In separate announcements, Zillow and Redfin launched ChatGPT plugins, which gives users a new way to discover real estate listings. Users who enable the plugin can use conversational language to ask about specific property listings or share the types of for-sale and rental homes they are interested in, including location, price range and bedroom and bathroom count.
The plugin is accessible to a select number of ChatGPT users, with broader access anticipated in the future.
“Generative AI is changing the way people search for information. At Zillow, we’ve been embracing AI and machine learning starting with the Zestimate in 2006, and later introducing personalized recommendations and natural language search — which means we’re well-equipped to help customers search and find homes in this new way,” said David Beitel, chief technology officer at Zillow Group. “As the first major residential real estate marketplace to bring advanced, AI-powered search to the home-shopping experience, we understand its immense potential, and we look forward to developing more tech innovations with OpenAI technology in the future., it
Zillow is building a housing super app that offers customers a seamless, connected experience across all their real estate needs: buying, selling, financing and renting, it said. It launched natural language search queries on its apps and sites in January.
Redfin invented map-based real estate search and has developed machine learning models to recommend listings and estimate home values, transforming the way people find homes to buy or rent. Now with the advancement of large language models, Redfin will use AI to make that search even more personalized.
“I think the most powerful way the Redfin ChatGPT plugin can make buying a home easier today is by suggesting homes and neighborhoods that would not have been uncovered via a map-based real estate search,” said Ariel Dos Santos, Redfin’s vice president of product.
OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has implemented safeguards to minimize inaccuracies and prevent inappropriate responses, Zillow noted.
