by threshold | Aug 21, 2025 | Digital Marketing
The way people search for real estate information is changing dramatically. While traditional search engines still play a vital role, a new generation of searchers is turning to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) to find answers to their property questions. This shift is creating an entirely new landscape for real estate marketing – one where Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is becoming just as important as traditional SEO.
Understanding the Search Behavior Shift
Recent studies show that Gen Z and Millennials – who represent the largest segment of today’s homebuyers – increasingly prefer conversational AI tools for their initial research. Instead of clicking through multiple search results, they’re asking direct questions like “What should I know before buying a home in Austin?” or “How much house can I afford with a $80,000 salary?” and expecting comprehensive, immediate answers.
This behavioral shift means that real estate professionals who want to capture these potential clients need to think beyond traditional search engine rankings. They need to ensure their expertise and content can be discovered and referenced by AI systems that are answering these crucial real estate questions.
What Makes Answer Engine Optimization Different
Answer Engine Optimization focuses on making your content “answerable” by AI systems. Unlike traditional SEO, which aims to rank web pages in search results, AEO ensures that AI tools can understand, extract, and cite your content when providing answers to user questions.
For real estate professionals, this means structuring your website content so that when someone asks an AI assistant about market trends in your area, mortgage processes, or neighborhood amenities, your expertise becomes part of that AI-generated response. It’s about becoming a trusted source that AI systems turn to when crafting comprehensive answers.
The Real Estate Advantage
Capturing Early-Stage Buyers: Many potential homebuyers start their journey with broad questions rather than specific property searches. AEO helps you reach these prospects when they’re first exploring the possibility of buying or selling, long before they start browsing listings.
Establishing Authority: When AI systems consistently reference your content in their answers, it positions you as a trusted local expert. This digital authority translates into real-world credibility with potential clients.
Conversational Content Strategy: AEO encourages creating content that matches how people naturally ask questions. This approach not only helps with AI visibility but also makes your website more engaging and user-friendly for all visitors.
Future-Proofing Your Marketing: As AI-powered search continues to grow, businesses that adapt early will have a significant advantage over those that rely solely on traditional marketing methods.
Key Components of Effective AEO for Real Estate
Structured Data and Schema Markup: This technical foundation helps AI systems understand the context and meaning of your content, whether it’s property details, market statistics, or educational articles about the buying process.
Question-Based Content: Creating content that directly answers common real estate questions helps AI systems identify your site as a relevant source. Think “How long does it take to close on a house?” rather than just “Closing Process.”
Trust Signals: AI systems prioritize authoritative sources. Professional credentials, client testimonials, and industry certifications help establish your content as trustworthy and worth referencing.
Local Expertise: AI tools excel at providing location-specific information. Content that demonstrates deep knowledge of local markets, neighborhoods, and regulations becomes particularly valuable for AI-generated responses.
The Technical Foundation
Successful Answer Engine Optimization requires a solid technical foundation. This includes ensuring your website loads quickly, is mobile-optimized, and uses proper markup to help AI systems understand your content structure. The goal is making your expertise as accessible as possible to both human visitors and AI crawlers.
Content also needs to be written in a more conversational, natural tone that mirrors how people actually speak and ask questions. This doesn’t mean sacrificing professionalism – it means presenting your expertise in a way that feels approachable and directly relevant to searchers’ needs.
Measuring Success in the AI Era
Traditional metrics like keyword rankings remain important, but AEO success requires looking at new indicators. Are you seeing increases in organic traffic from AI-referred visitors? Are potential clients mentioning they found information about you through AI tools? Are you being cited as a source in AI-generated real estate content?
The most successful real estate professionals will be those who can demonstrate expertise across both traditional search results and AI-powered answers, creating multiple pathways for potential clients to discover their services.
Looking Ahead
Answer Engine Optimization represents the natural evolution of digital marketing for real estate professionals. As AI tools become more sophisticated and widely adopted, the agents and brokers who invest in making their content “AI-friendly” today will find themselves at a significant advantage tomorrow.
The key is starting now – not because traditional SEO is going away, but because the digital landscape is expanding. By optimizing for both traditional search engines and AI-powered answer engines, real estate professionals can ensure they remain visible and relevant regardless of how their potential clients choose to search for information.
