Real Estate SEO

Originally published at thatdevpro.com. This framework reference is part of the 14-tier Engine Optimization stack from ThatDevPro, an SDVOSB-certified veteran-owned web + AI engineering studio. You are reading the dev.to mirror; the source-of-truth canonical version with embedded validation tools lives at the link above.

Brokerage Sites, Agent Profiles, IDX and MLS Feed Handling, Neighborhood and City Pillar Clusters, School District Pages, Property Type Matrices, Market Reports as Information Gain, RealEstateListing and RealEstateAgent Schema, NAR Settlement and Fair Housing Compliance, Local Pack Mechanics for Agents, and the Full Audit Rubric

A comprehensive installation and audit reference for organic search strategy specific to real estate businesses: residential brokerages, individual licensed agents and realtors, property listing aggregators, commercial real estate firms, property managers, real estate investors, and real estate content publishers. Real estate SEO is a high-volume local discipline with two operational complications that no other vertical shares at the same intensity: the IDX/MLS feed creates duplicate content at scale on nearly every brokerage site, and the regulatory layer (NAR Code of Ethics, the 2024 NAR commission settlement, the Fair Housing Act under 24 CFR Part 100, state real estate commission advertising rules) constrains both what can be said on the page and what must be disclosed. This document is dual-purpose: installation manual and audit document.

Cross-stack implementation note: the code samples in this framework are written in plain HTML for clarity. For React, Vue, Svelte, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Astro, Hugo, 11ty, Remix, WordPress, Shopify, and Webflow equivalents of every pattern below, see framework-cross-stack-implementation.md. For pure client-rendered SPAs (no SSR/SSG) see framework-react.md. For Tailwind-specific concerns (purge, dynamic classes, dark-mode CLS, focus accessibility) see framework-tailwind.md.

1. Document Purpose

1.1 What This Document Is

The canonical reference for real estate SEO across every surface: brokerage homepage, agent profile pages, IDX search interface, individual listing pages from MLS, neighborhood pages, city pages, school district pages, property type pages, market reports, buyer and seller guides, local pack and Google Business Profile, the Realtor.com and Zillow profile ecosystem, and the schema graph (RealEstateListing, RealEstateAgent, Place, Residence subtypes). Real estate SEO is not generic local SEO with "Realtor" swapped for "plumber," not e-commerce SEO with Product schema applied to a listing, not content marketing where a blog substitutes for a neighborhood guide.

1.2 Operating Modes

Install (Mode A): Follow Sections 2 through 14. Audit (Mode B): Skip to Section 13. Hybrid (Mode C): Audit first, install for failing items. Most engagements run as Mode C.

1.3 Conflict Resolution Rules

1.4 Required Tools

GSC, GA4, Whitespark / BrightLocal (citations), Ahrefs / Semrush (neighborhood keyword research), Screaming Frog (IDX listing extraction, canonical audit), Local Falcon (proximity-based pack tracking), validator.schema.org, Rich Results Test, RESO Data Dictionary reference, NAR designation verification at nar.realtor, GreatSchools API, the local MLS rules document.

1.5 Scope and Boundaries

Covers organic search for residential and commercial real estate, agent and brokerage sites, IDX surfaces, and supporting content. Does not cover: paid Zillow Premier Agent or Realtor.com Connections (operations, not SEO), real estate transaction software (see framework-saas-seo.md), REIT investor relations, rental marketplace portals at Zillow Rentals scale, real estate education or licensing sites (informational under YMYL because mistakes can cost a license).

2. Client Variables Intake

# REAL ESTATE SEO CLIENT VARIABLES

# Business
business_name: ""
primary_domain: ""
business_model: ""              # brokerage | individual_agent | team | property_management | commercial_brokerage | investor | content_publisher | aggregator
brokerage_legal_name: ""
brokerage_license_number: ""    # Required in footer per most state commission rules
license_state: ""
year_founded: ""

# Agent (for individual_agent or team)
primary_agent_name: ""
primary_agent_license_number: ""
primary_agent_designations: []  # CRS, ABR, SRES, GRI, e-PRO, MRP, GREEN, SFR, AHWD, CCIM, SIOR, CPM
primary_agent_specializations: [] # luxury, first-time-buyer, relocation, investment, military, seniors, distressed, new-construction, commercial, land
primary_agent_languages: []
primary_agent_years_experience: 0
primary_agent_neighborhoods_served: []
nar_member: false
state_realtor_association: ""

# MLS and IDX (critical)
mls_memberships: []
idx_provider: ""                # iHomeFinder | Showcase IDX | IDX Broker | BoomTown | Sierra Interactive | Real Geeks | Placester | Luxury Presence | custom_reso_web_api
idx_listing_pages_indexed: false
idx_search_results_indexed: false
idx_canonical_strategy: ""      # self | mls_origin | portal_origin | none
reso_web_api_access: false
data_dictionary_version: ""     # 1.7 | 2.0
total_listings_in_feed: 0

# Storefront / service area
business_model_local_seo: ""    # storefront | service_area | hybrid
office_city: ""
office_state: ""
office_lat: 0.0
office_long: 0.0
service_area_cities: []
service_area_counties: []
service_area_neighborhoods: []

# Market segments
property_types_served: []       # single_family, condo, townhome, multi_family, manufactured, land, new_construction, luxury, commercial_office, commercial_retail, commercial_industrial, commercial_multifamily, mixed_use
price_range_focus: ""           # entry | mid | luxury | ultra_luxury | mixed
transaction_types: []           # buyer_representation, listing_side, rental, lease, commercial_sale, investment

# Surfaces
has_neighborhood_pages: false
neighborhood_page_count: 0
has_city_pages: false
city_page_count: 0
has_school_district_pages: false
school_district_page_count: 0
has_property_type_pages: false
agent_profile_count: 0
has_market_report_pages: false
market_report_cadence: ""       # monthly | quarterly | annual | none
has_buyer_guides: false
has_seller_guides: false

# Schema
has_realestatelisting_schema: false
has_realestateagent_schema: false
has_localbusiness_schema: false
schema_validated: false

# Compliance
equal_housing_opportunity_logo_displayed: false
fair_housing_compliant_copy_reviewed: false  # 24 CFR 100.75
buyer_agent_compensation_disclosure_aug2024: ""
state_advertising_disclosure_compliant: false
broker_supervised_disclosure: false           # Required for agent sites in most states
license_number_in_footer: false

# Local SEO
gbp_claimed: false
gbp_verified: false
gbp_category_primary: ""        # Real Estate Agency | Real Estate Agent | Property Management Company
total_reviews_count: 0
gbp_review_rating: 0.0
nap_consistency_score: 0
zillow_profile_claimed: false
realtor_dot_com_profile_claimed: false
redfin_profile_claimed: false
homes_dot_com_profile_claimed: false

# Tracking
ga4_configured: false
ga4_real_estate_events_configured: false  # lead_form_submit, property_save, agent_contact, valuation_request
local_rank_tracking: false

Save as realestate-seo-variables.yml.

