AEO for real estate agents
When someone asks AI for an agent, will it name you?
Short answer: AEO, answer engine optimization, means making it easy for AI tools to read what you know, so they have a reason to name you when someone asks. For an independent agent it starts with owning something narrow, like condos in Brickell, and not “I sell Miami.” I can’t promise any tool will name you, and nobody honest can.
I’m James Brazil. I build this myself, and you can text me at (240) 284-3206.
How does AI decide who to name?
Nobody outside those companies knows exactly. What I’m sure of is simpler: an AI tool can’t name you from something it never read. If nothing it read says who you are, where you work and what you know, you’re not in the running. Why AI doesn’t name you yet goes through this in more detail.
The best signal I’ve read on what gets a site read comes from Duda, which looked at more than 858,000 sites it hosts. Sites with 50 or more blog posts were crawled about 33 times as much as sites with no blog. Duda sells websites, it only looked at its own, and being crawled isn’t the same as being named. It shows a direction, not a cause, and it fits what I see.
What’s the process?
Five steps. I run the same ones on our own sites first.
Own something narrow
One neighborhood, one type of property or one kind of deal you know better than anyone: condos in Brickell, older homes in Coral Gables, flood insurance in Kendall.
Get read
Pages AI tools and search engines can read, saying who you are and exactly what you’re the expert in. See what they get from your site now.
Answer real questions
One plain answer for each question people ask about your narrow thing, naming the place. Write what you’d tell a friend.
Show up on video
Long videos, one question each. In OtterlyAI’s study of AI citations, about 41% of the YouTube videos cited had under 1,000 views, so a small channel isn’t ruled out. OtterlyAI sells AI visibility tracking, so keep that in mind.
Test it every month
Ask the AI tools the same questions and write down who comes back.
What do you do today?
- A site AI can read. The words arrive with the page, your name, license, brokerage and towns are spelled out, and the structured data says what you do. It’s on your own domain, and it stays yours.
- Help with the words. I’ll help you turn your bio and the way you describe your areas into plain language.
- A free check. It reads your website from the outside.
What I don’t do: I don’t make your videos, run your monthly test, sell leads or run ads, and I don’t track your mentions across AI tools. A site is not a ranking.
Everything we do, in one place: How we get you found, a free 8-page guide (PDF) to what matters for being found today, with the sources, and every way we help a client get noticed.
What does it cost?
One plan, no setup fee, and I’ll build a free preview first.
Agent Website
A traditional website on your own domain, written so AI tools can read it, with your Verified license page and labeled, paid Sponsored spots on our city pages.
See the planQuestions
Can you guarantee AI will name me?
No, and nobody honest can. I can make sure there’s something clear for an AI tool to read, and give you a way to test it. What it says is up to the tool.
Do I need a new website?
No. If you’d like to know whether AI can read the site you have, the free website check will show you.
Which AI tools does this cover?
None of them is covered for sure, because each one reads and answers its own way. The free check asks Claude and nothing else. For your monthly test, ask whichever tools your clients use, because each one can give a different answer.
Does the Swift Agents Network help?
It gives AI tools more than one place to read the same facts about you: your own site, your listing on our regional hub for your state, your license page in our agent directory, your free Swift Agents Network listing on the FloodFireCheck neighborhood pages you work (where it has one) and your Sponsored spots on our check pages. Each one links back to your site. It can’t promise a mention. It makes sure the tools find consistent facts wherever they look.
How long does it take?
I don’t know, and I won’t make up a date. We haven’t run a controlled test on this yet. That’s why the last step is testing every month and writing down what comes back.
See whether AI can read your site.
It reads your website from the outside, and it’s free.