The future of real estate marketing isn’t about choosing between traditional methods and new AI optimization – it’s about embracing both to create a comprehensive strategy that meets clients wherever they are in their search journey.
by threshold | Aug 12, 2025 | Marketing
In today’s competitive real estate market, standing out from the crowd requires more than just beautiful property photos and compelling descriptions. Enter dynamic landing pages – a game-changing marketing tool that’s revolutionizing how real estate professionals connect with potential buyers and sellers.
Dynamic What Now?
Dynamic landing pages are web pages that automatically adapt their content based on specific criteria. Imagine a digital chameleon. That’s essentially what a dynamic landing page is. Instead of a static, one-size-fits-all page, a dynamic landing page changes its content—like headlines, images, text, and calls-to-action—based on who is visiting.
This personalization is triggered by data, such as the ad the visitor clicked, their geographic location, the keywords they searched for, or their previous interactions with your site. It’s a one-to-one marketing experience, delivered automatically, and that’s something the internet at large is starting to demand, more and more.
Give Your Landing Page the Edge It Needs to Succeed
The benefits for real estate marketing are immense. By tailoring the user experience, you can dramatically increase engagement and the quality of your leads. Here’s why dynamic landing pages are a must-have tool for property websites:
- Hyper-Personalization: Let’s say you’re running separate ad campaigns for “downtown apartments” and “suburban family homes.” With a dynamic page, the visitor who clicked the apartments ad will land on a page featuring sleek, urban high-rises, testimonials from young professionals, and a call-to-action to “Tour a Downtown Loft.” The visitor who clicked the family home ad will see images of spacious backyards, information about local schools, and an invitation to “Find Your Forever Home.” This instant relevance builds immediate trust.
- Higher Conversion Rates: When a landing page speaks directly to a visitor’s needs and search intent, they are far more likely to take the next step. A generic “Contact Us” form feels impersonal. A specific “Get a Free List of 3-Bedroom Homes in [Visitor’s City]” feels incredibly helpful. By matching the message from the ad to the page, you create a seamless journey that guides the user towards conversion, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, booking a showing, or requesting a valuation.
- Improved Lead Quality: Because the content is so specific, the leads you generate are more qualified. The user has already self-identified their interest (e.g., apartment vs. house). This allows you to segment your leads from the very beginning and tailor your follow-up communication, making your sales process more efficient and effective.
- Better Ad Spend ROI: By increasing your conversion rate, you’re getting more value out of every dollar you spend on advertising platforms like Google Ads or Facebook. A higher conversion rate means a lower cost-per-lead, stretching your marketing budget further and ultimately driving more business.
Breaking Through the Digital Noise
With potential clients scrolling past countless property listings and real estate ads every day, capturing and holding their attention has become increasingly challenging. The key to breaking through this digital noise isn’t just having attractive creative content – it’s about creating experiences that convert. This is where the seamless connection between your ads and landing pages becomes crucial.
Most ad clicks unfortunately land on generic pages that don’t align with the specific message or promise made in the advertisement. This disconnect can be devastating for conversion rates. When your landing page content matches your ad’s messaging, keywords, and intent, you create a continuous, logical experience that feels natural to the visitor. This alignment can produce remarkable results – industry data shows that properly implemented dynamic landing pages can reduce cost-per-acquisition by over 80% while tripling conversion rates, all without requiring additional advertising spend.
The Bottom Line
Dynamic landing pages represent the future of real estate marketing: a future where every visitor feels like your website was built specifically for them. In an industry where personal relationships drive success, this technology enables you to create that personal connection from the very first click through a tailored experience that resonates with each individual visitor. By meeting your potential clients exactly where they are in their journey, you build credibility, capture higher-quality leads, and set yourself up for success.
Ready to stop leaving leads on the table? It’s time to get dynamic! Let Threshold help you create a roadmap for success – schedule a consultation today!
by threshold | Nov 26, 2024 | Digital Marketing, General, Marketing, Thought Leadership
Taylor Dickmann
In 2024, local SEO is no longer just an option for real estate businesses—it’s essential. With the growing importance of online search in the real estate industry, competition for visibility is fiercer than ever. Potential renters and buyers are using search engines to find properties near them, making local SEO a powerful tool for ensuring your listings appear in the right searches. To stay competitive and round out their digital presence, real estate businesses must master local SEO strategies to improve their rankings, attract qualified leads, and drive more traffic.
the importance of local SEO for real estate businesses.