3. What Real Estate SEO Is

Real estate SEO is organic search where the conversion is a buyer-side lead, seller-side lead, rental inquiry, or property valuation. Three intent classes: local commercial ("real estate agent [city]", "homes for sale [neighborhood]"), informational evaluation ("best [city] neighborhoods", "[city] housing market 2026"), and listing search ("3 bedroom homes [city]"). The first is local pack territory (framework-localseo.md); the second is content territory where pillar-cluster topology and original market data win; the third is IDX/MLS territory where duplicate-content dominates every decision.

Three properties make real estate SEO distinct:

Listing churn at the page level. Residential listings are typically active 30 to 90 days. The U.S. median was 415,907 homes sold in March 2026 alone (NAR Existing-Home Sales, March 2026 release). A brokerage site fed by MLS turns over individual listing pages completely several times per year. Standard SEO advice (build a page, accumulate links, rank for years) does not apply.

Duplicate content as the default. The same listing appears on the listing brokerage site, every IDX-fed competitor, Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Homes.com, the MLS public portal, and franchise-network sites. Without explicit canonical decisions, Google picks the canonical (usually a portal with higher authority), and the brokerage's page becomes invisible.

Regulatory constraints. Copy is regulated by the Fair Housing Act under 24 CFR 100.75, NAR Code of Ethics Article 12, state real estate commission advertising rules, and post-August 2024 NAR settlement requirements around buyer agent compensation. Phrases like "perfect for couples," "ideal for young professionals," "great family neighborhood" are HUD-flagged regardless of intent (24 CFR 100.75; HUD Fair Housing Advertising Guidelines). Brokerages have been sued for violations originating in marketing copy.

The four pillars apply with real-estate distinctions:

• SEO drives local pack visibility and informational content rankings. Local Pack factors per 2026 Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors Report (1,200+ practitioners): GBP signals 32%, on-page 19%, reviews 16%, links 15%, behavioral 8%, citations 7%, personalization 3%.
• AEO drives ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude. The 5WPR / Haute Residence April 2026 study found real estate has the lowest AI Overview trigger rate of any major U.S. industry (0.14%), but 61.3% of buyer-side searches begin in an AI engine (FlyDragon 2026 Benchmark Report). AEO outside Google matters more than AIO inside Google.
• AIO is underweight because Google still routes most real estate queries to local pack and portals. Amsive Insights December 2025 Core Update analysis (1,800+ domains) ranked real estate among the top winning categories.
• GEO is the unifying frame across every generative surface.

Portal share is steep: Zillow 44%, Realtor.com 19%, Redfin 15% of national organic (Similarweb February 2026), leaving 22% contested across every brokerage and agent site in the country.

4. The Listing Page Problem

Every site that pulls from MLS has an individual listing page surface: one URL per property, refreshed nightly or in near-real-time via RESO Web API. Listings are simultaneously the most-trafficked surface and the most duplicate-content-vulnerable. How they are handled dominates the technical SEO strategy.

4.1 The Duplicate Content Reality

A single Active listing on a metropolitan MLS typically appears at the listing brokerage's own site, every other IDX-fed brokerage in the same MLS (100 to 2,000 sites per MLS), the four major portals (Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Homes.com), franchise-network sites (kw.com, agent subdomains), the MLS public-facing portal, and aggregators (Trulia, Movoto, RealtyTrac). All copies share MLS Listing Remarks, MLS Media photos, price, beds, baths, school zones. Only the wrapper differs.

Google's response to mass duplicate content is canonical consolidation. Without an explicit strategy, Google picks the canonical (usually a portal with higher authority) and the brokerage's page becomes invisible.

4.2 The Two Strategic Options

Option A, Index Listings with Self-Canonical and Differentiating Wrapper. The site declares each listing canonical to itself, indexable, and ranks against portals by wrapping MLS data with unique content portals lack.

Option B, Noindex Listings, Rank the Marketing Surfaces. The site allows listings to be crawled but adds <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow"> per listing. Organic strategy rests on neighborhood, city, school district, agent profile, and market report pages.

4.3 When Each Option Is Right

Option A correct when: the brokerage is consistently the listing-side broker; the site has capacity to wrap each listing with substantive unique content; inventory is under approximately 2,000 active; domain authority approaches portal authority (rare).

Option B correct when: primarily buyer-side IDX; no per-listing wrapping capacity; 5,000+ active inventory; organic depends on marketing surfaces rather than direct listing search; domain authority below portal authority. Majority case.

4.4 The Self-Canonical Test for Option A

Failure on any test means noindex regardless of overall strategy.

4.5 Sold and Expired Listings

Three patterns: (1) 301 redirect to neighborhood index (default; preserves equity, prevents soft 404s); (2) convert to permanent sold page showing "Sold for $X on [date]" with comparables (requires sold-price display rights from the local MLS); (3) noindex and decay (cheapest, weakest). Most sites use Pattern 1 with periodic Pattern 2 conversion of notable closings.

4.6 The Showcase Listing Pattern

A subset deserves Option A regardless of overall strategy: the brokerage's own listing-side inventory at high price points where the listing is a marketing asset. Showcase listings get: dedicated URL outside IDX namespace at /listings/[slug]/, 1,500+ words unique editorial, original photography (30 to 100 photos commissioned), embedded video and 3D walkthrough, neighborhood pillar links, full schema (RealEstateListing, Place, House, Photograph, VideoObject), press citations.

