Last week, Google announced the biggest overhaul to its search engine in over 25 years, and one of the first things it demoed was apartment hunting.
At Google I/O on May 20, the company unveiled a new category of AI-powered “information agents” built directly into Search.
How it works for apartment hunting: a user describes exactly what they’re looking for in a home, and the AI agent runs in the background around the clock, scanning listings and sending notifications when something matches.
No additional searching required. The agent just works, continuously, until it finds what the buyer asked for.
Earlier this year, we reported new NAR data showing nearly 50% of buyers say the number one reason they hire an agent is to help them find the right home. That’s the job Google just automated. And it’s about to go mainstream.
Here’s the breakdown on what Google built, why it matters for your business specifically, and the play to run right now while most agents are still sleeping on this story.
What Google Built
The new Search experience runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google’s newest AI model, and it represents a meaningful departure from the search engine most people have used for decades.
The redesigned Search box now expands dynamically to accommodate longer, more detailed queries. You’re not limited to a few keywords anymore. You can describe exactly what you need, the way you’d explain it to another person, and Search is designed to understand what you mean. It also accepts more than just text now. Inputs include:
- Images
- Files
- Videos
- Chrome tabs
The bigger story, though, is what Google is building on top of this. Information agents are the new capability real estate agents need to understand. These are autonomous tools that run in the background, 24/7, scanning the web on a user’s behalf and sending updates when they find what the user asked for.
According to Google, agents pull from:
- Blogs and news sites
- Social posts
- Real-time finance, shopping, and sports data
- Live listing information
For home search specifically, a buyer can describe their criteria in plain language and the agent takes it from there, continuously scanning and notifying them when a listing matches.
Google also announced agentic booking capabilities launching this summer, which is worth flagging for agents whose business connects to local services. For categories including home repair, beauty, and pet care, Google can now call businesses on the user’s behalf.
Read that again: home repair is explicitly named. That’s vendor referral territory.
One thing in your favor: most people will hang up on automated sales callers (yours truly included). So, as long as you’re leading with value, you do still have that human edge.
Still, the numbers behind Google’s AI news put the stakes in perspective:
- AI Mode already has 1 billion monthly users
- Queries in AI Mode have more than doubled every quarter since launch
- Overall Google Search queries hit an all-time high last quarter
Information agents launch for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers this summer. Buyers who are already in the market will have access before the year is out.
Why Should Real Estate Agents Pay Attention?
Because this targets the exact thing buyers say they hire agents for.
According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, nearly 50% of buyers say the number one reason they hire an agent is to help them find the right home. That was the top answer by a wide margin, with everything else, negotiation, paperwork, financing help, falling well below it.
Even among Younger Millennials, the group most interested in negotiation, demand for it stays well below demand for help with the search itself. Buyers are thinking about finding the right home without wasting time or making a mistake they can’t undo.
What AI Still Can’t Do
NAR asked buyers, after the transaction was done, where their agent delivered the most value. The top answer was catching things buyers would have missed on their own:
- 54% said their agent pointed out unnoticed features or faults in a property
- 52% said their agent helped them understand the purchase process
- 71% of Younger Millennials said their agent helped them understand the purchase process, the highest of any group surveyed
That’s what buyers remember when the deal is closed: the judgment calls agents made that saved them serious money or helped them avoid expensive mistakes.
An AI agent can scan every listing in a buyer’s target area overnight and send a notification by morning. That still leaves a lot of ground no AI can cover.
A few things AI can’t do (that you’ve probably done):
- Walk a property and flag the water damage behind the fresh paint
- Read the block and notice the deferred maintenance two doors down
- Tell a buyer what the neighborhood feels like at 7pm on a Tuesday
- Sit with a first-time buyer who’s overwhelmed by a 47-page purchase agreement and explain what they’re actually signing
The search phase is where buyers think they need the most help. The closing phase is where they realize how much they needed their agent.
The Play for Agents Right Now
The value is moving from finding to advising. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Lead with expertise, not access. When a buyer sits down with you, they may have already seen every listing that matches their criteria. Your job is to tell them what the data and photos don’t show.
Get visible where AI looks. Google’s agents pull from the open web, including blogs, social posts, and news. If you’re producing hyperlocal content and building a real digital footprint, you’re more likely to show up in AI-generated recommendations. If your online presence is thin, you’re invisible to these systems. BAM has covered this before: 91% of agents are invisible in AI search, and the window to fix that is shrinking.
Use AI yourself before your clients use it against you. If a buyer is going to show up with a Google AI agent running in the background, you should know what it produces. Try it this summer. Understand what it surfaces and what it misses. The gaps are your talking points.
Double down on the relationship. Google’s AI agents are good at scanning. They’re not good at sitting across the table from a nervous first-time buyer and walking them through pros and cons of a transaction. That’s why 88% of buyers still hire an agent. The question is whether they hire you because you offer something the AI can’t, or because they haven’t discovered the AI yet.
This is bigger than one feature
A new search isn’t the only thing happening here. Google has also been bringing real estate listings to search results. Zillow launched inside ChatGPT in late 2025, and Realtor.com followed in March 2026.
That’s not a threat to agents who bring real expertise. It’s a threat to agents whose value starts and stops at MLS access.