Local SEO focuses on optimizing your business’s online presence to appear in geographically related searches. For real estate, this is crucial, as prospective tenants or buyers are almost always searching for properties in specific areas. Local SEO helps real estate agencies, apartment complexes, and property managers stand out in search results, particularly on Google, which dominates the market for search.
In 2024, where virtual tours, online leasing, and mobile search have become the norm, the competition to rank highly in local searches has intensified. Appearing in Google’s coveted “Local Pack” (the top three local results that appear with a map) can drastically increase visibility and bring more qualified traffic to your website or property listings. A well-optimized local SEO strategy can make sure your business is found by the right people at the right time, driving both leads and conversions.
optimizing google business profile.
One of the most powerful tools in local SEO is the Google Business Profile (GBP). GBP helps businesses manage their presence across Google Search and Google Maps, providing essential information to prospective renters right in the search results.
tips for optimizing your google business profile:
- Complete All Information: Ensure your GBP is fully filled out with accurate details. Include your business hours, address, phone number, and website. Be sure to add up-to-date photos of your properties to make a strong first impression.
- Use Keywords in Descriptions: Optimize your profile description with location-specific keywords, such as “luxury apartments in [city]” or “student housing near [university].” This helps your business show up in relevant local searches.
- Encourage and Manage Reviews: Google reviews significantly impact local rankings and consumer trust. Encourage satisfied tenants or buyers to leave positive reviews and respond professionally to any feedback, whether it’s good or bad. Engaging with reviews shows you are active and care about your customers.
localized content and keywords.
Creating localized content is key to improving your local SEO. This involves developing content that speaks directly to the needs and interests of your target audience in specific locations. For real estate, this could mean creating neighborhood guides, blogs about local amenities, or highlighting events in the area.
tips for localized content:
- Location-Specific Pages: If you manage properties in multiple areas, create individual landing pages for each location. These pages should be optimized with local keywords and include information relevant to that specific area.
- Localized Blog Content: Writing about local events, neighborhood highlights, and property-related topics with local keywords can further boost your visibility in search results.
mobile optimization & voice search.
With the rise of mobile-first indexing, Google now prioritizes websites that are optimized for mobile devices. For real estate businesses, where many users browse listings on their smartphones, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is crucial for both user experience and SEO.
mobile optimization best practices:
- Ensure Website Responsiveness: Your site should automatically adjust to fit different screen sizes. This ensures users have a seamless experience, whether they’re viewing your site on a phone, tablet, or desktop.
- Improve Page Speed: Slow-loading websites can hurt both your user experience and your SEO rankings. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify ways to speed up your site.
- Optimize for Voice Search: With the increasing use of voice-activated assistants like Siri and Google Assistant, optimizing for voice search can give you a competitive edge. Voice search queries tend to be longer and more conversational, so make sure your content addresses common questions like “What’s the best neighborhood for families in [city]?” or “Affordable apartments near [landmark].”
to wrap things up.
Mastering local SEO is critical for real estate businesses looking to increase visibility and attract more local leads in 2024. By optimizing your Google Business Profile, creating localized content, building local backlinks, and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, you can improve your search rankings and stay ahead of the competition. With the right strategies in place, local SEO can drive more traffic to your site, generate high-quality leads, and ultimately help you close more deals.
how Threshold can help with local SEO.
At our agency, we specialize in local SEO strategies tailored specifically for the real estate industry. We offer comprehensive Google Business Profile (GBP) management, ensuring your profile is fully optimized with accurate information, engaging photos, and location-specific keywords. Our team also manages daily GBP posts, keeping your profile active and relevant.
Additionally, if you partner with us on your website, we ensure responsiveness and fast page speed, as well as other technical SEO tactics that play a role in local rankings. Our expertise in mobile optimization and technical SEO ensures your website performs well on all devices, helping you stay competitive in today’s mobile-first world.
Let us help you master local SEO and drive growth in 2024.
by threshold | Oct 18, 2024 | Digital Marketing, Financial Marketing, General, Marketing, Thought Leadership
Billy Wilkinson
so, what’s the big goal at threshold?
People often ask me, what are we trying to accomplish at Threshold? I field this question from a lot of varied parties – from larger agencies to clients to PE, just about everyone asks and it’s an easy question to answer (now). When you look at our Vision, Mission, and Values, we have set a course to crash with the fundamentals of marketing deliberately.
