If you've caught any TV lately, you may have seen Google's new Gemini spot, "Instant Replay: Apartment Hunt." It's a quick 30-second ad that first showed up in late August. The premise is simple: someone looking for a new place asks Gemini for help, and instead of scrolling through endless listings, they get back a shortlist of apartment communities that fit what they asked for.

No ten blue links and no bouncing between five tabs. Just a curated list, built around exactly what the renter is looking for.

For multifamily marketers, that matters. Google has dozens of things it could show Gemini doing in a national TV campaign. It picked apartment hunting. That tells us Google sees renting as a strong example of what AI search does well: a big, complex decision with lots of variables (budget, commute, pets, amenities, vibe) that people need help sorting through.

It also says something bigger about our industry. Apartment hunting getting a national TV spot from Google is a sign that multifamily has become a meaningful use case for Big Tech. Renting isn't a niche use case anymore, it's one of the everyday moments Google wants to own. If Google is putting ad dollars behind it now, it wouldn't be surprising to see more rental-focused features and products follow, whether those are richer apartment results in AI Mode, new listing formats, or more ad options built with properties in mind.

And if that's where renters are headed, it's worth asking a simple question: when an AI builds that shortlist, is your community on it?

Are Renters Actually Doing This?

Yes, though it's still early. Most renters still start on Google or an ILS, but AI tools are quickly becoming part of how people research neighborhoods and narrow down their options.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently profiled a renter who used ChatGPT to pick a neighborhood, then asked it for a list of communities that matched her must-haves. That's basically the Gemini ad playing out in real life, just with a different chatbot.

So AI isn't replacing Google search or the ILSs tomorrow. But the renters who are using it are doing so at the most valuable moment: when they're building their shortlist.

Okay, But Where Do Ads Fit Into This?

For a while, the only way to show up in AI answers was organically: good reviews, a strong Google Business Profile, and a website with clear, structured info. That still matters. But in 2026, paid options have arrived on both of the major AI platforms.

Google AI Max for Search

AI Max is Google's upgrade layer for regular Search campaigns. It came out of beta in April 2026 and adds three things to a normal campaign:

• Search term matching. Google looks past your exact keyword list to find related searches it thinks will convert.
• Text customization. Google writes fresh ad copy variations based on your existing ads, keywords, and website.
• Final URL expansion. Google can send people to the page on your site that best fits their search, like a pet policy page for someone asking about dogs.

For multifamily, the key piece is that AI Max is one of the main ways ads become eligible to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google's conversational search experience. Those AI Mode searches tend to be long and specific, exactly like the kind a renter types out.

Google is automatically upgrading some campaigns to AI Max this month (those using campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets), with Dynamic Search Ads following in February 2027. So this isn't something that's coming down the road. It's happening in accounts right now.

ChatGPT Ads

OpenAI started testing ads in ChatGPT earlier this year, and it's already grown quickly. The platform passed a $1 billion annualized run rate in under 200 days, with tens of thousands of advertisers on board and a self-serve Ads Manager now open.

The setup looks a little different from traditional paid search:

• Ads show up as sponsored cards below ChatGPT's answer, clearly labeled.
• Instead of bidding on keywords, you describe the kinds of conversations you want to appear next to.
• Ads only show to logged-in adult users on the Free and Go plans, not paid Plus, Pro, or Business subscribers.
• OpenAI says ads don't change what ChatGPT actually recommends. The answer stays separate, while the ad sits next to it.

Why This Could Be a Great Fit for Apartment Communities

Renting is a high-consideration decision. People don't sign a 12-month lease off one search. They compare, ask follow-up questions, and weigh trade-offs. That's exactly the behavior AI search is built for, and there are a few reasons it could be especially valuable for multifamily:

• The questions are specific. "Pet-friendly two-bedroom near downtown with a washer/dryer under $2,000" is a normal renter search. AI Max is designed to catch those long, detailed queries that a tight keyword list might miss.
• You're showing up at shortlist time. A renter asking an AI for options is usually past the "just browsing" stage. Being visible right when the list gets built is a valuable opportunity.
• It's still early. Fewer apartment advertisers are active in these placements today, which means less competition and a chance to learn before it gets crowded.
• Your community website does double duty. Both platforms lean on your site content. Clear floor plan, amenity, pet, and parking info helps your ads and your organic AI visibility at the same time.

A few guardrails to keep in mind

This isn't a set-it-and-forget-it strategy.

• AI Max trades some control for reach. Independent testing has been mixed, and Google's automation can match you to searches that aren't a great fit. Negative keywords, brand controls, and close monitoring matter.
• ChatGPT has housing rules. OpenAI's ad policies prohibit ads for individual housing listings. That means campaigns should promote the community as a whole, not a specific unit, and landing pages need to follow suit.
• Fair housing still applies everywhere. Housing ads come with targeting limits on every platform, and AI-generated ad copy still needs a human review before it goes live.
• Measurement is still maturing. Especially on ChatGPT, reporting is newer and lighter than what we're used to from Google. That's why tying it back to real leads and leases matters - and where Kyzen comes in.

So... Should You Move Budget Out of Paid Search?

Short answer: shift a little, don't abandon anything.

The money is definitely starting to move. EMARKETER forecasts US AI ad spending will hit $32 billion in 2026 and more than $68 billion by 2030. But more than 80% of that 2026 spend is expected to run through search ads that appear alongside AI results, like Google's AI Overviews, not inside chatbot conversations.

In other words, a lot of "AI advertising" is really paid search evolving. The same forecast suggests traditional search ad revenue keeps growing through 2030, and EMARKETER's own advice is to keep funding proven search terms while testing conversational placements early.

Each channel still has its own role in the mix

• Branded and core paid search: Capture renters already searching for you or your area. Still the workhorse.
• Google AI Max: Stretch that search budget into longer, more conversational queries and AI Mode placements.
• ChatGPT ads: Get in front of renters at the shortlist stage inside a growing, less crowded channel.
• ILSs: Stay where a huge share of renters still browse and compare.
• Paid social and retargeting: Build awareness and bring back renters who've already visited.
• Geofencing and streaming TV: Build local brand awareness so your name is familiar when it shows up on a shortlist.
• Organic (GBP, reviews, website): Earn trust and feed the AI answers that ads sit next to.

For most communities, a sensible starting point is setting aside a small test budget, often pulled from lower-performing search campaigns or general awareness spend, rather than pulling from what's already driving leases. Let the data decide how much moves after that.

We're Piloting Both Right Now

Dyverse is now offering pilot programs for both Google AI Max and ChatGPT ads for apartment communities.

The goal is simple: figure out what actually works for multifamily before these channels become more crowded. Our pilots are built to:

• Start with a focused test budget so there's no major upfront commitment.
• Set up campaigns with multifamily-specific guardrails, including housing-policy compliance and brand controls.
• Track results all the way to leads and leases, not just clicks, using Kyzen.
• Compare performance side by side with your existing paid search so you can see what's truly incremental.

More data is on the way. We'll be sharing follow-up articles soon with real numbers from our pilot findings: what performed, what didn't, and how we'd recommend adjusting budgets.

In the meantime, if you want your community to be on the shortlist the next time a renter asks Gemini or ChatGPT for help, reach out to our team and ask about joining a pilot.