By Five out of hundreds. That is how many Melbourne real estate agency brands appear when you ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini the same question: who is the best agent in Melbourne? We tested 18 buyer prompts across all three AI engines, running 54 total queries in clean-room conditions with no login, no personalisation, and no conversation history. The result: 351 total citations, 5 brands on all three engines, and one engine that could not tell the difference between Melbourne, Australia and Melbourne, Florida. Three of Perplexity's 18 prompts defaulted to the wrong country entirely. For the hundreds of agencies operating across Melbourne's suburbs, the vast majority are invisible to every AI engine we tested.
Data collected: March 2026.
- 5 brands on all 3 engines — but 0% exact-entity agreement (same name, different office/context)
- Perplexity returned Florida agents for 3 of 18 Melbourne prompts
- 86% boutique dominance — franchises only led generic "best agent" results
- Auction specialists are invisible unless the buyer specifically mentions auctions
One engine recommended Florida agents for Melbourne. Another named individual auctioneers. The third cited government regulators. Three engines, three completely different views of the same city.
Perplexity could not distinguish Melbourne, Australia from Melbourne, Florida on generic prompts. Adding suburb names or "Australia" fixed it — but buyers don't always do that.
See the full Perplexity analysis →What Happens When You Ask AI for a Real Estate Agent in Melbourne?
AI engines return specific agency names, individual agents, star ratings, and even phone numbers when Melbourne buyers ask for real estate recommendations. All 54 of our queries produced named results. But each engine pulled from different sources, cited different agencies, and disagreed on who deserves a recommendation. Of the 351 total citations we collected, no two engines used the same office-level name for any brand. The 0 per cent exact-entity agreement rate tells the story: these engines are building completely independent recommendation lists.
How We Tested AI Real Estate Agent Recommendations
Eighteen prompts per engine. Seven categories: generic recommendation, need-specific (first home buyers, investors, sellers, international buyers), comparative, suburb-specific, advisory, and cost/fees. Three city-specific prompts designed for Melbourne's market: auction campaigns, inner-suburb property management, and best boutique agencies. We chose South Yarra and Toorak for premium inner-south testing, and Bayside for established lifestyle. Fresh API call every time. No login, no history, no personalisation.
| Engine | Prompts Answered | Total Citations | Notable Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | 18 of 18 | 82 | 18% of citations are Google Maps links |
| Perplexity | 18 of 18 (3 returned Florida results) | 124 | Geographic confusion on generic prompts |
| Gemini (Google) | 17 of 18 | 145 | Broadest coverage; names individual agents |
Gemini produced 145 citations from 17 answered prompts, pulling from realestate.com.au, RateMyAgent, and consumer.vic.gov.au. ChatGPT produced 82, leaning on Google Maps and jelliscraig.com.au. Perplexity generated 124 but defaulted to whichrealestateagent.com.au and marshallwhite.com.au for its Australian results. Different source hierarchies. Different recommendation lists.
Melbourne is different from Sydney in one critical way: the auction culture. We included prompts about EYS Auctions-style specialists and suburb-level expertise in Toorak, South Yarra, and Bayside. Those prompts surfaced agencies like Rickdale Real Estate and Kay & Burton that were invisible to every generic query we ran.
Which Melbourne Agencies Does ChatGPT Recommend?
ChatGPT recommended Melbourne agencies for all 18 prompts, producing 82 total citations across 10 unique source domains. The standout feature: 15 of those 82 citations were Google Maps links. That is 18 per cent of all ChatGPT citations pointing to Google Business Profiles. When ChatGPT names an agency, it typically includes the star rating, review count, address, and a direct map link.
