Imagine that you just had what seemed like a great conversation with a prospect.

You were on top of your game that day, and everything went exactly the way you wanted it to. You were confident, clearly demonstrated your expertise, and shared case studies and a list of positive reviews that was longer than your kid’s Christmas list.

They told you they were excited to list their home with you and just needed to think things over, and you walked away thinking it was a done deal.

Then crickets. Your calls, texts and emails went unanswered.

It felt like getting ghosted after what you thought was a wonderful date. Everything seemed to go well, so you couldn’t fathom what went wrong.

This is something every agent has faced at some point, and usually, it’s a recurring theme.

So, what happened?

While traditional search engines still play a role in a prospect’s research on potential agents, it’s not the sole source, and often, it’s not the first.

Today, 37% of consumers start searches with AI instead of Google, 60% of search users received an AI summary in their results and data even shows that AI results are more trusted than paid ads.

This means that as an agent, if you’re not showing up as an authority on AI platforms like ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity and others, then you’re losing opportunities to those who do. And unfortunately, most agents are way behind here.

So, in this article, I’m going to break down exactly how to show up as an authority in these types of platforms to help you land more listings and earn more money.

Digital assets you control

Your website and social media profiles form the foundation in your efforts here, but they’re not enough on their own. We’re all biased in our own favor, so you also need third-party validation. More on that in a moment.

Your content should tell your story in a way that humanizes you and demonstrates your expertise. A good rule of thumb is that it should help your audience solve a problem, avoid a risk or learn something crucial about your industry even if they never spend any money with you or sign up for anything.

Your website should also include schema markup. This is code in the background of your website that provides context to search engines and LLMs. If your website runs on WordPress, there are several free plugins that make it fast and simple to add this without a technical background.

Tier 1 media outlets

LLMs train on authoritative media outlets, like Entrepreneur, Fox Business and Fortune, so getting featured in these outlets provides the third-party validation I mentioned earlier. This is because there is a high barrier to entry. Everyone wants to be cited as an expert in these publications, so journalists will typically have plenty of sources to choose from, which means usually only the most qualified will have an opportunity.

There are two paths you can follow here, and you should use both.

The first and easiest is press releases. I treat this path like low-hanging fruit because literally anyone can publish a press release for a few hundred dollars, but it’s important that you make sure it’s actually newsworthy. No one cares about your latest award, new hire or revenue milestone. LLMs are pretty good about filtering fluff from legitimate news.

The other is organic editorial features. This is far more difficult and time-consuming, but it also creates far more impact because of the higher barrier to entry. This also plays a significant role in your personal brand overall.

And both should be executed consistently on an ongoing basis.

Websites that LLMs train on

LLMs also train on certain authoritative, non-media websites that can be leveraged to help ensure AI platforms cite you as an authority in your market.

Each of these websites has a different purpose, and getting listed will require different criteria for each one. Some examples include:

• Amazon
• IMDb
• Tech-standard bodies
• Crunchbase
• USPTO

These websites are often cited by AI, so being listed will dramatically increase your chances of your being cited positively in AI platforms. And the beauty of these websites is that the criteria for getting listed will generally require things you’re already doing in the course of your business.

As with tier 1 media outlets, this should be executed consistently on an ongoing basis.

People increasingly trust AI answers, so showing up there is essential.

The genie is out of the bottle on AI.

Today, a large percentage of people turn to AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity and others every day for information they previously found via traditional search engines. This means that if you’re not showing up there in an authoritative way, prospects likely will choose your competitors who are.

So, you have a choice: adapt to AI and thrive, or ignore it and struggle.

Jeremy Knauff is a nationally recognized public relations expert with a deep specialization in real estate, a best-selling author, a speaker and the founder of the PR firm Spartan Media.