5. Neighborhood and City Pages

Neighborhood and city pages are the highest-leverage organic surfaces on a brokerage or agent site. They capture informational queries during the discovery phase, earn citations from AI engines for "best neighborhoods in [city]" queries, and support the internal linking topology connecting listings to context. They are also most prone to the doorway-page failure mode.

5.1 The Pillar-Cluster Topology

City Pillar (/huntsville-ar/)
├── Neighborhood (/huntsville-ar/town-center/)
├── School District (/huntsville-ar/schools/hsd/)
├── Market Report (/huntsville-ar/market-report/)
├── Property Type (/huntsville-ar/single-family-homes/)
└── Buyer Guide (/huntsville-ar/first-time-home-buyer/)

Each neighborhood page links up to city pillar, lateral to 2-4 adjacent
neighborhoods, lateral to school district, deep to active listings.

Hub-and-spoke pattern from framework-internallinking.md applied to geography. Pillar is hub; neighborhoods, schools, market reports, property types are spokes. A Los Angeles brokerage's "Living in Los Angeles" pillar with 25 cluster posts reported 35% session duration lift and 22% qualified-lead rise (Artifakt Digital case study, 2026).

5.2 City Pillar Page Requirements

H1 with city plus context; lead paragraph 40 to 75 words; city overview (population, county, region, distinguishing features; cite NAR or census); current market snapshot (median price, days on market, inventory; cite local MLS, monthly refresh); neighborhood index linking each page; school district summary linking pages; property type breakdown linking pages; 5-year price history (cite FHFA House Price Index); local economic context (employers, industries; cite BLS or chamber); FAQs; agent commentary; schema (WebPage, Place, LocalBusiness reference, FAQPage).

Minimum word count: 1,800 to 2,500 primary markets; 1,200 to 1,500 secondary. Below 1,200 is not a pillar.

5.3 Neighborhood Page Requirements

H1 with neighborhood plus city plus state; lead paragraph 40 to 75 words; description (boundaries, character, history, distinction from adjacent); real estate snapshot (price range, dominant type, typical age, lot size norms); live listings count (dynamic IDX) linking filtered search; recently sold (if MLS permits); school zone linking district page; Walk Score, Bike Score, Transit Score (cite Walk Score); major amenities; commute to nearest employment center; agent commentary; boundary map; schema (WebPage, Place with containedInPlace referencing city).

Minimum word count: 800 to 1,200 major; 600 to 900 smaller. Below 600 is doorway territory.

5.4 Substantive vs Doorway

The line is content genuinely unique to the specific neighborhood versus shared template. A 1,000-word page with 950 words boilerplate and 50 words name substitution is doorway regardless of total length.

2+ failures means doorway. March 2026 scaled-content rule and Helpful Content System apply (framework-hcs.md). Raptive December 2025 Core Update analysis (1,200 sites): sites where 32%+ of pages had under 500 words showed material declines; sites under 7% thin held stable.

5.5 The Honest Pros and Cons Pattern

Honest pros and cons distinguish substantive neighborhood content from puffery. "Great schools, low crime, lovely homes" reads as marketing. "GreatSchools rating 8 but limited rental inventory, walkable downtown but limited event-night parking, beautiful old housing stock but most homes need updated electrical" reads as genuine.

Fair housing constraint: pros and cons must not encode discriminatory preferences. "Great family neighborhood" and "no children" are both 24 CFR 100.75 violations. Describe factually without prescribing who should live there. "Detached single-family homes on quarter-acre lots, predominantly built 1970 to 1995" is factual; "Perfect for young couples starting families" is a violation.

5.6 Refresh Cadence

Median price, active inventory, days on market: monthly. 12-month price trend: monthly. 5-year history: quarterly. School information: annually after state test results or GreatSchools rating change. Refresh automates via RESO Web API or IDX. Static body copy refreshes editorially per Section 14.

5.7 City Page Inventory Decision

Build city pages where the brokerage actually serves clients regularly. Adding never-served cities to capture search volume is the doorway pattern. Exception: educational comparison content rather than service-area claim.

5.8 Common Failure Modes

200+ city pages where only the name varies; neighborhood pages without internal linking back to city pillar (orphan); neighborhood pages without coordinates or boundary descriptions; city pages linking only to listings, never neighborhoods (broken topology); market data not refreshed in 6+ months; discriminatory language in pros and cons (24 CFR 100.75 exposure); city pages cannibalizing the broker's neighborhood pages.

6. School District Pages

School district pages are a distinct content surface from neighborhood pages. Buyers with school-age children filter properties by school zone; "homes for sale in [school district]" is high-intent. School information is authoritative when sourced from GreatSchools (which aggregates data from all 51 state education departments per GreatSchools Business Solutions documentation, 2026) or the district's published data.

6.1 Why Separated from Neighborhood Pages

A district contains multiple neighborhoods; a neighborhood may sit at the boundary of two districts. The relationship is many-to-many. Conflating the two creates topological problems: redundant coverage across adjacent neighborhood pages, fragmented district focus, internal-linking confusion. Separating them clarifies the topology.

6.2 School District Page Requirements

H1 with district name plus region; lead paragraph 40 to 75 words; district overview (school count, enrollment, boundary, type: independent, consolidated, charter, magnet, parochial); schools list with GreatSchools rating, grade range, enrollment, linked profile; test scores citing state department of education; boundary map; neighborhoods within the district linking; active homes for sale (dynamic IDX, school-zone filtered); recently sold (where MLS permits); median price within the district; district contact and link; schema (EducationalOrganization with School subOrganizations, Place for the boundary).

Minimum word count: 800 to 1,500.

6.3 GreatSchools as Authoritative Source

Realtor.com, Zillow, and Redfin all license GreatSchools (boundaries, test scores, progress, equity ratings). Three brokerage options: license the NearbySchools API (paid); display state department of education data directly (free, less convenient); link out to GreatSchools.org per school (no licensing, lower utility). For mid-sized brokerages link-out is most common; for school-driven markets the API license pays for itself.

6.4 The 2026 HUD Guidance

April 2026 HUD "Dear Colleague" letter to fair housing organizations and real estate professionals: sharing neighborhood crime rates and school quality data with homebuyers does not violate the Fair Housing Act (HUD Press Release, April 24, 2026). School quality discussion is permitted when factual, sourced, and not framed to signal preference. A page citing GreatSchools ratings and test scores is safe; a page recommending the district to "families who care about education" implies familial-status preference and approaches the violation line.