For generic "best agent in Melbourne" prompts, ChatGPT surfaced Barry Plant Docklands (4.5 stars, 387 reviews), Melcorp Real Estate, VICPROP CBD (4.9 stars, 471 reviews), MICM, Allard Shelton, Castran Gilbert, and L Real Estate. It named individual agents too: Jen Lin Lau at MICM with a 5.0 rating, 434 reviews, and 132 properties sold. Tom Prior also appeared with review context. ChatGPT treats Google Business Profile data as a primary signal for Melbourne real estate.
| Agency | Prompt Category | Context Provided by ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Barry Plant Docklands | Generic | 4.5 stars, 387 reviews, Google Maps link |
| VICPROP CBD | Generic | 4.9 stars, 471 reviews |
| Property Home Base | First home buyer | 5.0 stars, 457 reviews, buyer's agent |
| Property Mavens | First home buyer | Buyer's agent specialist |
| Cate Bakos Property | First home buyer | Buyer's agent specialist |
| ARG Melbourne | Investment | Investment specialist |
| Investie | Investment | Investment advisory |
The source mix: 71 per cent agency sites, 18 per cent Google Maps, 6 per cent portal, 4 per cent directory and review, 1 per cent government. ChatGPT's top cited domains were google.com (15 citations), jelliscraig.com.au (4), barryplant.com.au (2), marshallwhite.com.au (2), allardshelton.com.au (2), ratemyagent.com.au (2), and realestate.com.au (2).
The first-home-buyer prompt completely reset the list. Generic agency names vanished. In their place: Property Home Base (5.0 stars, 457 reviews), Property Mavens, Cate Bakos Property, Concierge Buyers Advocates, and Aus Property Professionals. All buyer's agents. Not a single selling agent survived.
From our data
15 of ChatGPT's 82 Melbourne citations pointed to Google Maps. No other engine used Google Maps as a source. If your Google Business Profile is incomplete or has few reviews, ChatGPT likely cannot see your agency.
For investment-specific prompts, another set appeared: ARG Melbourne, Investie, Independent Property Brokers, and WIT Group. For sellers, ChatGPT named Barry Plant, Nelson Alexander Brunswick, and Jellis Craig Glen Waverley. Suburb-specific prompts for South Yarra and Toorak produced Jellis Craig Richmond, Infolio Property Advisors, Burtons Estate Agents, JWC Property Group, and Xynergy Realty. For Bayside: Ray White The Bayside Group, Fredman, Cohen Handler, Bayside Real Estate Advocates, and McKinnon Real Estate.
Which Melbourne Agencies Does Perplexity Recommend?
Perplexity generated 124 total citations across 18 Melbourne prompts, but 3 of those 18 prompts returned results for Melbourne, Florida instead of Melbourne, Australia. On three separate generic queries, Perplexity explicitly stated: "Melbourne, FL, appears to be the intended location based on the majority of search results." It then listed US agents and US platforms. This did not happen in our Sydney or Perth experiments.
The Florida problem
Three prompts defaulted to the wrong Melbourne: "Can you recommend a good real estate agent in Melbourne?", "Who are the top-rated real estate agents in Melbourne?", and "How do I find a trustworthy real estate agent in Melbourne?" All three lacked Australian context clues. Prompts mentioning suburbs, auction culture, or commission rates stayed Australian. For Melbourne agencies, geographic disambiguation is not optional.
On the 15 prompts that returned valid Australian results, Perplexity pulled heavily from directory and review platforms. The top cited Australian domains: whichrealestateagent.com.au (5), marshallwhite.com.au (4), realestatebusiness.com.au (4), top10realestateagent.com.au (4), mre.today (3), and youtube.com (3). Source mix for AU prompts: 78 per cent agency sites, 11 per cent directory and review, 4 per cent news and industry, 4 per cent portal, 2 per cent education, 1 per cent government.
