AEO for commercial real estate brokers: AI search visibility ranking
How AI search engines rank commercial real estate brokers by visibility and citations. 20 brands measured monthly across Google AI Mode: which brands the AI names in answers, which domains it cites as sources, and how the leaders compare. Commercial real estate brokers advising landlords, occupiers, and investors on leasing, sales, tenant representation, capital markets, and property strategy. Composite score: 70% visibility (% of AI answers naming the brand) + 30% citation rate (% citing the brand's domain). Full methodology →
Download this AEO ranking as a PDF
We'll email it to you. One-off send — no list, no follow-up, no surprise marketing.
When buyers inquire about Commercial real estate brokers, AI engines consistently point to CBRE as the industry leader, with a notable 62.5% visibility rate among top brands. Other frequently mentioned brands include JLL and Cushman & Wakefield, making them key players in the discussion of commercial real estate services.
The rankings in this category heavily rely on data sourced from popular platforms such as Reddit, YouTube, and commercial-specific sites like sharplaunch.com. These sources often aggregate user experiences and expert reviews, providing a diverse look into brand performance and consumer satisfaction across various metrics.
For buyers evaluating this list, it's crucial to consider what AI engines value: recent and relevant reviews and third-party validations. Examining the specific reputation within the subcategories relevant to your needs can provide additional insight into which brand might serve you best.
At a glance
What we observed in this category
CBRE leads the commercial real estate brokers category with a visibility score of 62.5%, well above the category average of 10.0% and 12.5 percentage points ahead of joint second-place JLL and Cushman and Wakefield, both sitting at 50.0%. The gap between the top three and the next tier is stark: NAI Global, Colliers, and Newmark each register only 12.5% visibility, while ten brands score zero. This concentration at the top suggests Google AI Mode is defaulting to a small shortlist of globally recognised firms when answering commercial real estate queries.
A notable divergence exists between visibility and citation across this category. Every brand in the top six holds a 0.0% citation rate despite meaningful visibility scores, meaning Google AI Mode names these firms in responses but does not link back to their domains. Marcus and Millichap, Avison Young, and Kidder Mathews show the inverse pattern: 0.0% visibility but 12.5% citation each, indicating their content is referenced as a source without the brand being named. The category average citation rate is just 1.9%, confirming that direct domain citation is rare across the board.
The top cited sources for this category are dominated by third-party and community platforms, including reddit.com, youtube.com, sharplaunch.com, commercialsearch.com, and reonomy.com, alongside smaller specialist sites such as hughesmarino.com and nomadgroup.io. None of the major brokerage domains appear in that cited sources list, which reinforces the pattern that AI Mode draws on independent commentary and listing platforms rather than brand-owned content when constructing answers about commercial real estate brokers. All ten ranked brands share Google AI Mode as their top engine, with no alternative engine providing meaningful differentiation.
Movers & shakers since last refresh
Biggest visibility risers
-
CBRE 12% → 62% · rank #2 → #1+50pp
-
JLL 0% → 50% · rank #16 → #2+50pp
-
Cushman & Wakefield 12% → 50% · rank #4 → #3+38pp
Biggest visibility fallers
-
Transwestern 12% → 0% · rank #5 → #12-12pp
The AEO ranking
| # | Brand | Visibility | Citation | Top engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
cbre.com
|
62% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
CBRE leads at 62.5% visibility, more than six times the 10.0% category average, and rose from 12.5% previously, the largest absolute gain in the dataset. |
||||
| 2 |
jll.com
|
50% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
JLL jumped from 0.0% to 50.0% visibility in the current period, the most dramatic rank change recorded, moving from position 16 to position 2. |
||||
| 3 |
cushmanwakefield.com
|
50% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Cushman and Wakefield matches JLL at 50.0% visibility and a 35.0 composite score, having risen from 12.5% previously, but trails CBRE by 12.5 points. |
||||
| 4 |
naiglobal.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
NAI Global sits at 12.5% visibility and an 8.8 composite score, placing it in a three-way tie with Colliers and Newmark well below the top three. |
||||
| 5 |
colliers.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Colliers shares NAI Global's 12.5% visibility and 8.8 composite score, with zero citations, showing no differentiation from its immediate peers in AI responses. |
||||
| 6 |
ngkf.com
|
12% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 7 |
marcusmillichap.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 8 |
avisonyoung.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 9 |
kidder.com
|
0% | 12% | Google AI Mode |
| 10 |
eastdilsecured.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 11 |
jll.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 12 |
transwestern.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 13 |
lee-associates.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 14 |
savills.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 15 |
knightfrank.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 16 |
berkadia.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 17 |
cresa.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 18 |
streamrealty.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 19 |
carterjonas.co.uk
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
| 20 |
northmarq.com
|
0% | 0% | Google AI Mode |
Sources AI engines trust in this category
Across the 8 buyer-intent queries we ran on commercial real estate brokers, these are the domains Google AI Mode cited most often. If you're not on this list — or if your competitors are — that's a concrete PR / linkbuilding target.
How to read this AEO ranking
Four things worth knowing before you act on the numbers above. These are the same definitions across every industry page — for category-specific observations, see the What we observed section above (where available) and the per-brand insights inline in the ranking.
Visibility = being named
A brand's visibility % is the share of AI answers that mention it by name in the response prose. This is who AI engines actively recommend to the buyer. More on visibility →
Citation rate = being trusted
Citation rate is the share of AI answers that include the brand's domain as a clickable source link. This is what the AI treats as authoritative evidence, different from being named. More on citation rate →
Top engine differs by brand
The "top engine" column shows which AI surface each brand performs best on. Big gaps between a brand's score across engines usually points to specific content or schema gaps. How AI engines pick sources →
AEO rankings move month to month
AI engines re-crawl and re-rank on shorter cycles than classical search. We re-audit every brand on this list at least every 30 days and refresh this page automatically. How AI search ranking works →
Run an AEO audit on your own commercial real estate brokers brand
The brands above were curated from public market-leader lists. Want the same answer engine optimisation measurement against your own brand — including the queries you appear on, which competitors get named instead, and a prioritised fix list? Run a free preview.
Frequently asked about AEO for commercial real estate brokers
Who leads AI visibility among commercial real estate brokers?
CBRE leads with 62.5% visibility and a composite score of 43.8, well ahead of JLL and Cushman and Wakefield, which are tied at 50.0% and 35.0 respectively.
What sources does Google AI Mode cite most for commercial real estate broker research?
The top cited sources are reddit.com, youtube.com, sharplaunch.com, commercialsearch.com, and reonomy.com. None of the major brokerage domains appear in this cited sources list.
Do any commercial real estate broker brands receive direct domain citations from AI?
No major brokerage domain is listed among the top cited sources. The category average citation rate is just 1.9%, and the top six brands by visibility all show 0.0% citation.
Which brands are cited but not named in AI responses for this category?
Marcus and Millichap, Avison Young, and Kidder Mathews each show 12.5% citation but 0.0% visibility, meaning their content is sourced but their brand names are not surfaced in answers.
Which brand saw the biggest AI visibility movement in this category?
JLL moved from rank 16 to rank 2, with visibility rising from 0.0% to 50.0%, the largest rank change in the dataset at 14 positions.
Which brand experienced the sharpest visibility decline in this category?
Transwestern fell from rank 5 to rank 12, losing all of its 12.5% visibility to reach 0.0%, the only brand recorded as a significant faller in this audit period.