Click-through rates (CTR) for websites have dropped 20% overall and as much as 35% on pages featuring AI Overviews, while impressions are up 40% year over year. What does this mean for home builders? Potential home buyers are seeing more content but engaging less directly, signaling that many are finding answers before visiting a builder’s website. Search queries are also becoming longer, more complex and increasingly multimodal.

Optimizing for the AI Age

To succeed, marketers must go beyond keywords and backlinks. Optimizing passage-level content, such as videos, podcasts, images and academic papers, helps AI models understand and surface relevant material. Structured data remains essential as AI engines identify and synthesize information aligned with user intent.

Cabe Vinson, director of SEO and senior strategist at Blue Tangerine, shared this sentiment in his “The AI-First Buyer” session at the 2025 Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit:

“It’s ok to create AI-driven content, but ask yourself, ‘Is this genuinely valuable to consumers?’”

SEO, AEO & GEO: The Three Pillars of Modern Visibility

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) remains the foundation, focusing on ranking pages through keywords, backlinks and a strong user experience (UX). It’s proven and reliable but slow to show results and vulnerable to algorithm shifts.

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) targets visibility in AI overviews in search results, featured snippets and voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. It delivers instant brand authority but can reduce direct clicks since many users get answers on the initial results page.

• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the newest layer. It optimizes content for AI-driven engines like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. While difficult to measure, GEO gives early adopters an edge, positioning their brands as trusted knowledge sources.

Building a Unified Strategy

The most effective marketing teams will blend all three strategies. Foundational SEO remains non-negotiable, while structured data and entity-rich, semantic content form the “AI-ready” layer. Combining user experience, AI-driven insights and digital public relations creates an organized front that builds both visibility and trust for your brand.

Vinson also pointed out that when it comes to the different types of optimization, “Synergy makes a unified strategy.”

Not sure where to start? Vinson offers a checklist for marketing professionals looking to utilize AI tools:

• Visibility in AI search: Ask yourself, “How are AI overviews retrieving and synthesizing content in the homebuilding industry?”

• Content Structure & Optimization: It’s crucial that your content is structured, modular and semantic so that AI and search engines can efficiently understand and spread it.

• Entity & Topic Alignment: What are some relevant topics related to your business? AI works best when it can connect you to similar content, so start researching what your customers might be typing into their search bars. Maybe they are searching “where to find multigenerational housing near Atlanta” or “homes with amenities for dogs.” Incorporating popular topics helps ensure that AI is pushing your content to the right audience.

• User Intent & Zero-Click Answers: Next, maximize your business’s visibility in zero-click experiences like AI Overviews and snippets by answering the “People Also Asked” questions that users are frantically searching for.

• Measuring Success: In an AI-driven world, citations matter more than clicks. You can stay ahead of competitors by creating a framework that prioritizes visibility (and sticking to it!).

• Future Readiness: AI continues to grow and change every day, and there is no end in sight. As the technology develops, make sure you and your team are ready to tackle its intricacies and effectively use AI for your business.

• Strategic Integration: Identify your brand messaging and research the best ways to spread it! Often, that includes a curated mix of traditional SEO, AEO and GEO.

As AI reshapes search behavior, home builders should measure influence, not just clicks. The future belongs to brands that adapt their content for both humans and machines, focusing on relevance, credibility and the emotional connection of human-centered content. Looking to utilize AI for your business? Contact Denim Marketing today to learn more!