For generic Australian prompts, Perplexity recommended Investa, Marshall White, Harcourts Rata & Co, Soda Property Group, Allaf Property, Aquire Real Estate, Ray White, and LJ Hooker. A broader list than ChatGPT's, drawing from review platforms rather than Google Maps data.
| Prompt Category | Agencies Named (AU) | Notable Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Generic recommendation | Investa, Marshall White, Harcourts Rata & Co, Soda Property Group, Allaf Property | 2 of 3 generic prompts returned Florida results |
| First home buyer | LP Advisory | Single specialist named |
| Investment | Investor Partner Group (IPG), Aspire Property, The Investors Agency, Stepping Stone Property | All specialist advisory firms |
| Sellers | Marshall White, Jellis Craig Monash, Cara Bergmann Properties | REB Awards context for Cara Bergmann and Sahil Bhasin |
| Suburb (South Yarra/Toorak) | Belle Property South Yarra, Kay & Burton Stonnington | Premium agencies only surface for premium suburb prompts |
| Auction specialists | EYS Auctions, Rhiannon East (The Auctioneers), Peter Batrouney (Jellis Craig) | Named individual auctioneers with context |
Perplexity's auction coverage stood out. Ask about Melbourne auction campaigns and it named EYS Auctions, Rhiannon East of The Auctioneers, and Peter Batrouney of Jellis Craig. None of those names appeared in any other prompt category. Not one. Auction expertise functions as its own visibility channel in Melbourne, completely disconnected from generic agent recommendations.
For sellers, Perplexity cited award data explicitly. Cara Bergmann Properties appeared with REB Awards context. Sahil Bhasin was named with industry recognition data. Perplexity treated structured reputation data as a ranking signal. It also discovered 88 related questions from our 18 prompts, questions like "Which real estate agents in Melbourne have the highest success rates at auctions?" and "Are there any boutique real estate agencies in Melbourne that specialise in heritage properties?" Those are 88 prompts Melbourne buyers are already typing.
Which Melbourne Agencies Does Gemini Recommend?
Gemini produced 145 citations from 17 of 18 answered prompts, making it the broadest source of Melbourne agency recommendations in our experiment. One prompt failed to return grounded sources. The other 17 delivered named agencies, named individual agents, and suburb-level specificity that neither ChatGPT nor Perplexity matched.
For generic prompts, Gemini led with Jellis Craig and Marshall White. But it went further than brand names. Gemini named individual agents with their agency and suburb: Mario Tucci, Annamaria Stella (top-rated), James Tostevin, and Liz Fong. For Toorak and South Yarra, it produced a roster of premium-market agents: Anthony Grimwade (RT Edgar Toorak), Darren Lewenberg (Kay & Burton South Yarra), Michael Armstrong (Kay & Burton), and Jack Edgar (RT Edgar).
That level of detail matters. Gemini is not just recommending agencies. It is recommending people.
| Prompt Category | Agencies / Agents Named | Source Context |
|---|---|---|
| Generic | Jellis Craig, Marshall White, Mario Tucci, Annamaria Stella, James Tostevin, Liz Fong | Agency sites, review platforms |
| Investment | MRE (Melbourne Real Estate), Independent Property Brokers, AllianceCorp, Aspire Property | Investment specialist positioning |
| Auction | Rickdale Real Estate, Ray White Officer, Rayner First National Ballan, Miles Real Estate | Auction-specific search queries |
| Boutique | Belle Property Melbourne, Boutique Property Melbourne (BPM), Real Property Agent Melbourne | Boutique-specific fan-out queries |
| Suburb (Toorak/South Yarra) | Anthony Grimwade (RT Edgar), Darren Lewenberg (Kay & Burton), Michael Armstrong, Jack Edgar | Individual agent profiles, suburb content |
| Suburb (Bayside) | WHITEFOX Bayside, Barry Plant Bayside | Suburb-level agency pages |
Gemini's top cited domains: realestate.com.au (6), top10realestateagent.com.au (5), whichrealestateagent.com.au (4), ianreid.com.au (4), woodards.com.au (3), consumer.vic.gov.au (3), ratemyagent.com.au (3), vendormarketing.com.au (3), mre.today (3). Source mix: 77 per cent agency sites, 10 per cent directory and review, 6 per cent portal, 3 per cent government, 2 per cent news and industry, 1 per cent forum.
