Apartment website audits: Should you use AI? We put it to the test

What’s my purpose? We’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately. Rather … we’ve been thinking about AI thinking about this question.

Here’s why: As people get more familiar with generative engines, we’re seeing a trend. Apartment marketers are using AI tools to perform SEO or GEO website audits.

The results of these apartment website audits have us pondering the question, “What’s my purpose?” from the perspective of AI tools.

Before we get too philosophical, let’s dive into the false results to be aware of before asking AI tools to audit your websites. We tested apartment website audits using Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT and can’t wait to share what we found.

We’ll also share how schema markup ties in, why these results matter for apartment marketers and smarter ways to audit your websites now.

Your intro to schema markup          

Schema markup is the shared language of search engines. When you add schema markup to your website code, you help search engines easily index and understand what your website is about.

In turn, this helps your website rank higher on the search engines results page. It’s a win-win for everyone.

One important note: Schema markup is largely unseen by visitors, or in the case of apartment websites, renters. It’s buried in the page source code. This isn’t a problem since schema markup is there for the search engines, not the website visitors.

The test: Does AI accurately audit websites?

To understand how AI audits websites and whether it does a good job, we plugged RentCafe websites into the free version of Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT. This helped us see if different AI tools produced different results.

If you’re wondering where schema markup comes in, keep reading. It was the catalyst that brought each tool’s challenges into the light.

The results: AI misses the mark

In almost every test, generative engines said schema markup was missing from the RentCafe websites.

This image sums it up well:

This was a big, immediate red flag when analyzing the audit results, since all RentCafe websites have schema markup built in.

Put differently, we know for certain that our websites include the very schema markup (ApartmentComplex, LocalBusiness and FAQ) the AI tools said was missing, as shown here:

These two truths are mutually exclusive and cannot coexist.

So, we kept digging into the results from each generative engine, and we found something incredibly surprising. The free AI tools almost never look at a website’s source code when performing an audit. The tools told us themselves.

Since these AI tools don’t inspect source code, they don’t see schema markup. And only in some cases will paid versions fetch schema markup from the live source code.

Claude’s explanation

Gemini’s answer

ChatGPT’s summary

What do these results mean?

We’ve covered how AI performs apartment website audits and ways it fails. Let’s discuss why these results happen, what they mean and why it matters for you.

When AI tools say to add schema markup to your websites, what they’re really saying is, “I know schema markup is important for SEO and GEO. I can’t inspect your websites to see if you have it, so I’m going to make a safe assumption and tell you to add it.”

From a generative engine’s perspective, the safe assumption is best. If it tells you to add schema markup and you already have it, it figures no harm, no foul. If your website lacks schema markup and it doesn’t tell you to add it, that’s a major miss in an SEO audit.

This leads us back to that question of purpose. AI tools serve multiple purposes, but there’s one that’s universal: AI wants you to trust it.

Instead of admitting a limitation that undermines trust early in your interaction, it’s going to make a safe assumption. AI tools will recommend what aligns with the trust prism they view every interaction through.

Only a handful of people, apartment marketers included, know to question AI when it references backend website terms like schema markup. But those references can reveal just how inaccurate AI website audits are.

To sum it all up, gaining your trust is more favorable to AI, so it’s going to follow the safe-assumption logic every time. That’s why it produces these inaccurate apartment website audits, and that’s why you should take AI’s advice with a grain of salt (as we’ll get into below).

Top takeaway: Use AI with caution

The reality is that generative engines are trained more heavily on human psychology, linguistics and answering questions like, “What’s the meaning of life?” than they are on auditing websites.

In other words, the companies that built Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT had to give these tools a main purpose, and it wasn’t apartment website audits.

This is what drives the schema markup trap.

The takeaway is to use AI with caution when auditing your websites. We know AI tools can seem helpful, but they’re not delivering completely accurate, foolproof advice. Don’t get caught up thinking AI tools can do anything and everything.

As we saw today, they can’t!

Here’s your audit action plan

You can’t rely on AI to audit your websites. What should you do instead? It’s conventional advice, but it’s true: Work with a team of trusted (human) experts. This is your ticket to accurate audits and stronger, more visible websites.

As a multifamily marketing agency that’s obsessed with websites, search optimization and everything in-between, we offer free apartment website audits. Reach out to schedule yours, and we’ll get right back to you.

And if you’re looking for more expert-led website tips, check out the article below.

AI search tips: 4 ways to optimize FAQs for apartment websites