic to a community’s website.

From Keywords to Conversations

Search and filter is out. AI curation is in.

• Old Model: “Dallas 2-bedroom apartments balcony under $2,000” typed into Google, followed by 15 minutes of clicking through filter-heavy ILS pages.
• Today: “Find me a 2-bedroom in Dallas with a balcony under $2,000” asked directly to an AI, which delivers a curated shortlist in seconds. Renters can instantly fine-tune the results, adding must-haves like a roof deck or dog park.

It’s not just the source of the traffic that is changing — it’s a fundamental shift in where renters are starting to make decisions. Before a prospect has even landed on a property website, AI has already done the filtering for them.

For asset managers, owner operators, and marketers, this means that optimizing placement in a list of search results is no longer as effective (and will become less so). With AI doing the filtering and curation, if your property data isn’t accessible, your community may never make the shortlist—regardless of how well it may rank in traditional search.

And for those who think AI is only about impressions? Think again.

Click-through rates in ChatGPT have tripled in recent months as AI tools surface more live links and consumers increasingly click directly through to the exact product they want.

The Rise of AI Native Standards

LLMs (Like ChatGPT and Perplexity) are moving away from just crawling scattered websites for data because it’s wildly expensive. While some of these tools have become some of the fastest growing consumer apps in history, each question asked by a user costs a significant amount of computing power and leads to soaring costs.

In order to make this sustainable, these companies are looking to drive down the cost of answering each question by shifting towards data sources that are easier for AI models to read. They increasingly prioritize structured, machine-readable feeds that make it easy to answer consumer queries directly.

For real estate, that translates to:

• Structured data on pricing, availability, and unit features
• Real-time feeds, not static web listings
• Immersive formats like 3D tours and video that AI can surface inside its responses

The implication for portfolio performance is clear: properties that are
AI-optimized will enjoy greater top-of-funnel demand capture, while those without structured feeds risk becoming invisible.

Introducing Peek AI Connect

To solve this, we’ve launched Peek AI Connect, built on the emerging
Model Context Protocol (MCP)—the new standard for how AI tools connect to external platforms.

With AI Connect, assistants like ChatGPT can query Peek’s live unit database making your real-time pricing, availability, 3D tours, and amenities more discoverable in these tools.

It’s already live across all Peek-powered communities, creating a new channel of AI-driven demand. Instead of relying on stale scraped listings, prospects can get live data from your portfolio, positioned directly inside the platforms where they now search.

Why This Matters for Owners & Asset Managers

The AI shift isn’t just a marketing story—it’s an asset performance story.

Consider the implications:

• Competitive Advantage: Early adopters of AI-native integrations will gain an outsized share of renter attention while competitors lag.
• Leasing Velocity: Properties that surface in AI searches lease faster by reducing friction in the renter journey.
• Reducing Vacant Days: Being invisible to AI shrinks your funnel, creating unnecessary vacancy risk.
• Marketing Efficiency: Dollars spent on SEO and ILS placements will deliver diminishing returns if renter discovery has already shifted into AI tools.

The Future of Renter Discovery

We’ve seen this movie before.
Search engines, mobile, and social media each rewrote how properties were discovered and leased. The owners and operators who adapted fastest captured demand at the lowest cost.

Now AI search is the next wave. Renters aren’t Googling your property anymore—they’re asking AI where to live.

The question is: will your portfolio show up in the answer?

Learn More