A pattern worth noting
consumer.vic.gov.au appeared in Gemini's results for advisory and regulatory prompts. Government sources carry weight. Gemini was also the only engine to decompose our prompts into 62 fan-out queries, internal search queries like "best real estate agents South Yarra Melbourne" and "award winning real estate agents Toorak." Those fan-out queries are a content roadmap for any agency building suburb-level pages.
For first-home-buyer prompts, Gemini gave generic advice without naming specific agencies, pointing instead to RateMyAgent and OpenAgent as discovery tools. That contrasts sharply with ChatGPT, which named five specific buyer's agents for the same prompt. Different engines, different source strategies, different outcomes for the same buyer question.
Do the Three AI Engines Agree on Melbourne's Best Agents?
Five Melbourne agency brands appeared on all three AI engines. That is higher than Sydney, where only 3 brands achieved cross-engine visibility. But the agreement is surface-level. Each engine used different office names, different suburb tags, and different context for the same underlying brand. The exact-entity agreement rate was 0 per cent.
| Brand | ChatGPT Context | Perplexity Context | Gemini Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall White | Property management, boutique | Generic, sellers, PM | Generic, suburb Stonnington |
| Jellis Craig | Sellers Glen Waverley, suburb Richmond/Armadale, international | Sellers Monash, auction via Batrouney | Generic, sellers |
| Ray White | Southbank, Bayside Group, Craigieburn | Generic, Bayside Group | Bayside, Officer |
| Concierge Buyers Advocates | First home buyer | International buyers | International buyers |
| Melbourne Boutique Property | "Melbourne Boutique Property" | "Melbourne Boutique Property" | "Boutique Property Melbourne BPM" |
Look at the names. ChatGPT says "Ray White Southbank." Perplexity says "Ray White." Gemini says "Ray White Officer." Same brand, three different representations. Marshall White appears as a property management provider on ChatGPT, a seller's agent on Perplexity, and a suburb-level brand (Stonnington) on Gemini. Jellis Craig is the most versatile: it appeared across more prompt categories than any other brand, from sellers and suburb-specific to international buyers and auction campaigns.
Nine additional brands appeared on exactly two engines. That brings the total to 14 brands with multi-engine visibility out of the dozens named across all 351 citations.
| Brand | Engines | Categories |
|---|---|---|
| Barry Plant | ChatGPT, Gemini | Generic, sellers, Bayside |
| Kay & Burton | Gemini, Perplexity | Suburb (Toorak, South Yarra, Stonnington) |
| Belle Property | Gemini, Perplexity | Boutique, suburb (South Yarra) |
| Independent Property Brokers Melbourne | ChatGPT, Gemini | Investment |
| Bayside Real Estate Advocates | ChatGPT, Perplexity | Suburb (Bayside) |
| Harcourts Rata & Co | Perplexity, Gemini | Generic |
| Aspire Property | Perplexity, Gemini | Investment |
| Eleven North Property | Perplexity, Gemini | Suburb (Bayside) |
| Rickdale Real Estate | Perplexity, Gemini | Auction |
Notice the pattern. Kay & Burton appeared on Gemini and Perplexity but only for Toorak, South Yarra, and Stonnington prompts. Never for generic Melbourne queries. Same for Belle Property: boutique and South Yarra only. These are premium brands with premium-suburb visibility and zero visibility outside that niche. Whether that is a problem depends on their strategy. But they should know.
Interactive: Search for your agency
Data from our 54-query experiment. See all free tools.
Does the Question Change the Answer? How Buyer Intent Shifts AI Recommendations in Melbourne
The question changes everything. A buyer asking "best agent in Melbourne" gets franchise names and high-review agencies. A buyer asking "first home buyer agent Melbourne" gets specialist buyer's advocates. Zero overlap between the two lists. We tested seven prompt categories and three Melbourne-specific variations. Every shift in buyer intent produced a different set of agencies.
