SOCi Ranks Apartments.com as Top ILS Source in AI Search

Apartments.com is the most-cited rental listing platform in AI search, according to a new report from SOCi that examined business visibility within generative AI platforms.

The report analyzed approximately 3.2 million queries across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and compared the sources cited by these large language models to generate business recommendations.
Within the property management category, Apartments.com ranked first among internet listing services and second for sources overall. Among the top 20 sources, Apartments.com received nearly 30 percent of all citations. Other ILS sources received 5 percent or fewer.

Apartments.com emerged as leading multifamily source for AI recommendations 

Apartments.com accounted for 28 percent of AI search citations, ranking first among multifamily sources, well ahead of other rental listing sites included in the analysis, and second to Google Maps among all sources.

“The SOCi report underscores the essential role Apartments.com plays in rental search,” said Kathy Neumann, vice president of marketing for Apartments.com. “When AI engines look for authoritative, accurate, and relevant sources, they find Apartments.com listings.”

Analysis highlights importance of high-quality data sources

SOCi cited three factors driving AI visibility: authority, precision, and relevance.

“AI systems don’t invent answers; they retrieve and synthesize information from trusted, authoritative sources,” according to the report.

For multifamily operators, the findings highlight the growing importance of maintaining complete and consistent property information as AI-powered search plays a growing role in the rental search process.
A summary of the results and key takeaways are included in the report, “The Factors Driving AI Visibility,” which is available for download.