AI engines rarely cite roundups for apartment questions. Here's when a list or guide is still worth pursuing.
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AI engines rarely cite roundups for apartment questions. Here's when a list or guide is still worth pursuing.
"Best apartments" lists and neighborhood guides were 0.7% of the sources ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews cited for apartment questions over the last 90 days, against 57% for listing sites. They show up most when renters compare two communities. Here is where they appear, what the research on "best" lists says, and when a place in one is worth pursuing.
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Key findings
- A small share. Roundups and guides were 0.7% of the sources ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews cited for apartment questions over the last 90 days, and 2% of answers cited one. Listing sites were 57%.
- They show up most on comparisons. When renters compared two communities, roundups and guides were 1.1% of the sources cited, more than on any other kind of question.
- Most come from independent publishers: apartment locators, city magazines, local guide sites and real-estate agents' neighborhood guides.
- The research is mixed. "Best" lists were the most cited page type in ChatGPT's answers about software and products in late 2025; reports since then disagree on whether that has lasted, and none covers apartments.
HaloScore data
Roundups and guides are 0.7% of the sources AI engines cite for apartments
HaloScore puts the questions renters ask to the major AI engines every month and records every source each answer cites. For this article we sorted 90 days of those sources by kind and picked out the roundups and guides: "best apartments in..." lists, neighborhood guides and relocation guides.
A small share. Over the last 90 days, roundups and guides were 0.7% of the sources ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews cited in answers about apartment communities, and 2% of answers cited at least one. Listing sites were 57%. Many pages titled "best apartments in..." are listing-site search results; we counted those as listing sites, not roundups.
They show up most on comparisons. When renters compared two communities, roundups and guides were 1.1% of the sources cited, more than on any other kind of question. On "best apartments in..." questions they were 0.6%, and on questions about a specific fact 0.3%. Google AI Overviews cited them more often than ChatGPT: 1.3% of its sources, against 0.4%.
Most come from independent publishers. The roundups and guides AI engines cited came mostly from apartment locators' top-ten lists for a neighborhood, city magazines, local guide sites and real-estate agents' neighborhood guides. Guides on listing sites' own blogs and on news sites were a small part, and guides on community websites were rarely cited at all. In our reading, most of the cited roundups covered neighborhoods in larger cities, where locators, magazines and agents publish them; for smaller towns there are often few to cite.
These figures show where AI engines look, not that a place in a roundup wins recommendations: we have not measured that link.
Figure 1
Roundups and guides show up most when renters compare two communities
Share of the sources cited that were roundups or guides, by the kind of renter question, last 90 days.
Source: HaloScore measurements of ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, July 14 to October 12, 2026.
| Kind of question | Roundups and guides, share of sources cited |
|---|---|
| Comparisons between two communities | 1.1% |
| Search questions ("the best apartments in...") | 0.6% |
| Lifestyle questions ("pet-friendly apartments with a pool") | 0.6% |
| Questions about a specific fact | 0.3% |
Figure 2
Roundups and guides are a small share of what AI engines cite for apartments
Share of the sources cited by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews in answers about apartment communities, last 90 days. The rest were other websites, including property websites we do not recognize.
Source: HaloScore measurements, July 14 to October 12, 2026. Sources sorted by website and page address.
| Kind of source | Share of sources cited |
|---|---|
| Listing sites | 57.3% |
| Property and management websites | 14.4% |
| Local directories and review sites | 1.7% |
| Roundups and guides | 0.7% |
| News sites | 0.3% |
Key takeaway
Roundups and guides are a small part of what AI engines cite for apartments, and they count most when a renter is weighing your community against another.
The research
"Best" lists lead some AI answers, and the evidence is mixed on whether that lasts
In software and products, "best" lists led. In a study published in December 2025, Ahrefs looked at ChatGPT's answers to 750 questions about software, products and marketing agencies and found that "Across all source links, 'best X' blog lists represented 43.8% of all page types." In 67.6% of the "best software" search results it checked, there was a list whose own publisher ranked itself first.[1] The study did not cover apartments.
