Google search advertising for multifamily: What’s next, straight from Google

We’re living through the biggest shift in search marketing since the search engine was born. To help multifamily marketers make sense of it, Catriona Orosco, senior director at REACH by RentCafe, sat down with Robert Gibbs, head of agency at Google, to talk through what’s changing in search and paid search — and what it means for how you fill your communities.

The short version: Search is no longer about being seen. It’s about being selected. Here’s their conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.

Where renters go & how that’s changed

Cat: The first question we ask ourselves hasn’t changed: Where do renters go when they need an apartment? For most, it still starts with a search, and most of them still end up on Google. What’s changed is how they search. Renters are asking highly specific questions, researching across devices and expecting more personalized results. Meanwhile, cost per lead keeps rising, rents have stabilized and every marketing dollar is under more scrutiny. The challenge today isn’t impressions or clicks. It’s turning interest into booked tours and signed leases.

Robert: It’s a great place to start. If you look back at 2025, Google didn’t just iterate on its technology, we accelerated it — a decade of innovation in about 12 months. Here in 2026, we’re in Q3 and the pace is only picking up. We introduced Personal Intelligence with Gemini, which lets users securely connect their searches across Gmail, Photos and YouTube, so Google can understand context and intent at a depth we haven’t seen before. For multifamily, it means consumers now expect frictionless, hyper-personalized answers at every touchpoint.

Robert: We call the result the super-empowered consumer. Google research with Ipsos found that 3 in 4 people who use AI Mode or AI Overviews say it helps them make faster, more confident decisions. AI collapses the funnel and turns discovery into more immediate action.

“Search is no longer about matching keywords. It’s about deeply understanding intent.” — Robert Gibbs, head of agency, Google

The 5-phase renter journey

Cat: When we map the modern renter journey, we see five distinct phases: criteria and inspiration, search and discovery, verifying information, organizing options, and applying and signing.

Cat: Phase three is your biggest risk. If your pricing, pet policy or upfront fees aren’t clear, engagement drops immediately. That’s the moment renters decide whether you’re worth their time.

Winning visibility in an AI-first world

Cat: To win across that journey, your marketing has to be fully optimized for an AI-first environment. So how do we turn online visibility into real occupancy? It starts with the synergy between organic and paid. We’ve learned SEO and paid search can’t live in silos. In an AI-first world, they feed each other. When your property website has rich media, strong content and structured data — real-time availability, verified pricing, FAQs — it supercharges your landing pages and lifts conversion rates.

Robert: And that on-page data is the critical fuel for our AI bidding and matching models. High-quality, relevant content boosts your ad relevance and ad rank while driving down your cost per click. It also lets your paid ads appear above, within or directly below AI Overviews, right at the moment renters are evaluating options.

Cat: So strong site architecture, media and content don’t just help organic visibility. They maximize the return on every paid dollar you spend.

Robert: Exactly. Search is no longer about matching keywords. It’s about deeply understanding intent. When we understand the nuance behind a complex renter question and serve dynamically relevant ad copy, we eliminate wasted spend and connect qualified renters directly to available inventory.

AI is the best thing that ever happened to search

Robert: There was an early narrative wondering if AI would replace search. The data proves the opposite. Last quarter, search queries hit an all-time high — we see over 5 trillion searches on Google a year. AI Overviews now has more than 2.5 billion monthly users, and AI Mode has passed 1 billion. We also introduced the biggest evolution of the search box in 25 years. It expands so renters can fully articulate their lifestyle needs with text, images and video. With AI Overviews and AI Mode in one unified experience, the move from question to answer to follow-up is seamless. Simply put, Google search is AI search.

Robert: Search has moved from delivering information to delivering intelligence. It’s more personalized and, crucially, it’s agentic. It doesn’t just show listings, it helps renters take action — checking tour availability, scheduling visits, facilitating bookings. Our job as marketers is to make sure your property is positioned to be the best answer. By leveraging AI Max for Search and Performance Max, advertisers are unlocking billions of net new queries they weren’t reaching before. Advertisers who adopt AI Max or Performance Max see an average of 15% more conversions or conversion value on search at a similar CPA or ROAS.

Robert: And to keep everything on brand, we introduced AI Brief. Just like briefing an agency creative director, you give conversational guidelines on brand rules, tone and audience, and Google AI steers your campaigns within them.

What AI Max delivered for REACH clients

Cat: We put AI Max to the test on properties in the REACH by RentCafe portfolio, and the results were extraordinary. Click-through rates increased over 10%, cost per click dropped 32%, and we saw a 112% increase in the conversions that matter most, like scheduling a tour or registering.

Cat: One insight from our data: AI Max performs best in primary campaigns with dedicated budget, not fragmented across tiny secondary tests. When you fuel it with meaningful budget, it delivers unmatched efficiency.

Cat: But AI Max is still not set it and forget it. Without careful negative keyword management, an up-to-date AI Brief, proper asset group segmentation and audience signals, you risk burning spend and optimizing toward low-value conversions. This is where a knowledgeable agency makes the difference. Put it all together correctly and the results are amazing.

“When you fuel AI Max with meaningful budget, it delivers unmatched efficiency.” — Catriona Orosco, senior director, REACH by RentCafe

The YouTube era

Cat: Creative matters more than ever, and that’s where video comes in.

Robert: Welcome to the YouTube era. Only YouTube gives you both brand-building and performance in one place — audience and attention together. For multifamily, that means virtual walkthroughs and short-form clips of amenities that let renters experience a community before they ever schedule a tour. YouTube also reaches audiences other platforms can’t. In the US, 56% of YouTube connected-TV households aren’t on Netflix, and 46% aren’t on Amazon Prime Video.

Future-proofing: What’s coming next

Cat: Looking ahead, I can’t say this strongly enough — we’re incredibly excited about the Google rental ads beta. Instead of relying on standard text lines, rental ads bring dynamic, visually rich carousels to the top of high-intent search results. Powered by verified inventory feeds, they show unit photos, live pricing, bed and bath counts and key amenities like in-unit laundry and pet policies. Renters compare floor plans side by side and click straight to your schedule-a-tour or application page. That removes verification friction early, prequalifies traffic and delivers much higher conversion rates than legacy text ads.

Robert: To power formats like that, AI Max uses three core capabilities working together: search term matching, text customization and final URL expansion. Search term matching expands your reach to relevant new queries. Text customization tailors your ad copy to match a renter’s intent in real time. And final URL expansion sends the renter to the exact page on your site they want, rather than a generic homepage. So the ad delivers 100% relevance from query to ad copy to landing page.

Key takeaways

• Renters are actively searching across more places, moments and formats than ever. Make sure you’re visible when intent is highest.
• Media is the fuel modern marketing needs to perform. Rich visuals and video move renters through the journey.
• Technology creates the power, but expertise turns it into results. A powerful engine still needs the right team.

Ready to see what’s next for your communities?

Google search advertising strategies for multifamily communities are evolving. The new tools are here, but they reward the marketers who use them well. If you want to know where your paid search is leaving budget and leads on the table, our team can walk you through it.

Book a Google Ads strategy audit with REACH by RentCafe, and we’ll show you where AI Max, creative and structured content can move your numbers.

And if you’re interested in the Google rental ads beta, it’s a limited, invite-only program vetted directly by our team. Reach out, and we’ll see if your portfolio is a fit.