6.5 School District Schema

{
  "@type": "EducationalOrganization",
  "@id": "https://broker.com/huntsville-ar/schools/hsd/#district",
  "name": "Huntsville School District",
  "url": "https://broker.com/huntsville-ar/schools/hsd/",
  "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Huntsville",
              "addressRegion": "AR", "postalCode": "72740", "addressCountry": "US"},
  "subOrganization": [
    {"@type": "ElementarySchool", "name": "Huntsville Intermediate School"},
    {"@type": "MiddleSchool", "name": "Huntsville Middle School"},
    {"@type": "HighSchool", "name": "Huntsville High School"}
  ],
  "areaServed": {"@type": "Place", "name": "Madison County, AR"}
}

EducationalOrganization root with subOrganization listing each school. Each School entity gets its own @id if linked elsewhere.

7. Property Type Pages

Property type pages capture queries where buyers know what they want but not where: "condos for sale Huntsville AR", "land for sale Madison County AR". They are the third dimension after city and neighborhood. The right number per market depends on inventory.

7.1 The Property Type Matrix

Residential axis: single-family residence (dominant default), condominium, townhome, multi-family (duplex through fourplex; 4 or fewer stays residential, 5+ becomes commercial per Quicken Loans property type taxonomy 2026), manufactured/mobile, land/lot, new construction, luxury (price-tier; cross-cuts categories).

Commercial axis: office, retail, industrial, multifamily (5+ commercially zoned), mixed-use, commercial-zoned land, special purpose (hospitality, healthcare, religious).

The matrix is [city] x [property type] = property type page. Not every cell justifies a page; the cell needs inventory volume and search demand.

7.2 When to Build a Property Type Page

Justified when: the city has meaningful inventory for the type (10+ active listings is a reasonable floor); search demand exists for the query (validate via Ahrefs/Semrush); the brokerage has expertise or transactions in the type. Below those thresholds, the type is covered as a section within the city page.

7.3 Property Type Page Requirements

H1 with property type plus city plus state; lead paragraph; type definition relevant to the local market ("luxury" varies by region; "land" can be ag-zoned or buildable); inventory overview (active count, price range, typical lot or square footage); live listings grid (dynamic IDX) with filtered-search link; recently sold; financing considerations (land loans, condo HOA review, new construction staged-disbursement, commercial DSCR); FAQ with FAQPage schema; agent commentary; schema (Residence or Place subtype per Section 9).

Minimum word count: 600 to 1,200.

7.4 Land and New Construction Special Cases

Land: no beds, baths, or square footage. Content scaffold focuses on lot size, acreage, zoning, topography, road access, utility availability (electric, water, septic, internet), proximity to amenities. Standard residential templates fail on land.

New construction: builder reputation, floor plans, customization, build timeline, included vs upgrade features, warranty, community amenities (HOA, common areas, model homes). Links go to community-level page rather than individual properties.

7.5 Avoiding the Matrix Explosion

10 cities × 8 property types × 5 price tiers = 400 pages. Most cells have zero inventory and zero demand. Publishing 400 thin pages is the scaled-content failure mode. Build only where inventory and demand exist; most brokerages end up with 20 to 60 property type pages, not 400.

8. Agent Profile Pages

For brokerages with multiple agents, individual agent profile pages are the strongest conversion surface for "[agent name]" searches. For solo agents and teams, the agent profile is essentially the homepage. In either case, this is where leads convert.

8.1 Agent Profile Page Requirements

H1 with agent name plus role; lead paragraph (name, brokerage, license number, state, years, service area); agent photo (real, professional, recent, 800x1000 minimum, named alt text); bio paragraph 300 to 600 words; specializations and designations linked to NAR verification; languages; neighborhoods served linking pages; property types and price ranges; active listings (listing-side); recently sold (where permitted); testimonials with verifiable client names, never fabricated (framework-trustsignals.md); education and community involvement; contact (phone, email, form); embedded video introduction (helpful for AEO/AIO); FAQs; schema RealEstateAgent (Section 9); compliance footer (license number, brokerage, brokerage license, supervised-by-broker per state).

Minimum word count: 800 to 1,500. Profiles under 400 words rarely rank for the agent's own name against Zillow.

8.2 Designations and Verifiability

NAR designations are public and verifiable. NAR maintains a lookup tool; each designation has formal requirements at nar.realtor. A profile claiming a designation not held is an Article 12 violation reportable by competitors. Correctly-claimed designations should display the NAR-licensed logo and link to the designation page.

Common designations: CRS (Certified Residential Specialist, the highest residential credential per NAR documentation), ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative), SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist, clients age 50+), GRI (Graduate REALTOR Institute), e-PRO (technology and digital marketing), MRP (Military Relocation Professional), GREEN (sustainable properties), SFR (Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource), AHWD (At Home With Diversity), CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member, the most prestigious commercial credential per CCIM Institute, held by under 10% of commercial brokers), SIOR (Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, 3,900 members across 49 countries per SIOR documentation). CRS plus ABR plus SRES is common for broad residential. CCIM plus SIOR is the high-credential commercial combination.

8.3 The License as sameAs

The state license number is a verifiable identifier. It belongs visible in copy and in schema sameAs:

{
  "@type": "RealEstateAgent",
  "name": "Laycee Maupin",
  "identifier": [{"@type": "PropertyValue",
                  "propertyID": "Arkansas Real Estate Commission License",
                  "value": "PB12345678"}],
  "sameAs": [
    "https://arec.arkansas.gov/license-lookup/?license=PB12345678",
    "https://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/[agent-id]",
    "https://www.zillow.com/profile/laycee-maupin",
    "https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacyeemaupin"
  ]
}

The sameAs array consolidates identity across the agent's site, state license verification, portal profiles, and professional networks (see framework-knowledgegraph.md, framework-entitysalience.md).

8.4 NAR Membership Disclosure

NAR membership entitles use of the REALTOR® term (registered trademark). A non-member may not use REALTOR® in advertising. If member: use consistently, display NAR logo, link to NAR profile. If not: use "real estate agent" or "licensed agent." Enforced by NAR trademark and some state commissions.

