Zillow Agent Review Pages Flooded With AI: Report

As artificial intelligence grows in capacity and popularity, it’s not a surprise to see it popping up on more platforms. AI’s growing presence in online agent reviews, however, may give consumers pause.

Nearly a quarter of agent reviews posted on Zillow this year appear to be generated by AI, according to the New York Post. The finding comes from a report by content authenticity platform Originality.ai.

The platform used its proprietary AI detection tool to analyze more than 10,000 agent reviews on Zillow. The result was that 23.7 percent of agent reviews had the hallmarks of being written by AI, a sharp rise from a 3.63 percent share in 2019.

“From Airbnb to Google to LinkedIn, AI-generated content is rising across platforms,” Originality.ai chief executive officer Jon Gillham told the Post. “What sets Zillow apart is the direct impact on life-altering decisions like buying a home.”

Gillham added that the widespread use of AI-generated reviews could lead to a “credibility crisis” as the “review ecosystem risks becoming noise rather than guidance.”

Zillow did not respond to the publication’s request for comment. Critically, the platform doesn’t disclose when agent reviews are written by AI.

Zillow launched a program for agent reviews in 2010, allowing clients at the time to rank and review agents on a one-to-five scale in categories like “local knowledge,” “process expertise” and “responsiveness.” Zillow already had a database of roughly 6,500 user reviews for lenders.

The platform’s database of agents allows consumers to see reviews and ratings of agents who have worked with buyers and sellers through the platform.

Zillow is in the thick of a legal battle with brokerage Compass, which accused the listings platform of anticompetitive behavior. Compass filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to freeze Zillow’s policy, which requires listings to be submitted to the multiple listing service and Zillow within 24 hours of being publicly marketed.

Zillow’s listing policy was announced in April and went into effect at the end of June.

— Holden Walter-Warner