How Do AI Recommendations Change by Buyer Type in Melbourne?
| Prompt Type | Agency Types Recommended | Example Agencies | Key Observation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generic ("best agent") | Franchises, high-review agencies | Barry Plant Docklands, VICPROP CBD, Melcorp, MICM | Google Business Profile data drives ChatGPT selections |
| First home buyer | Buyer's agents exclusively | Property Home Base, Property Mavens, Cate Bakos Property | Selling agents vanish entirely |
| Investment | Specialist advisory firms | ARG Melbourne, IPG, Aspire Property, The Investors Agency | Zero overlap with generic results across all engines |
| Sellers | Award winners, established brands | Marshall White, Jellis Craig Monash, Cara Bergmann Properties | Perplexity cites REB Awards data |
| International buyers | Migration/expat specialists | Citylife International, Melbourne International Realty, Concierge Buyers Advocates | Concierge Buyers Advocates appears across all 3 engines for this intent |
| Auction campaigns | Auctioneers and auction specialists | EYS Auctions, Rhiannon East, Rickdale Real Estate | Completely different lists per engine; no overlap |
Change one word in the prompt — "best agent" to "first home buyer" — and the entire recommendation list resets. Not one selling agent survived the switch.
The auction finding is distinctly Melbourne. No other Australian city we have tested produced this level of specialist auction visibility. Ask about auction campaigns and Perplexity names individual auctioneers: Rhiannon East of The Auctioneers, Peter Batrouney of Jellis Craig. ChatGPT produces a different list: Ray White Craigieburn, Nicole Gervasi Property Group, Rising Returns, Levic Group, Nichols Crowder. Gemini names Rickdale Real Estate, Ray White Officer, Miles Real Estate. Three engines, three lists, zero overlap. Auction expertise is a standalone visibility category in Melbourne.
The Toorak and South Yarra Gatekeeping Effect
Kay & Burton and RT Edgar are two of Melbourne's most recognised premium-suburb agencies. Neither appeared for a single generic "best agent in Melbourne" query. Not on ChatGPT. Not on Perplexity. Not on Gemini. They surfaced only when we asked about Toorak, South Yarra, or Stonnington by name.
That is not a failure of AI. It reflects how these agencies position themselves. Suburb-level content produces suburb-level visibility. Buyers typing "best agent in Melbourne" never see them. Buyers typing "real estate agent Toorak" do. Whether the missing generic visibility matters depends on whether Kay & Burton or RT Edgar want buyers from outside their core suburbs. That is a strategic question only the agency can answer.
The comparative prompts ("buyer's agent vs regular agent," "boutique vs franchise") produced educational responses across all engines. No specific agencies were recommended. Ray White and LJ Hooker were mentioned as franchise examples in the boutique-vs-franchise comparison. Advisory prompts produced generic guidance, with RateMyAgent, OpenAgent, and Google Reviews recommended as discovery platforms. Gemini cited consumer.vic.gov.au. REIV was mentioned for agent verification.
Cost and fees prompts produced the most agreement. All three engines cited commission rates of 1.6 to 2.5 per cent, with an average of approximately 2.1 to 2.43 per cent. Perplexity provided the most granular breakdown: statewide Victoria averages, tiered versus fixed commission structures, and suburb-level variations. Sources: whichrealestateagent.com.au, realestate.com.au, and ratemyagent.com.au.
Why Are Most Melbourne Real Estate Agencies Invisible to AI?
Hundreds of real estate agencies operate across greater Melbourne. AI names a small fraction of them. Of 351 total citations, the same brands repeated: Marshall White, Jellis Craig, and Ray White across all three engines while most agencies appeared on none. The franchise-to-boutique split is stark: 14 per cent franchise mentions versus 86 per cent boutique and independent. But raw percentages only tell half the story. The more useful question: what do Marshall White, Concierge Buyers Advocates, and Melbourne Boutique Property have in common that hundreds of other agencies lack?
What Do AI-Recommended Melbourne Agencies Have That Others Don't?
