The first property adverts are already appearing in AI conversations in the US. If this catches on, searching for property in Spain could start to move away from the big portals and into AI assistants.

For years, Google was the gateway to the internet. Its search engine was revolutionary because it made it easy to find information. At first you got a clean list of relevant web pages. Then came the adverts. Today, depending on what you search for, paid results often dominate the top of the page.

Now AI is becoming the new gateway to information.

Instead of giving you a list of websites to search through, AI gives you an answer. You ask follow-up questions, refine your search, compare options, and carry on a conversation until you get what you need. It’s a much more useful experience than traditional search.

So it was only a matter of time before advertising followed.

AI chats become the new property shop window

One of the first examples in the Spanish property sector comes from Dils Lucas Fox, which has launched a native advertising campaign in ChatGPT aimed at US users interested in buying property in Spain. The campaign displays contextual property adverts during conversations about buying homes, Spanish locations, or specific property types. Each advert includes a headline, short description, property image and link to the relevant listing. The company says it plans to expand the campaign to Spain and other EU markets when the format becomes available there.

In other words, if someone in the US asks ChatGPT about buying a villa on the Costa del Sol or an apartment in Barcelona, they may already see relevant property listings within the conversation.

I haven’t yet seen property adverts appear in my own AI chats, but they’re clearly on the way.

Could this be good news for buyers?

Perhaps surprisingly, the answer could be yes.

The Spanish property search experience isn’t exactly perfect. Most buyers still begin on the big property portals, where duplicate listings are common, prices sometimes differ between agencies, and properties that have already sold can linger online. Anyone who has searched seriously in Spain will have experienced the frustration.

AI has the potential to make the whole process more conversational and efficient. Instead of filtering endless listings yourself, you could simply ask:

“I’m looking for a three-bedroom villa within 30 minutes of Málaga Airport with sea views, a private pool, and a budget of €900,000. What should I be looking at?”

If relevant property adverts then appear alongside genuinely useful advice, that could be a much better experience than today’s portals.

There’s also an intriguing possibility for estate agents. If AI assistants become the place where buyers begin their search, agents may be able to connect directly with prospective purchasers without relying quite so heavily on the big portals as intermediaries.

Whether that eventually weakens the portals’ dominance remains to be seen.

A new chapter in property search

We’re probably witnessing the beginning of another big shift in how people search for homes online.

Just as Google transformed web search twenty-five years ago, AI assistants may now transform property search. Advertising will inevitably become part of the business model, just as it did with Google. The important question is whether those adverts improve the experience or simply get in the way.

For househunters, estate agents and property marketers alike, this is one trend worth keeping an eye on.