Four months after teasing a partnership with OpenAI, Realtor.com has debuted its ChatGPT integration.
Now, homebuyers can get home-search advice, build an affordability budget, and explore neighborhood insights and data in the ChatGPT app. When they’re officially ready to kick off their homebuying journey, they’ll be guided to the Realtor.com platform to search listings, connect with a local agent, and schedule tours.
Damian Eales | Credit: Realtor.com
“For 30 years, Realtor.com has led every major technology shift in how Americans search for homes, while staying true to our mission of connecting them with the professionals who will help them,” Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales said in a written statement. “Today, AI represents the next transformational opportunity to simplify the home journey and deliver greater clarity and confidence to consumers.”
“The combined strengths of Realtor.com, REA Group, and News Corp give us a unique competitive advantage, uniting world-class tech and talent, global insights, and deep industry partnerships,” he added. “With OpenAI, we will meet home buyers wherever they are, keeping the real estate professional central to the experience.”
The portal said the partnership comes with guardrails that protect listing data and prohibit model training, a callback to the firestorm that followed Zillow’s debut of its ChatGPT integration in October. Zillow’s partnership allowed homebuyers to search listings within the ChatGPT app, prompting concerns about Internet Data Exchange (IDX) licensing rules and data safety.
“The Realtor.com app in ChatGPT is designed to keep agents and MLSs at the center of the real estate transaction, while raising the visibility of their listings,” Anna Marie Castiglioni, head of Realtor.com Next, said in the announcement. “Realtor.com does not receive listing data through an IDX feed; instead, our unique, direct relationships with MLSs ensure we operate in the best interests of home buyers and sellers, partnering with MLSs that uphold accuracy and transparency across the industry.”
“By only showing a preview of property images and details, the app guides consumers to Realtor.com to connect with a local expert, schedule a tour, and explore our full suite of advanced search tools,” she added.
The integration is one step in Realtor.com’s strategy to expand consumers’ search experience, which has included adding natural language search capabilities, providing satellite views of listings with FlyAround, and launching an MLS-led collaborative search option within the Realtor.com+ platform.
“Our commitment is to make Realtor.com omnipresent wherever consumers are having conversations about real estate,” Realtor.com Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer Mickey Neuberger said in a prepared statement. “We brought real estate listings to the internet. Now we’re bringing them to AI. As the most trusted site among real estate professionals, we see this as a win for buyers, agents and the broader industry.”
