Trust, Triggers, Traffic

2026 won’t see AI replacing agents. It will be the year, however, that the best agents stop bleeding time and control – and start compounding trust. If you’re running a UK agency, there are three levers that actually matter (and you can pull them without ripping out your CRM): trust, portals and follow-up. Get those right and AI becomes a force-multiplier, not a distraction.

First - own 'trust'. AI is currently flooding the market with confident waffle - and it is only going to get worse. We are all going to start wondering what to believe anymore. Your edge is being the firm that’s boringly accurate. Build a simple ‘truth stack’: a one-page Property Facts Sheet for every listing (tenure, lease length, service charge/ground rent, EPC, council tax band, parking, boundaries, works, restrictions, title quirks, Material Information). Add your own branded ‘House Style’ that bans the flannel, standardises how you describe schools, transport and amenities - and nails disclaimers. Then a ‘Listing QA’ gate: nothing goes live until it passes human eyeballs.

Use AI like a compliance officer, not solely a copywriter. Ask it to compare the description to the Facts Sheet and flag every mismatch or unverified claim. Tell it to rewrite only where needed and to ask a question if a fact is missing. Do not invent. You don’t need fancy tooling: a shared Google Doc or Notion page plus an large language model (LLM, such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude) checker is enough. The mission is simple: no hallucinations, no hype, just property truth. In a world where portals and platforms are less local and more performative, that boring accuracy becomes your moat.

Second, follow-up. Most instructions are lost in the dead zone: slow replies, inconsistent nurturing and ‘I’ll call them tomorrow’. AI’s superpower here is consistency. Decide your cadence - I'm a fan of 7 minutes / 7 hours / 7 days for new leads. Fast first reply, same-day human touch, then structured nurture. Build three short sequences: valuation enquiry, viewing enquiry, and post-viewing no offer. Add triggers you’ll actually use: viewing booked, viewing done, offer made, chain wobble, silence.

Where to test these ‘AI agents’ properly right now? Google Workspace Studio lets you design no‑code agents inside Gmail/Docs/Sheets to draft replies, summarise threads, pull in property facts and create tasks. Google AI Studio is the quick sandbox to stress‑test prompts and guardrails before anything goes near a client email but keep the rule: AI drafts, humans approve anything sensitive.

Third, portals. Keep the shop window; own the relationship. Portals are getting greedier about controlling the first conversation. That’s exactly why this is the year to stop treating them as ‘the pipeline’ and start treating them as ‘the advert’. Route follow‑ups to your channels first: email, WhatsApp and phone, backed by your sequences. Make portal leads valuable by responding faster and more consistently than everyone else.

The 48‑hour plan

• Create the Facts Sheet and QA gate (trust).

• Build the three sequences and triggers (follow‑up).

• Add one owned‑audience follow-up (portals).

Do one well this week. By the time everyone else is still arguing about whether AI is ‘ready’, you’ll be quietly winning instructions.

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