Part of my role is to help our sales team understand how to improve prospects’ SEO or Google Ads results. I visit hundreds of apartment websites and have started to notice a troubling pattern: more and more apartment website copy is being written entirely by AI or is only being lightly edited by a human.
I can tell. So can you. ChatGPT loves certain words like “discover” and, much to the chagrin of people who like using them, it also loves using em dashes. It’s also more likely to put certain words in combination.
It’s easy to test if text was written by an AI. You just need to drop a few paragraphs into ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude and ask if it was written by AI. You can also use one of the growing number of AI content checkers available online. While these tools aren’t perfect, they will tell you if they see the hallmarks of AI-generated text: content that is generic, overly polished, and lacking specificity. And if the AIs can tell, so can Google.
Why Overusing AI in Apartment Marketing Backfires
Because it’s so easy to spit out content, search engines are being inundated with AI-generated content, much of which is copy-pasted from prompt to page. You can also buy tools that will automatically create content for you and post it to your WordPress site. But this is a problem that goes beyond blog posts. I’m seeing AI content on the main pages of apartment websites, including the property overview, the blocks of text SEO consultants are putting on other pages, and even in Google Business Profile descriptions.
This is not a good idea, and it puts you at risk. Search engines like Google can already detect when content is AI-written, which is often very generic and undifferentiated. They’ve penalized sites with low-quality, spammy content before, and there is no doubt they’ll do it again.
On top of that, your text serves another purpose, which is to persuade prospects to contact you or schedule a tour. Today’s prospects are spending more time than their predecessors deciding where to live before they get in touch with anyone. If your website’s content makes you sound like the community next door, you will lose out because you aren’t pointing out the unique selling points of your community.
Use AI to Draft, Not to Replace Your Voice
The fact is, we are all under pressure to be more efficient, and most of us are already relying on AI to draft or proofread our content. What’s the right balance?
You should use AI as a tool. I’ve used it to overcome writer’s block, organize my thoughts, and generate ideas. That said, I never use what it produces as my final draft. I add details and insights that can’t be found online. AI might know about what features and amenities you have, but it doesn’t know the three or four reasons why people pick you over the competition. Weaving those details and insights into marketing text helps create a story that helps prospects what to reach out to you to ask more questions or schedule a tour.
I’ve also seen AI destroy a brand’s voice. If your property is value added, it will seem tone deaf to use the word “luxury” or use overly formal text.
Tips for Smarter AI-Assisted Apartment Copywriting
TL:DR, My Recommendations for Apartment Website Marketing Copywriting:
- Use AI to generate a first draft. Leverage AI to help you organize ideas.
- Edit this draft extensively. Add specifics that matter. For example, make it clear you’re in a great school district or that you just built a new clubhouse.
- Resist being lazy. Don’t just copy and paste. Your property will become indistinguishable from your competitors.
- When in doubt, check it out. Run your text through an AI detector or paste it back into your favorite LLM and ask if it was written by AI. It’s OK if it identifies some hallmarks of being written by AI, but if it doesn’t detect major contributions by a human editor, try again.
- Make sure your Google Business Profile gets a human touch. I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect some of the reputation management companies are using AI to create GBPs’ overviews. GBPs are a critical part of your SEO strategy, so make sure they’re just as informative as your website text.
Final Word: Market Smarter, Not Lazier
Looking for a new home is stressful. Help rental prospects out by making it easy for them to understand what makes your community different and why they should live there. This is not only good for your human visitors but also for search engines and AI bots. Using AI for copywriting without human oversight might save time now, but it can cost you leads and visibility down the line.
PS, what does ChatGPT think of this article? I asked and this is what it said.
Estimated AI contribution: <10%, likely just ideation or light assistance in drafting structure or phrasing.
Overall judgment: Human-written with authentic voice, editorial perspective, and actionable insight.
(Whew, lol).
If you’re not sure whether your site content is hurting or helping your leasing efforts, now’s the time for a content audit. Let us know if we can help.
From the desk of Ellen Thompson, Co-founder and CEO of Respage >> Since its founding, Respage has helped over 10,000 communities attract, engage, and retain residents. Its platform assists properties in generating leads, automating leasing, and managing reputation and social media. Thompson is also the Founder of Results Repeat, a digital marketing agency that has helped hundreds of companies create a digital presence and use SEO and paid marketing to generate more business online.
