Generative Engine Optimization is a new strategy changing how multifamily communities get found in the growing world of AI-powered search. Nurture Boss hosted a webinar about Generative Engine Optimization or commonly referred to as GEO for the multifamily industry.
Our expert panel included Kristi Fickert, SVP of Growth and Marketing at Kurie, Diana Norbury, SVP of Multifamily Operations at Pillar Properties, and Jacob Carter, CEO of Nurture Boss. Together, we explained how GEO works, why it matters for your marketing strategy, and what multifamily marketers need to do to improve their website for AI-powered search.
If you missed the live event, this recap covers the main ideas and advice that every multifamily operator and marketer should know about GEO. It also shows how you can prepare your website and virtual leasing strategy for the future.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization and Why Does It Matter?
GEO is the next step beyond traditional search engine optimization. Instead of just optimizing for Google’s usual algorithm, GEO focuses on making your content work well for large language models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s new search features. These AI tools do more than just rank pages. They analyze the way content is written to provide direct answers to users’ questions.
Jacob Carter, CEO of Nurture Boss, opened the webinar with a clear point. SEO is still important because it provides the foundation. But GEO builds on that foundation and helps you succeed in the AI-driven world. Traditional SEO focuses on keywords and backlinks. GEO focuses on natural language, conversational content, and clear formatting that helps AI understand your property.
This change means multifamily websites need to rethink how they show content. Instead of just listing features, you need to tell a story that feels natural and real, so AI can pick up on it and share it.
How GEO Affects Virtual Leasing and AI Leasing
As more renters use AI tools for fast answers, how your property appears in AI search results affects how many leads you get and how fast you lease units. Plus, it impacts if you lose leads to properties in your area who are starting to focus on GEO.
Kristi Fickert, SVP of Growth and Marketing at Kurie, pointed out that video is more important than ever. Data shows that AI models are three times more likely to use video content when answering questions than just text or images.
Videos help explain FAQs, show off units, and share what life is like in your community. But one video is not enough. Marketers need to make different types of videos, add good titles and captions, and share them across many places.
How to Audit Your Website for GEO
Diana Norbury, SVP of Multifamily Operations at Pillar Properties, shared how Pillar Properties used Nurture Boss’s GEO Audit Tool. She sent the report to her website provider. The report showed ways to improve structured data, FAQ pages, and schema markup. This helped their site get noticed better by AI. Their teamwork made a big difference, showing that GEO is not just a concept but something you can act on in collaboration with your AI vendor and web agency.
How to Improve Your GEO Strategy Today
Here are some practical tips from the webinar to help you start improving your website right now:
1. Write Content in Natural, Clear Language
Skip the simple lists of features. Instead, write sentences that sound real and confident. For example, instead of saying “Swimming pool, fitness center, granite countertops,” say:
“Our community offers Seattle’s best fitness center, with modern equipment and granite countertops throughout each unit.”
This helps AI understand your property better and gives renters more useful information.
2. Use Structured Data and Schema Markup
Add structured data like JSON-LD and schema markup to your website. This tells AI what your content means and helps it categorize your pages. For example, use schema types like “ApartmentComplex” or “FAQPage.”
JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) is the format you write structured data in.
It’s a block of code that lives in your page’s (behind the scenes) and looks like this:
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Taylor Swift”
}
That tells Google: “This page is about a person, and that person is Taylor Swift.”
Jacob mentioned this can be technical, so you might need your website provider’s help. But it makes a big difference for GEO.
3. Make Videos with Proper Titles and Captions
Kristi explained that video is king for GEO. Make sure your videos have accurate titles, descriptions, and closed captions. These help AI read and understand your videos, so they show up in search results.
4. Share Content in Many Places
Do not just keep your content on your website or one social channel. Break it up and share it in different formats on different platforms. This gives you more chances to appear in AI search answers.
Ashley McGovern, Director of Content Marketing at Nurture Boss and webinar moderator, and Kristi shared how they recycle content to reach more people and keep their audience engaged.
5. Include User-Generated Content
Ask residents to leave short video reviews or post community questions and answers. This real, authentic content adds fresh material for AI to find and improves your GEO ranking.
How to Measure Success in the AI Era
One of the most interesting parts of the webinar was the talk about changing marketing metrics.
Kristi shared poll results showing that page views and click-through rates might not matter as much in five years. AI is changing how people search, find information and measure impact.
- Page views may drop because AI tools answer questions directly without needing to visit websites.
- Click-through rates may fall since fewer people click through to full websites.
- Bounce rates may lose meaning because many users do not visit websites at all.
- Top landing pages might matter less since AI gives answers from many places, not just your homepage.
Instead, the panel suggested tracking:
- How often your content shows up in AI answers.
- How engaged users are when they visit your site.
- The real business results like tours, applications, leases signed, and renewals.
Jacob said it well:
“It is important to watch early signs like AI visibility, but also focus on desired outcomes like signed leases. There are leading and lagging indicators. Both tell you if your strategy is working.”
Working with Website Providers
Diana shared that working with website providers to make GEO improvements can be a challenge. Some providers welcomed the changes and explained their security and SEO practices. Others were less willing to make updates, focusing only on traditional SEO and saying changes would be costly or hard.
This shows it is important to know your technology partners. Make sure they understand your goals and support GEO and AI leasing efforts. If they do not, you might want to look for other options.
GEO Is Both a Long-Term and Immediate Opportunity
At the end of the webinar, Kristi and Jacob reminded everyone that GEO is a long-term game but also offers quick wins.
LLMs train on data collected over time, so your SEO and GEO work builds lasting authority. But AI tools also pull fresh information from the web every day, so you can see results shortly after making changes.
The key is to start now. Update your content, use video, improve metadata, and work with your team and partners.
As Kristi said:
“This is the biggest change we have seen in 15 years. Embrace GEO and AI leasing today, or risk falling behind.”
About the Speakers
Kristi Fickert is SVP of Growth and Marketing at Kurie. She has 25 years of multifamily experience and helps operators and marketers understand and use new technology.
Diana Norbury is SVP of Multifamily Operations at Pillar Properties. She focuses on bringing new tech to life in day-to-day operations.
Jacob Carter is CEO of Nurture Boss. Nurture Boss is not an agency. It’s an AI company. Think Virtual Leasing Assistant, AI Chatbot, automations, and more. Jacob is simply a self-proclaimed AI nerd who aims to help the multifamily industry understand AI topics.
Ready to Improve Your GEO Strategy?
Nurture Boss offers a free GEO Audit Tool to help you see how well your website works for AI search and find ways to improve. Nurture Boss created this tool to help multifamily operators get started optimizing for GEO in partnership with website vendors. Nothing existed prior. We hope it helps you.