ChatGPT may have changed course, or not. An analysis of Peec AI's data, widely shared in late August 2026 and summarized by Nicolas Sitter, reported that after the release of GPT-5.6 in July, fewer of ChatGPT's own searches used words like "best" and "top", and that it cited list pages far less. Sitter re-ran the comparison on hotel searches, a local category closer to apartments, and found no such change: list pages went from about 34% to about 36% of the citations after GPT-5.6 became ChatGPT's default.[2] The two findings cover different questions, and neither covers apartments.
For apartments, lists are a small share either way. In our measurements, roundups and guides were 0.7% of the sources AI engines cited, and 0.4% of ChatGPT's. Listing sites carry most of the weight.
Inclusion has to be earned. Google says its AI features show "what's being said about products and services across the web", but "seeking inauthentic 'mentions' across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem."[3]
Figure 3
"Best" lists led in software answers, and are a small share for apartments
Three different measurements of different questions; read each row on its own terms.
| Study | What it covered | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs, December 2025 | ChatGPT; 750 questions about software, products and marketing agencies | 'Best X' lists were 43.8% of the page types cited |
| Nicolas Sitter, August 2026 | ChatGPT; 616 hotel-destination questions a week | List pages went from about 34% to 36% of citations after GPT-5.6 |
| HaloScore, last 90 days | ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews; renter questions about apartment communities | Roundups and guides were 0.7% of sources cited |
Source: Ahrefs, December 4, 2025;[1] Nicolas Sitter, August 2026;[2] HaloScore measurements, July 14 to October 12, 2026.
Key takeaway
The research on "best" lists comes from software, products and hotels, so for apartments the lists in your own market, and whether AI engines cite them, are the better guide.
The takeaway
Treat roundups as an extra, worth pursuing where they already exist
Roundups and guides are worth some effort where they exist, after the basics. Three points to plan around:
- 01They are a small share for apartments.Listing sites carry most of what AI engines cite, so complete, accurate listings come first.
- 02They matter where publishers already write about your area,and most when a renter is comparing your community with another. In a town no one has written about, there is little to pursue.
- 03Inclusion has to be earned.A specific reason to include your community, accurate details and good photos make the case. Paid placement dressed up as editorial is the kind of mention Google says is not as helpful as it seems.
How to do it
Find the lists that cover your area, then give their authors a reason to include you
- Find the roundups and guides for your area. Search for "best apartments in [your neighborhood]", "[your neighborhood] guide" and "moving to [your town]". Then ask the AI engines to describe your community and to compare it with a neighbor, and note which lists and guides they cite.
- Check whether you are in them, and whether your details are right: name, neighborhood, pet policy and the features that set you apart.
- Pitch the authors: apartment locators, local bloggers, city magazines, and real-estate and relocation agents. Give each a specific reason to include you, current photos and accurate details.
- If you write a neighborhood guide for your own website, write it for renters. Commutes, parks, schools, shops and what living there is like are useful to someone deciding where to move, though community websites' own guides are rarely cited by AI engines today.
- Do not pay for placement presented as editorial.
Questions
Common questions
Should we publish our own "best apartments in town" list?
We would not lead with one. Ahrefs found self-promotional lists common among ChatGPT's sources for software, often with the publisher ranking itself first,[1] but for apartments, lists of any kind are a small share of what AI engines cite, and community websites' own guides are rarely cited. Time spent on your listing-site profiles goes further.
Which AI engine cites roundups most?
In our measurements, Google AI Overviews: 1.3% of its sources for apartment questions were roundups or guides, against 0.4% for ChatGPT.
Do listing sites' own neighborhood guides count?
They appear, but rarely. Your listing-site profile is the part of those sites you control, and it is cited far more often.
Get started
See where your community stands in AI search
HaloScore tracks every source the AI engines cite for your market each month, including the roundups and guides, so you can see which ones shape renters' answers and whether your community is in them.
Get started with HaloScoreUseful? Share it with your team or your management company.
Sources
- Glen Allsopp, Ahrefs, "Do Self-Promotional 'Best' Lists Boost ChatGPT Visibility? Study of 26,283 Source URLs" (December 4, 2025). Ahrefs sells search and AI visibility tools. ahrefs.com
- Nicolas Sitter, "Did GPT-5.6 really kill listicles? Not in hotel search" (616 hotel-destination prompts a week, August 2026), which also summarizes the analysis of Peec AI's data that it re-tests. nicolassitter.com
- Google Search Central, "Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search" (updated July 10, 2026). developers.google.com