The digital advertising landscape is set to experience a tectonic shift. OpenAI is preparing to launch an advertising platform inside ChatGPT, and when it does, apartment marketers will have a brand-new way to reach rental prospects and generate leads.
If you’re currently relying on Google Ads and Meta Ads for lead generation, ChatGPT will feel very different. There’s nothing official yet, but here’s what ChatGPT says it’s going to be like. Instead of people scrolling through a feed or typing search queries, renters will be actively asking ChatGPT for advice. They will be entering prompts like:
- “What are the most dog-friendly apartments in Old City, Philadelphia?”
- “Find me a two-bedroom apartment within walking distance of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.”
Rather than being shown a list of links or a feed of sponsored posts, prospects will see answers with ads embedded directly in the conversation.
How ChatGPT Ads Will Be Different
Here’s why this matters for apartment owners and managers:
- Rental intent is crystal clear. A renter asking ChatGPT for apartments is giving you the exact targeting signal you want. Ads won’t be interrupting the chat. They will be part of the answer.
- The format is conversational, and the content is more complete. Your community won’t just show up in a list of results. The AI can describe your community in detail, much like a leasing agent would during a phone call.
- Competition will be new. The playing field won’t look like Google Ads, where ILS sites dominate the search auction. Early adopters will have an advantage, at least until the market floods!
What You Can Do Now
Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly when the platform will roll out, what the ad formats will look like, or how pricing will work. But that doesn’t mean you should wait to prepare.
- Start with education. Make sure your leadership, marketing, and onsite teams know this shift is coming. Ads won’t be just about keywords and double-checking ad creative anymore. They’ll be about intent and most likely AI-generated content that’s inserted naturally into the conversation.
- Revisit your budget. Consider setting aside a small portion of your advertising dollars for testing once ChatGPT Ads launch. Even a few hundred dollars could give you early insights and a first-mover advantage.
- Focus on fundamentals. Keep optimizing your online presence now, including your website, Google Business Profile, social media, and local business listings. Strong, structured, and accurate data will power results inside ChatGPT.
Looking Ahead
When Google Ads first launched, the advertisers who moved quickly saw outsized results. The same happened on Facebook (now Meta). ChatGPT advertising will likely follow a similar path.
We may not know the exact release date or the full details yet, but one thing is clear: organic conversational AI is already becoming another critical channel in the apartment marketing toolkit, and paid placement is on the way. The owners and managers who budget for it now and prepare to experiment will be at the head of the curve for at least a quarter or two!
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.
