Generative Search Engines—What They Are

Generative search engines combine a traditional web-crawler index with a large-language-model (LLM). When someone types (or speaks) a question, the model writes a short answer, then attaches a handful of source links underneath.

Google’s AI Overviews, Microsoft’s Copilot in Bing, Perplexity.ai, and the new ChatGPT Search prototype all sit in this category. Because the answer is displayed in full view, many search sessions end without a single click to the underlying websites.

Roughly 60 percent of searches now result in zero clicks—almost double the level of five years ago. (Forbes)

For the real-estate industry this is a pivotal change. Portals such as realestate.com.au or Domain have relied on free, high-intent traffic flowing from Google’s blue links. Generative search pulls users’ attention higher up the page, compressing that traffic and squeezing the advertising space portals sell to agents.

The Immediate Impact in 2025

Traffic loss is already measurable

• Click-through collapse. A UK study found that when AI Overviews appears, the average click-through rate to publishers drops 47.5 percent on desktop and 37.7 percent on mobile. (Press Gazette)

• Sudden search-visibility swings. Google’s June 2025 core update reshuffled rankings; some sites recorded traffic falls of up to 50 percent in two weeks. (Tech2Geek)

• Zero-click creep. Since Google’s global rollout of AI summaries last year, the share of news searches that end without a click has jumped from 56 percent to 69 percent, wiping hundreds of millions of visits from publishers. (exchangewire.com)

• Extreme cases. Surveys show a handful of sites losing four-fifths of their organic visits when an overview block is present. (HoldtheFrontPage)

Why portals feel the pinch

1. Search intent is satisfied earlier. A buyer asking, “Median house price in Bondi this month?” now sees an instant number rather than a list of links. No portal click is needed.

2. Deep-linked answers. Google is testing property cards inside its generative block—address, price guide, photos—pulled straight from structured data. If this rolls out fully, the entire first viewing of a listing could happen on Google, not on the portal.

3. Ad real-estate shrinks. With answers occupying the top of mobile results, paid ads and organic links slide further down, reducing the impressions available for portal remarketing campaigns.

How Search Behaviour Could Shift Over the Next Two Years

1. Voice-first property hunting
Smart speakers and phone assistants will read out a single best-fit property rather than a list. Agents who only rely on portal exposure risk invisibility in these one-answer environments.

2. AI sidekicks built into consumer apps
Perplexity already licences content and shows inline citations; Gartner estimates search volumes could fall 25 percent by 2026 as chatbots answer more queries directly. (The Times) By 2028, Gartner’s longer-range model projects that brands may lose 50 percent of their organic traffic without adaptation. (engagedigitalinc.com)

3. API-driven aggregation
Portals will increasingly feed listings, auction dates and suburb data straight to search providers via paid APIs. This protects attribution but shifts bargaining power toward the tech giants.

4. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
Just as search-engine optimisation dominated the 2010s, the next game is optimising for AI answers. Publishers are rewriting copy with tightly structured FAQs, JSON-LD schema and explicit sources to earn a mention inside the answer block. 

5. Pay-for-inclusion licensing deals
News outlets have begun signing licensing agreements with OpenAI and Google for content use; portals may follow. The upside is revenue sharing; the downside is dependence on external platforms for reach. 

Implications for Real-Estate Businesses

Five Actions to Take Today

1. Audit your own site’s data markup
   Ensure every listing has rich schema covering price, address, bedrooms, energy rating, walk-score and agent contact.

2. Write ‘Bite-Size FAQs’ for each suburb
   These short, fact-based snippets are exactly what AI answer boxes quote. Aim for 40-60 words and cite trustworthy public data.

3. Strengthen first-party channels
   Build email newsletters and push-notification lists so you can reach buyers and sellers directly if portal traffic wobbles.

4. Monitor branded search share
   Use Search Console to track how often people search your business name—brand queries are less affected by zero-click results.

5. Experiment with conversational ad formats
   Both Google Ads and Bing now let you attach a “chat extension” that places your live chatbot inside the search interface. Early adopters capture voice-search leads before they hit a portal.

Looking Further Ahead—Possible Scenarios

Scenario A: Portals Become Data Wholesalers

Portals licence real-time feeds to search engines and receive a revenue share. Agents still pay to list, but visibility depends on whether Google chooses to surface portal data or scrape agency websites directly.

Scenario B: The Return of Curated Communities

As zero-click answers commoditise basic information, buyers seek community-driven insights (school catchments, café culture) unavailable in scraped data. Agents who host local forums, podcasts or market-wrap videos maintain relevance and authority.

Scenario C: Integrated Transaction Flows

An LLM could soon let a buyer say, “Book me a viewing for that townhouse at 12 Smith St this Saturday,” triggering calendar invites for the agent without leaving the search engine. Portals risk being bypassed altogether unless they own the booking layer.

Key Takeaways

• Generative search is already reducing portal traffic by 30-50 percent in many verticals, and property is unlikely to be spared. (Press Gazette, Tech2Geek)

• Over the next two years, voice assistants, AI agents and paid API deals will further dilute the power of the traditional results page.

• Agents who invest in structured data, strong brand signals, and first-party audiences will buffer themselves against these shifts.

• The aim is not to “beat” Google but to make sure the AI has no choice but to represent your listings accurately—and send the warmest leads back to you.

Adapting now turns a looming threat into a competitive edge. Wait, and the clicks—and enquiries—you rely on could vanish before you notice.

Author – Ken Hobson.