8.5 Zillow and Realtor.com Profile Strategy

Zillow has 44% national organic share, Realtor.com 19% (Similarweb February 2026). Both already rank for "[agent name]" before the agent's own site. Strategy: claim and fully populate both (Zillow Premier Agent ranking depends on completeness even without paying); consistent display name across all profiles; cross-link from agent site to portal profiles; portal URLs in schema sameAs; solicit portal reviews (41% of buyers use agent referred by friend/family per NAR 2024, portal review counts drive the residual); treat the agent's own profile as the conversion destination once a searcher arrives, not as the highest-ranking result.

8.6 The Team Page Variant

For teams (lead plus 2 to 20 agents): team page at /team/ lists members each linking to a full profile; team has Organization or RealEstateAgent schema; lead forms route to central inbox or specific agents by inquiry type. Failure mode: 15 listed agents, 3 with substantive profiles, 12 placeholders. Either populate fully or remove placeholders.

9. Real Estate Schema

Real estate has its own Schema.org vocabulary (RealEstateListing, RealEstateAgent, plus Residence and Place subtypes). Proper use distinguishes a site that gets cited from one that does not.

9.1 The Brokerage / Agent Organization Graph

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "RealEstateAgent",
  "@id": "https://broker.com/#organization",
  "name": "Brokerage Name", "url": "https://broker.com/",
  "logo": "https://broker.com/logo.png",
  "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "104 N College Ave",
              "addressLocality": "Huntsville", "addressRegion": "AR",
              "postalCode": "72740", "addressCountry": "US"},
  "geo": {"@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 36.0784, "longitude": -93.7427},
  "telephone": "+14795551234",
  "areaServed": [{"@type": "City", "name": "Huntsville",
                  "containedInPlace": {"@type": "State", "name": "Arkansas"}}],
  "memberOf": {"@type": "Organization", "name": "National Association of Realtors",
               "url": "https://www.nar.realtor/"},
  "identifier": [{"@type": "PropertyValue",
                  "propertyID": "Arkansas Real Estate Commission Brokerage License",
                  "value": "PB00000000"}],
  "sameAs": ["https://www.realtor.com/realestateagencies/[id]",
             "https://www.zillow.com/profile/brokerage"]
}

RealEstateAgent applies to both individual agents and brokerages (entity type, not person type). For brokerages, use RealEstateAgent at the org level with subOrganization or employee references to individual agents on their profile pages.

9.2 RealEstateListing Schema

Per Schema.org, "A RealEstateListing is a listing that describes one or more real-estate Offers... and represents the overall listing as manifested in some WebPage." Contains the Offer; references the property via object (Residence subtype).

{
  "@type": "RealEstateListing",
  "name": "123 Main Street, Huntsville, AR 72740",
  "url": "https://broker.com/listings/123-main-street-huntsville-ar/",
  "datePosted": "2026-04-15", "validThrough": "2026-07-15",
  "image": ["https://broker.com/.../photo-1.jpg"],
  "offers": {"@type": "Offer", "price": "375000", "priceCurrency": "USD",
             "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
             "businessFunction": "https://schema.org/Sell"},
  "object": {
    "@type": "SingleFamilyResidence", "name": "123 Main Street",
    "address": {"@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "123 Main Street",
                "addressLocality": "Huntsville", "addressRegion": "AR",
                "postalCode": "72740", "addressCountry": "US"},
    "geo": {"@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": 36.0784, "longitude": -93.7427},
    "numberOfBedrooms": 4, "numberOfBathroomsTotal": 3,
    "floorSize": {"@type": "QuantitativeValue", "value": 2400, "unitCode": "FTK"},
    "lotSize": {"@type": "QuantitativeValue", "value": 0.5, "unitCode": "ACR"},
    "yearBuilt": "1995"
  },
  "broker": {"@id": "https://broker.com/#organization"},
  "sameAs": ["https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/[id]",
             "https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/[id]"]
}

object points to the specific Residence subtype; Offer carries price and businessFunction (Sell vs LeaseOut). The sameAs to portal copies establishes the cross-reference even when self-canonical.

9.3 Residence Subtype Selection

SingleFamilyResidence on a detached home tells Google and AI engines the property is detached residential; Apartment on a condo does the same. Generic Residence works but loses extraction precision.

9.4 GeoCoordinates and MLS Identifier

Every Place, Residence, and LocalBusiness needs geo with GeoCoordinates: property location for listings, office for brokerage pages, city centroid for city pages, neighborhood centroid (optionally geoContains for boundaries) for neighborhood pages.

MLS Listing ID is a useful identifier but should not be the URL slug (it changes on relist, breaking equity). MLS Listing ID belongs in schema identifier (propertyID "MLS Listing Number" plus "MLS" name). URL slug uses a human-readable address pattern (/listings/123-main-street-huntsville-ar/).

9.5 RESO Data Dictionary Mapping

RESO Web API 2.0 is the current standard (2026). A clean IDX integration generates the schema graph from the RESO feed automatically.

9.6 Place vs Residence for Land

Land listings need Place, not Residence. Schema.org does not have a dedicated LandPlot type in the main vocabulary as of 2026; use Place with additionalType: "https://schema.org/LandPlot" and additionalProperty entries for lotSize and zoning. RealEstateListing root with object pointing to the Place, geo coordinates, and address still applies as in Section 9.2.

9.7 Commercial Property Schema

Commercial uses different building-type schemas: OfficeBuilding (extends LocalBusiness), Store (retail with operating tenant), generic LocalBusiness with subtype, ApartmentComplex for 5+ unit multifamily. Listing root is the same RealEstateListing with object pointing to the commercial subtype.

9.8 Validation Requirements

Before deployment: required fields populated (name, url, address minimum); coordinates correct (not centered on office); MLS identifier included; Offer price current; businessFunction correct (Sell or LeaseOut); AggregateRating verifiable (FTC October 2024 Trade Regulation Rule on Consumer Reviews; framework-trustsignals.md); validates clean in validator.schema.org and Google Rich Results Test. Schema with errors can be rejected entirely.