We did not design this experiment to study visibility factors. But after reviewing 54 responses across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, patterns emerged in the agencies that appeared on two or more engines. Six characteristics repeated.
| Factor | How It Showed Up in Our Data | Which Engines? |
|---|---|---|
| Review platform presence | RateMyAgent, WhichRealEstateAgent, Top10RealEstateAgent among top cited domains across all engines | All 3 |
| Award recognition | REB Awards, RateMyAgent Awards cited by name. Cara Bergmann appeared with award context. | Perplexity, Gemini |
| Specialisation clarity | Agencies stating buyer's advocacy, investment focus, or auction expertise appeared for matching intent prompts. Generalist agencies appeared for generic prompts only. | All 3 |
| Suburb-level content | Kay & Burton and RT Edgar surfaced for Toorak/South Yarra only. No suburb content = no suburb visibility. | All 3 |
| Crawlable website | 71–78% of citations across all engines were direct agency website links. ChatGPT pulled Google Business Profile data; Gemini pulled from agency sites directly. | All 3 |
| Individual agent profiles | Gemini and ChatGPT named individual agents (Mario Tucci, Jen Lin Lau, Anthony Grimwade). Strong personal digital presence = named specifically. | ChatGPT, Gemini |
ChatGPT
Perplexity (AU prompts)
Gemini
Review platforms were the single most consistent factor across all three engines. RateMyAgent, WhichRealEstateAgent, and Top10RealEstateAgent appeared among the top cited domains for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini alike. Award recognition helped on Perplexity and Gemini but not on ChatGPT. Specialisation clarity had the sharpest effect: state what you do, and AI matches you to the buyer asking for exactly that.
Best Boutique Real Estate Agencies Melbourne
Boutique and independent agencies accounted for 86 per cent of all mentions across our 54 queries. Franchises (Ray White, Barry Plant, Jellis Craig, Harcourts, LJ Hooker, Raine & Horne) appeared primarily in generic recommendation and auction prompts. For need-specific, suburb-specific, and city-specific queries, boutique and specialist firms dominated.
Jellis Craig straddles both worlds. It is a Melbourne-founded group with franchise-scale presence but local identity. It appeared across more prompt categories than any other brand: sellers, suburb-specific, international, auction, and generic. That breadth is unusual. Most brands appeared in one or two categories.
A distinction that matters
Franchise mentions were concentrated in generic prompts. The moment a buyer added specificity ("first home buyer", "investment", "Toorak", "auction"), boutique specialists took over. For agencies competing on specialisation rather than brand recognition, intent-specific prompts are where visibility matters most.
What Does This Mean for Melbourne Real Estate Agents?
Melbourne buyers are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini for agent recommendations right now. BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found that 45 per cent of consumers use AI for service recommendations. Our 54 queries produced 351 citations. Marshall White, Jellis Craig, Ray White, Concierge Buyers Advocates, and Melbourne Boutique Property appeared on all three engines. Most Melbourne agencies appeared on none.
Three findings are specific to Melbourne.
| Finding | Data | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| The Florida problem | 3 of 18 Perplexity prompts returned Melbourne, Florida results. Generic prompts without Australian context clues triggered the confusion. | If your brand or content lacks clear Australian geographic signals, you are competing with Florida agents for AI attention on at least one major engine. |
| Auction expertise is invisible by default | Auction specialists (EYS Auctions, Rickdale Real Estate, Rhiannon East) only appeared for auction-specific prompts. Zero appeared for generic queries. | Melbourne's auction culture is a strength, but AI only surfaces it when explicitly asked. Auction expertise needs to be stated clearly on your website. |
| Suburb content unlocks suburb visibility | Kay & Burton and RT Edgar appeared for Toorak/South Yarra prompts only. Invisible to all generic Melbourne queries. | Without suburb-level content, premium-suburb agencies are invisible to the majority of AI queries about Melbourne real estate. |
| If you... | AI sees you as... | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Have no suburb-specific content | Invisible for Toorak, South Yarra, Bayside queries | Create one page per suburb you operate in |
| Use generic "full-service" language | A generic result (if any) | Add specialisation language matching buyer intent |
| Are on portals but not review platforms | Visible to Gemini, harder for Perplexity to find | Claim your RateMyAgent and WhichRealEstateAgent profiles |
| Have a strong Google Business Profile | ChatGPT-visible, but that alone does not carry to other engines | Google Maps citations do not transfer to Perplexity or Gemini |
| Have auction expertise but don't say it | Invisible for auction-specific prompts | Create dedicated auction content. AI only surfaces it if you state it. |
Calculator: What is AI invisibility costing you?