It’s everyone’s belief that there are three principles to service delivery: there’s fast, there’s high quality, and there’s cheap. Common belief is that you can choose two of the three and that’s where concentric circles align.
we’re flipping the service model.
We are on a mission to change that belief; it’s our goal to deliver all three things to our clients. Our strategy has been and continues to be to focus on specific industry niches that make us specialists in that area. We focus on full service marketing to deliver results to our clients who lack the resources to do the marketing and lead generation they really want to do. They are strapped for people, for time, for money, and much more and they need a partner that gets them.
Our first industry was real estate (really apartments) and then we moved into financial institutions (banks and credit unions). These are core to how we operate and by keeping a laser focus on our approach, we are able to deliver on our vision which is to “Make everyone rethink what they expect from marketing” and our mission to “Deliver remarkable results by constantly breaking the barriers of affordability, quality, and timeliness.”
intense industry focus = our sweet spot.
So how do we accomplish this and what separates us from the pack? The main thing is that by focusing on specific industries, it allows us to hone in on our processes, people, pricing, tech stack and all things that help us be more efficient with our work.
For example, we have been designing and delivering websites for over 10 years. The last few years, we started testing a monthly payment model and a delivery system that allowed us to deliver websites faster and better. Our approach and desire to meet all three goals drove that outcome and I’m excited about what our THeam has done and how they continue to innovate to deliver incredible websites to everyone we serve.
We started our journey in the real estate industry, mostly focused on apartments (student housing, conventional, active adult, BTR, and more) and then moved into community financial institutions which have very similar needs. Those industries will continue to expand as we explore others that fit our model and we feel confident about success with the client base and for us.
faster, better, and obsessed with results.
In our Digital department, we have been told by new clients that one reason we continue to earn new business is the speed at which we deliver new campaign launches. We have heard some clients being asked to wait 30+ days for new campaigns to be delivered. Now – if you are a property manager needing leases or a bank or credit union that’s looking for deposits, can you imagine needing to wait that long? Me neither. While speed to market is critical, our results outperform industry benchmarks regularly. But we don’t stop there; we measure against client benchmarks and our own benchmarks which are more stringent than normal digital benchmarks. As we do this, we report on them to our clients and we beat additional benchmarks regularly to make sure our clients are validating their marketing dollars.
By specializing and focusing and constantly pushing our THeam to be better, use new technology, and use the intelligence available to them, we launch campaigns in 10 business days or less (on average). While search can launch faster, our typical delays are due to approvals for creative or compliance, but other than that, our clients are not waiting on us to start getting the traffic they need to succeed.
raison d’être.
Our competitors come in all shapes and sizes; from agencies to internal marketing shops to software companies that sell marketing when it’s not their core offering. We provide the trifecta for our clients to separate us and the user experience and lead creation leads the way.
Our clients, their marketing efforts, and their success are not an afterthought, but our raison d’être. And THAT is what we are accomplishing at Threshold.
by threshold | Sep 10, 2024 | General, Marketing, Thought Leadership
Amanda Spicer
Digital CSM
The real estate industry has always been very dynamic, but recently, it has undergone significant shifts that have impacted renters. As the housing market continues to evolve, renters find themselves navigating a difficult environment influenced by economic conditions, changing demand, and new trends.
Let’s take a closer look at the current state of the real estate industry for renters, including some challenges they face and opportunities that are coming.
rising rental costs.
One of the most pressing issues for renters today is the continuous rise in rental costs. Across urban and suburban areas, rental prices have skyrocketed, making it increasingly difficult for many to afford housing. An analysis of Zillow and StreetEasy’s rental data shows that rent prices across the US are increasing at a faster pace than wages, especially in major cities like New York. This mismatch between rising rents and stagnant wages means a larger portion of people’s income is going towards housing, making affordability more difficult and unrealistic. Several factors contribute to this trend, including:
- High Demand & Low Supply: The demand for rental properties has outgrown the supply, particularly in high-demand areas like major cities and hubs. This imbalance is contributing to higher costs, leaving renters with very few affordable options.
- Inflation & Economic Pressures: As inflation affects the entire economy, owners are often compelled to raise rents to cover their costs for property maintenance, taxes, and utilities.