10. Market Reports and Original Data

Market reports are the original-data layer of a real estate content program. Brokerages have MLS access portals do not surface in the same way; turning that access into published, dated, cited market reports is the Information Gain (framework-infogain.md) play for real estate SEO.

10.1 Why Market Reports Win

A neighborhood guide saying "Withrow Springs has been a popular Huntsville neighborhood for years" is generic. A market report saying "Withrow Springs closed 47 sales in Q1 2026 at a median price of $342,000, up 4.2% year over year, with median days on market of 28 (Northwest Arkansas MLS, retrieved 2026-05-01)" is original analysis with verifiable numbers. The second is what AI engines cite, local press references, and Google rewards (Amsive Insights December 2025 Core Update analysis; real estate among top-winning categories).

Original data comes from: brokerage MLS access (sold prices, days on market, list-to-sale ratios), public data aggregations (census, BLS, state department of education), and the brokerage's own transaction history.

10.2 The Monthly Market Report Pattern

Required content: title with month/year/market ("Huntsville, AR Real Estate Market Report: May 2026"); lead paragraph summarizing headline metrics; headline metrics table (median price, average price, total sales, active inventory, months of supply, days on market, list-to-sale ratio); year-over-year comparison per metric with percent change; 12-month rolling price trend chart; inventory chart; sales volume chart; breakdown by property type and price tier; top neighborhoods by activity; commentary from a named agent or analyst; data source citation (local MLS name, retrieval date); schema (Article + Dataset + Place reference).

10.3 Source Citation Requirement

Reports must cite sources inline:

<p class="data-source">
  Source: Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors MLS, retrieved
  <time datetime="2026-05-01">May 1, 2026</time>.
  Single-family residential transactions in Madison County, AR, closed April 2026.
</p>

Princeton GEO study (SIGKDD 2024) found inline citations boost extraction probability ~30%.

10.4 HTML Primary, PDF Supplementary

HTML is the canonical surface for ranking and citation. PDF is offered as supplementary download mirroring the HTML, not replacing it. PDF-only reports are invisible to most ranking signals.

10.5 Market Report Schema

{
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Huntsville, AR Real Estate Market Report: May 2026",
  "datePublished": "2026-05-05", "dateModified": "2026-05-05",
  "author": {"@type": "Person", "name": "Laycee Maupin",
             "@id": "https://broker.com/agents/laycee-maupin/#person"},
  "publisher": {"@id": "https://broker.com/#organization"},
  "about": {"@type": "Place", "name": "Huntsville, Arkansas",
            "@id": "https://broker.com/huntsville-ar/#place"},
  "mentions": [{"@type": "Dataset", "name": "April 2026 NWABoR Closed Transactions"}]
}

Add a Dataset entry for the underlying data:

{
  "@type": "Dataset",
  "name": "Huntsville AR Residential Sales: April 2026",
  "description": "Closed single-family residential transactions in Madison County, AR.",
  "creator": {"@id": "https://broker.com/#organization"},
  "datePublished": "2026-05-05",
  "temporalCoverage": "2026-04-01/2026-04-30",
  "spatialCoverage": {"@type": "Place", "name": "Madison County, Arkansas"}
}

Dataset schema is under-deployed in real estate. It signals original data to AI engines and increases extraction probability.

10.6 Cadence

Monthly (aggressive, automated, highest information gain), quarterly (sustainable for smaller brokerages), annual (minimum viable for content sites). Match cadence to actual capacity. Better to publish quarterly on schedule than commit to monthly and skip. Gaps of 2+ months break the surface.

10.7 Year-End and Forecast Reports

Two annual reports earn outsized citation: year-end recap (January, prior calendar year summary) and year-ahead forecast (January or December, projecting the coming year). Cite primary sources (NAR national data, local MLS, BLS, FHFA House Price Index, Federal Reserve rate guidance) and present forecasts as scenarios rather than predictions. Both pick up local press, industry citation, and AI accrual that monthly reports do not because they are evergreen for the year.

11. IDX, MLS, and Duplicate Content Strategy

The IDX/MLS layer is where real estate sites win or lose technical SEO. Canonical strategy, indexable surfaces, robots.txt, sitemap inclusion, schema, and portal relationships all interact.

11.1 The Five Decisions

Listings indexable? Index requires per-listing Self-Canonical Test (Section 4.4). Noindex is the most common correct choice. Mixed (noindex default, opt-in showcase indexing per Section 4.6) works.

Filtered search results indexable? Always noindex. Filtered URLs (/search/?bed=3&min_price=300000&city=huntsville) are thin and duplicative. Exception: a small set of canonical "saved searches" built as substantive unique pages.

Canonical declared how? Self-canonical on indexable listings. Canonical-to-MLS-origin rarely useful. Canonical-to-portal is the cleanest concession but gives traffic to competitors.

Sold/expired listings? 301 redirect to neighborhood (default), convert to permanent sold page (for listing-side brokerages with sold-price display rights), or noindex and decay.

XML sitemap contents? Indexable listings yes; noindexed no; search results no; marketing surfaces yes. Listings can use a separate /sitemap-listings.xml.

11.2 Canonical and robots Implementation

<!-- Indexable listing -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://broker.com/listings/123-main-street/">

<!-- Noindexed listing or IDX search result -->
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">

follow is preserved so outbound internal links still pass equity to neighborhood and agent pages.

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /search/
Disallow: /idx-search/
Disallow: /save-search/
Disallow: /saved-properties/
Disallow: /print/

Sitemap: https://broker.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://broker.com/sitemap-listings.xml
Sitemap: https://broker.com/sitemap-agents.xml

11.3 The Indexable-Listing Test in Practice

For brokerages on Option A, the per-listing test is automatable:

function shouldIndex(listing) {
  return countUniqueWordsBeyondMlsRemarks(listing) >= 200 &&
         countOriginalPhotos(listing) >= 5 &&
         listing.agentCommentary && listing.agentCommentary.length > 100 &&
         listing.neighborhoodReference !== null &&
         listing.comparables && listing.comparables.length >= 3;
}

setRobots(shouldIndex(listing) ? 'index, follow' : 'noindex, follow');

A brokerage with 2,000 active listings may have 200 indexable showcase listings and 1,800 noindexed. The 200 compete with Zillow on the strength of their unique wrapper.