Estimate based on market data and AI adoption rates. See all free tools.
We ran this same experiment in Sydney and Perth. Across all three cities, 12 brands appeared on all three engines — and not one was a franchise. Melbourne had the highest brand-level cross-engine count but 0% exact-entity agreement due to office-level variations. Read the full cross-city analysis.
The sources that AI engines rely on are identifiable. The signals are measurable. The gaps are fixable. Every agency listed above appeared because of specific, traceable factors: review platform profiles, award data, specialisation language, suburb-level content, or individual agent digital presence.
The Bottom Line
Each AI engine builds its own recommendation list from its own sources. Perplexity cannot always tell which Melbourne you mean. Most Melbourne agencies are not on any engine's list. Of the agencies that do appear, the visible ones share measurable characteristics: review platform presence, stated specialisation, suburb-level content, and crawlable websites. These are not secrets. They are gaps.
Want to see where your agency stands? Take our 2-minute AI readiness assessment, or request your free AI visibility report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Melbourne real estate agency has the best AI visibility?
Marshall White and Jellis Craig appeared on all three AI engines across the broadest range of prompt categories. Jellis Craig surfaced for generic, sellers, suburb-specific, international, and auction prompts. Marshall White appeared for generic, sellers, property management, and suburb-level queries. Three other brands appeared on all three engines: Ray White, Concierge Buyers Advocates, and Melbourne Boutique Property.
Does ChatGPT recommend real estate agents in Melbourne?
It does. ChatGPT returned named agencies with star ratings, review counts, full addresses, and Google Maps links for all 18 of our Melbourne prompts. Fifteen of its 82 citations pointed directly to Google Business Profiles.
Why did Perplexity recommend Florida agents for Melbourne?
Three of our 18 prompts used generic phrasing without Australian context clues. Perplexity defaulted to Melbourne, Florida. Prompts mentioning suburbs, auctions, or commission rates stayed Australian.
Are boutique agencies more visible to AI than franchises in Melbourne?
In our data, 86 per cent of all mentions were boutique or independent agencies. Franchises led generic "best agent" queries, but specialists dominated need-specific, suburb-specific, and city-specific prompts. The split depends on what the buyer asks. Generic question, franchise answer. Specific question, specialist answer.
Which AI engine gives the most Melbourne agent recommendations?
Gemini. It produced 145 citations from 17 prompts, nearly double ChatGPT's 82. Gemini also named individual agents with suburb context, something the other engines did less consistently.
How do commission rates in Melbourne compare across AI engines?
All three engines agreed: 1.6 to 2.5 per cent, average approximately 2.1 to 2.43 per cent. Perplexity gave the most detailed breakdown with statewide Victoria averages and tiered versus fixed commission structures.
Do AI engines recommend auction specialists in Melbourne?
Only when asked. None of the auction specialists (EYS Auctions, Rickdale Real Estate, Rhiannon East) appeared in generic Melbourne agent queries. You have to ask about auctions specifically. Melbourne's auction culture is a visibility channel, but it only activates with the right prompt.
Sources
- Cited Research, Melbourne AI recommendation experiment, March 2026. 54 queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Raw data collected via API in clean-room conditions.
- BrightLocal, 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey. Referenced for the 45 per cent AI usage statistic.
- RateMyAgent, WhichRealEstateAgent, Top10RealEstateAgent, OpenAgent: Australian real estate agent review and comparison platforms referenced in AI engine citations.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria (consumer.vic.gov.au): government regulator cited by Gemini for advisory prompts.
- REIV (Real Estate Institute of Victoria): mentioned for agent verification across engines.
- REB (Real Estate Business): industry awards data cited by Perplexity for seller and auction prompts.