- Post-Pandemic Market Adjustments: The COVID-19 pandemic led to fluctuations in the rental market, with some areas experiencing temporary rent drops. However, as the market has rebounded, rents have significantly increased.
For renters, these rising costs mean that budgeting for housing requires careful planning and may require exploring alternative living options. We have seen an influx in sharing spaces, tiny living, or relocating to less expensive areas.
the shift toward suburban and rural rentals.
The pandemic has accelerated a trend toward suburban and rural living. With the rise of remote-first work, many renters are no longer tied to urban areas and are seeing more space and affordability in suburban or rural areas. This shift has resulted in:
- Increased Demand in Suburban + Urban Areas: Suburban and rural areas have seen a surge in demand for rental properties. This increase is now driving up rents in these areas.
- Changing Rental Market Dynamics: Owners in traditionally less competitive markets are finding themselves in a stronger position, able to demand higher rents and offer fewer concessions.
For renters, this trend opens up opportunities to find more spacious and affordable housing, but it also requires adjusting to different lifestyles and potentially longer commutes for in-person work.
the rise of build-to-rent communities.
A huge development in the real estate industry is the rise of build-to-rent (BTR) communities. There are residential developments specifically designed for renting rather than selling. BTR properties offer a wide range of amenities and are often managed by professional property management companies, providing a higher level of service than traditional private rentals.
Some benefits include:
- Modern Amenities & Services: BTR communities often come with features like gyms, pools, coworking spaces (perfect for remote work), and community events, perfect for a high-end lifestyle. And, regularly exceeding the offerings of a traditional apartment complex.
- Flexibility & Stability: Renters in BTR communities may benefit from long lease terms and more stable rental costs, proving better security and predictability.
However, the premium nature of these properties can also mean higher rents, so renters are forced to weigh the value of amenities against the cost.
As the demand for BTR communities grows, strategic digital campaigns are essential to stand out in the market. In August 2023, we teamed up with a BTR community near Atlanta to help boost leasing and reach their 94% occupancy goal by April 2024. Through dynamic Google and Social Media campaigns, we surpassed expectations. In just six months, they achieved 100% occupancy, over 300,000 impressions, and an impressive 80% average website engagement rate.
For more details, check out our recent Legato Lakes Case Study.
the impact of technology on renting.
Technology continues to revolutionize the rental experience, making it easier for renters to find, lease, and manage their homes. Some of the ways technology is impacting renters include:
- Online Rental Platforms: Websites and apps have streamlined the process of searching for and applying to rental properties, giving renters access to more options.
- Smart Home Features: Many rental properties are equipped with smart home technology, such as keyless entry, smart thermostats, and security systems, enhancing convenience and safety.
- Virtual Tours & Remote Leasing: The pandemic accelerated the acceptance of virtual tours and remote leasing, allowing renters to view and secure properties without needing to be physically present.
These technological advancements offer greater convenience but also require renters to be more tech-savvy and vigilant about online security.
opportunities for renters.
Despite the challenges, there are still many opportunities in today’s market:
- Rent-to-Own Programs: Some developers and owners offer rent-to-own options, allowing renters to build equity in their home over time with an option to purchase the property later. This can be a viable path to homeownership for those who are not able to provide a down payment.
- Exploring Emerging Markets: Renters willing to explore new up-and-coming neighborhoods or smaller cities can often find more affordable rents and a higher quality of life, with the added benefit of potentially seeing property values rise if they choose to purchase in the future.
- Specials & Concessions: In some markets, especially where there is a surplus of rentals, owners and property managers may offer competitive pricing, specials, or additional concessions, such as discounts on rent or waived application fees.
The current state of the real estate industry presents both challenges and opportunities for renters. Rising rental costs, shifting market dynamics, and the impact of technology are all forming a new landscape. By staying informed and being strategic, renters can navigate these changes and find housing that meets their needs and budget. As the market continues to evolve, renters who are adaptable and proactive will be best positioned to thrive in this complex industry.
about the author.
Amanda is the Digital Junior Client Success Manager at Threshold. In her role, she is responsible for relationship management, client advocacy, renewals and upsells, monitoring metrics, strategy development, and documentation and reporting. When she’s not busy managing her clients, you can find her picking out new plants, watching Cowboys football, running her small business, or spending time with her fur baby, Daisy Marie.