11.4 The sameAs Strategy for Listings

Even on noindexed listings, schema sameAs to portal copies provides AI engines with the cross-reference. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude extract from noindexed pages via direct links (noindex applies to Google's index, not AI training-pass crawling of public URLs):

{
  "@type": "RealEstateListing",
  "sameAs": ["https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/[id]_zpid/",
             "https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/[id]",
             "https://www.redfin.com/AR/Huntsville/[id]"]
}

This establishes that the brokerage's page describes the same physical property as portal copies, helping AI engines treat the brokerage content as part of the property's knowledge graph.

11.5 Multi-MLS, RESO Web API, and Crawl Budget

Multi-MLS brokerages (national franchises, multi-state regional firms, multi-metro luxury): multiple feeds with different dictionaries and rules, listings in two MLSs, per-state commission rules. Pattern: feed-level normalization in the IDX layer with per-state compliance. Each listing declares its MLS source in schema identifier.

RESO Web API migration: most MLSs migrated from RETS to RESO Web API by 2026 (REST/HTTP/JSON with OData, specification 2.0). Cleaner JSON ingestion, webhook change notifications, validation expressions, push for listing-side brokerages, cross-MLS consistency through Data Dictionary 2.0. Choose IDX providers with RESO Web API native support, not RETS-only fallback.

Crawl budget: 5,000 listings refreshed every 15 minutes means 5,000 frequently-changing URLs. Even with noindex, Googlebot crawls them. Mitigations: robots.txt Disallow on thin paths, separate listings sitemap with accurate <lastmod>, internal linking emphasizing marketing surfaces, prompt 301 redirects. For mid-sized brokerages crawl budget is not binding; for 10,000+ listings dedicated management matters.

12. Common Real Estate SEO Mistakes

Ten most-encountered failure modes:

1. Indexing filtered search result pages: IDX indexes every filter combination as separate URLs, producing thousands of thin URLs. Fix: noindex all filtered results.
2. Generic neighborhood pages: 200+ pages where 95% is shared template and only the name varies. Fix: fewer pages with genuine local substance; fold smaller neighborhoods into city pages.
3. No school district pages: misses the entire school-driven intent class. Fix: build per Section 6 for every district covered.
4. Listing-page domination over marketing surfaces: competing with Zillow on every property page and ranking nowhere. Fix: noindex listings unless Self-Canonical Test passes; invest in neighborhood, city, school district, agent profile content.
5. Fair housing violations in copy: "Perfect for families," "ideal for young couples" in casual marketing. 24 CFR 100.75 violations. Fix: review every page for protected-class language; rewrite to factual content per Section 5.5.
6. Outdated market data on public pages: 2024 median price on 2026 city page. Fix: automate the market data layer or remove static data that cannot be maintained.
7. Missing designation verification: Article 12 violation. Fix: every claimed designation links to NAR verification; agent must currently hold it.
8. Generic agent profile pages: 200-word profiles with stock photos that lose to Zillow for "[agent name]". Fix: 800-1,500 word profiles per Section 8.1.
9. No original market data: missed Information Gain and AI citation accrual. Fix: monthly or quarterly market reports per Section 10.
10. Buyer agent compensation in MLS display: post-August 2024 NAR settlement, compensation cannot appear in MLS feeds (NAR Settlement FAQ). Fix: audit IDX layer to confirm compensation fields are stripped.

13. Audit Rubric

Three sections: per-page (each priority page), site-wide (once across the site), and first 90 days (urgent subset for the first three months).

13.1 Per-Page Audit (18 items per page)

Applied to each city, neighborhood, school district, property type, agent profile, market report page.

Target: 16+/18 average.

13.2 Site-Wide Audit (28 items)

Target: 24+/28 established brokerages, 20+/28 new entrants.

13.3 First 90 Days Audit (6 items)

If F1 through F6 cannot be achieved in 90 days the engagement is misallocated. IDX is a configuration plus template change; GBP is account work; license disclosure is template change; pages are content production at modest scale; schema is JSON-LD authoring. None require novel research or creative production at scale.

13.4 December 2025 Core Update Cross-Reference

Amsive Insights' December 2025 Core Update analysis (1,800+ domains): real estate among top-winning categories. Winning: substantive content beyond template, local expertise, original data, proper schema. Losing: thin programmatic city pages, missing or fabricated agent credentials, listing-only sites. See framework-coreupdates.md.

14. Maintenance Schedule and Report Templates

14.1 Maintenance Cadence

daily:       GBP inbox, review-response queue, IDX feed health, sold/expired redirect
weekly:      GSC index coverage, portal review monitoring, competitor neighborhood-page
             detection, IDX feed completeness
monthly:     market report publication, neighborhood market-data refresh, GBP posts
             (4 minimum), citation consistency spot check, GA4 lead-source review
quarterly:   neighborhood content refresh, school district updates, property type
             review, GBP photos, citation audit, fair housing copy review, schema
             validation on priority pages
semi_annual: city pillar rewrites, annual forecast preparation, agent photography
             refresh, backlink audit, RESO Web API check, designation verification
annual:      full SEO audit per Section 13, regulatory compliance audit, IDX vendor
             review, brand refresh, competitor audit

14.2 Install Report Template

# Real Estate SEO Installation Report
Client: {{BROKERAGE}} | Domain: {{DOMAIN}} | Date: {{DATE}}
Model: {{BROKERAGE / AGENT / TEAM / COMMERCIAL}} | License: {{NUMBER}}, {{STATE}}
MLS: {{MEMBERSHIPS}} | IDX: {{PROVIDER}}

GBP: claimed {{Y/N}}, verified {{Y/N}}, category {{CATEGORY}}, completeness {{PCT}}%
Citations: top-tier {{COUNT}}/15, NAP consistency {{PCT}}%
Schema: RealEstateAgent {{Y/N}}, individual agents {{COUNT}}, Place/Residence {{LIST}}
IDX strategy: listings {{INDEXED/NOINDEXED/MIXED}}, search results {{NOINDEXED}},
              sold {{REDIRECT/SOLD_PAGE/DECAY}}
Compliance: license footer {{Y/N}}, EHO {{Y/N}}, fair housing reviewed {{Y/N}},
            NAR compensation strip {{Y/N}}
Surfaces: neighborhood {{COUNT}}, city pillar {{COUNT}}, school district {{COUNT}},
          property type {{COUNT}}, agent profile {{COUNT}} (avg words {{X}})
Market report cadence: {{MONTHLY/QUARTERLY/ANNUAL}}, last {{DATE}}
Tracking: GA4 events {{LIST}}, Zillow ref {{Y/N}}, Realtor.com ref {{Y/N}}

