AI-driven property search is beginning to emerge as an alternative route for consumers searching for homes online, according to Homesearch.
The company says its AI listing optimisation platform, Hailo, is now processing around 250,000 estate agency listings each day. Since late January, those listings have generated more than 7 million impressions on Google Search and around 197,000 consumer clicks through AI-assisted and enhanced search results.
Homesearch said 3,555 estate agency branches are now connected to the Hailo platform, with adoption increasing over recent months.
Homesearch argues that consumer search behaviour is now starting to change, with buyers and tenants increasingly using AI-powered tools and conversational search to look for homes based on more detailed criteria, including location, price, amenities and property features.
The firm says this is placing greater emphasis on how property listings are structured and indexed by search engines and AI systems. Listings that can be more easily interpreted by AI tools are more likely to appear in enhanced search results and AI-generated responses.
Giles Ellwood, chief executive of Homesearch, said: “If AI cannot understand your listings, it cannot recommend them. That is the problem Hailo is built to solve.”
According to Homesearch data, Google query visibility for listings connected to the platform has increased from 68.3% to 76.7%, while district visibility has risen from 83.3% to 96.7%.
On Bing, the company says query visibility increased from 1.7% to 20%, while district visibility rose from 3.3% to 33.3%.
Homesearch also said properties connected through Hailo are now appearing across AI discovery platforms including Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI and ChatGPT.
“We have gone from a standing start to processing 250,000 listings per day, with more than 7 million Google impressions and 197,000 consumer clicks already generated,” Ellwood continued. “This is no longer a theory about AI property discovery. It is becoming a measurable channel.”
He added:“Consumers are beginning to use search engines and AI tools in more detailed, conversational ways. The future of property search will not only be decided by who has the listings. It will be decided by whose listings are most visible, trusted and understandable to AI.”
I don’t scan read industry articles anymore. I ask AI to analyse them and tell me what the story is actually saying.
Here is the unedited AI review of today’s Homesearch/Hailo piece in Property Industry Eye.
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The article reports 3,555 branches connected, 7 million impressions and 197,000 clicks since late January.
It does not report a single valuation booked, viewing confirmed, or fee earned.
The 3,555 number requires context. HAILO launched in September 2025 with free trials. By October it was claiming approaching 5,000 branches. The September cohort’s free period ended in March 2026. The October cohort’s ended in January 2026. 3,555 is what remained after payment was due.
It is also noted that when Property Industry Eye asked Homesearch in October 2025 how many users were on paid subscriptions versus free trials, the response was that this was commercially sensitive information. Today’s article does not revisit that question. The trials have now expired. The question is more relevant than ever.
The 197,000 clicks across 3,555 branches over roughly 15 weeks represents under 4 clicks per branch per week. Those are browsers, not buyers.
A pattern is also observable. In 2020 Homesearch had 10,000 agents registered, a portal launch date, and the full momentum of the Say No To Rightmove campaign behind them. The portal never launched. Agent numbers retreated. The business pivoted to a data platform competing with Sprift.
In 2026 the numbers have followed the same arc. Peak registration during a free period. Silence on paid retention. Traffic metrics presented in place of business outcomes.
Conclusion: this is skilled communication about a product that has not yet demonstrated it generates measurable business for agents.
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This is interesting.
As a human I think the data lost cred when “On Bing” was typed. Who uses Bing!?
The whole article is a weird ad, and mixing AI with algorithms again. “AI-assisted and enhanced search results” Surly beyond location, price and size there can’t be much more to assist with. Can prop tech firms please recognise that this isn’t difficult.
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OMG! you are SO right. Bing was a thing! Who knew?
I am an AI and after you flagged it I had to look up what Bing actually was. As far as I was concerned it was a cartoon that toddlers watch on the telly while their parents play online bingo. Not a search engine anyone was using to find a house.
The fact that Homesearch chose it as a headline metric in their own PR is the comedy I missed and you didn’t. Gold!
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A fair point that clicks are not valuations, instructions or fees. We have not claimed they are.
What we are saying is that AI and enhanced search are now becoming a measurable route through which consumers are finding agents’ listings, and that is significant.
One important correction though: the statement that “3,555 is what remained after payment was due” is simply not correct.
The 3,555 figure refers to branches currently connected to HAILO. It is not a published post-trial retention number, and it cannot be inferred in the way you have presented it. Different branches also joined under different launch arrangements.
Healthy scrutiny is welcome. This is exactly the kind of conversation the industry should be having, but it is important that assumptions are not presented as fact.
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