Items flagged: {{LIST}}
Installer: {{NAME}} | Sign-off: {{DATE}}

14.3 Audit Report Template

# Real Estate SEO Audit Report
Client: {{BROKERAGE}} | Domain: {{DOMAIN}} | Date: {{DATE}}

Executive: {{ONE_PARAGRAPH}}
Scores: per-page avg {{X}}/18 | site-wide {{X}}/28 | first 90 days {{X}}/6

Surfaces: neighborhood {{COUNT}}/{{TARGET}}, city pillar {{COUNT}}/{{TARGET}},
school district {{COUNT}}/{{TARGET}}, property type {{COUNT}}/{{TARGET}},
agent profile {{COUNT}} (avg words {{X}}), market reports {{COUNT}}
(months since last {{X}}).

IDX/MLS: listings indexed {{COUNT}}, noindexed {{COUNT}},
search results indexed (problem) {{COUNT}}, sold handled {{Y/N}},
canonical {{DECLARED}}.

Compliance: license footer {{Y/N}}, EHO {{Y/N}}, fair housing violations {{COUNT}},
unverified designations {{LIST}}, NAR compensation strip {{Y/N}}.

Local pack: GBP {{STATUS}}, category correct {{Y/N}}, reviews {{COUNT}} avg {{RATING}},
"real estate agent {{CITY}}" rank {{POSITION}}, top three competitors {{LIST}}.

Critical failures (First 90 Days): {{LIST_WITH_REMEDIATION}}
High-priority: {{LIST_WITH_TIMELINE}}
Effort estimate: {{HOURS_AND_TIMELINE}}
Quarterly cadence: {{MAINTENANCE_PLAN}}

Auditor: {{NAME}} | Sign-off: {{DATE}}

14.4 Quarterly Report Template

# Real Estate SEO Quarterly Report
Client: {{BROKERAGE}} | Quarter: {{Q}} | Date: {{DATE}}

Executive: organic sessions {{X}} ({{YoY%}}), buyer leads {{X}} ({{CVR%}}),
seller leads {{X}} ({{CVR%}}), valuations {{X}}, listings represented {{X}},
closed-organic {{COUNT}}.

Surface performance (sessions, conversions, CVR per surface): neighborhood,
city pillar, school district, property type, agent profile, market report,
blog, IDX listings (if indexed).

Local pack: avg position top 5 "real estate agent [city]" {{POSITIONS}},
review velocity {{REVIEWS_Q}}, avg rating {{RATING}}, photos +{{X}}, posts {{COUNT}}.

Content production: new pages {{COUNTS}}, refreshed {{COUNTS}}, market reports {{COUNT}}.

Schema health: RealEstateAgent {{PASS/FAIL}}, RealEstateListing rate {{PCT}}%,
Place/Residence {{PASS/FAIL}}, Article {{PASS/FAIL}}.

AI citation share: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude Search, AI Overview mentions.
Real estate's 0.14% AI Overview trigger rate (5WPR/Haute April 2026) means
ChatGPT and Perplexity matter more for evaluation.

Q+1 plan: {{NEXT_QUARTER}}
Sign-off: {{DATE}} | {{NAME}}

End of Framework Document

v1.0 | 2026-05-14 | ThatDeveloperGuy

Real estate SEO sits at the intersection of high-volume local search, structurally duplicate listing content from MLS, geographic content at scale, and a regulatory layer (Fair Housing Act 24 CFR 100.75, NAR Code of Ethics Article 12, the 2024 NAR commission settlement, state advertising rules). Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin together capture 78% of national organic share (Similarweb, February 2026), leaving the remainder contested across hundreds of thousands of brokerage and agent sites.

The winning pattern: IDX/MLS strategy chosen explicitly (noindex listings for most, index showcase selectively, never index filtered search results); marketing surfaces built (neighborhood, city pillars, school district, property type, market reports, agent profiles); original data layer (monthly or quarterly market reports with primary sources); schema graph proper (RealEstateAgent at org level, RealEstateListing per indexable property, Residence subtypes accurate, GeoCoordinates everywhere, sameAs to portal copies); compliance baked in (license number in footer, EHO present, fair housing copy reviewed, NAR settlement compensation stripped, designations verifiable); local pack disciplined (GBP claimed and optimized, NAP consistent across 15+ citations including the three major portals). Amsive Insights' December 2025 Core Update analysis (1,800+ domains) ranked real estate among the top-winning categories: winners executed these patterns; losers ran thin programmatic city pages, listing-only architectures, or fair-housing-violating copy.

Companion documents:

• Foundational quality: framework-contentfirst.md, framework-hcs.md, framework-infogain.md, framework-eeat.md, framework-sqrg.md, framework-ymyl.md
• Schema and entity: framework-schema.md, framework-entitysalience.md, framework-knowledgegraph.md, framework-trustsignals.md
• Graph: framework-internallinking.md, framework-imageseo.md
• AI surface: framework-aicitations.md, framework-aioverviews.md
• Vertical contrasts: framework-localseo.md, framework-saas-seo.md, framework-ecommerceseo.md
• Stack: framework-react.md, framework-tailwind.md, framework-cross-stack-implementation.md
• SERP: SEO-Search-Appearance.md, SERP-Optimization.md
• Scheduled (Phase 2): framework-healthcare-seo.md, framework-legal-seo.md, framework-finance-seo.md

This framework slots into the Engine Optimization Stack as the vertical specialization for residential brokerages, individual agents, teams, commercial real estate, property managers, and real estate content publishers alongside SaaS, local services, e-commerce, news, and international.

From the ThatDevPro Engine Optimization framework library. Studio: ThatDevPro (SDVOSB veteran-owned web + AI engineering). Sister property: ThatDeveloperGuy. Source: https://www.thatdevpro.com/insights/framework-realestate-seo/.