Zillow Cites ‘First Mover Advantage’ With ChatGPT Integration – RISMedia
“In a housing market that’s bouncing along the bottom, Zillow continues to outperform both our outlook and the broader industry,” claimed CEO Jeremy Wacksman during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call on Thursday, October 30.
The call took on a congratulatory tone as Zillow leadership spotlighted strong financial performance and Zillow’s consumer and agent-facing initiatives, including the integration of its native Zillow app with ChatGPT.
The integration allows ChatGPT users to open the Zillow app within the ChatGPT interface, where they can conduct a home search, connect with an agent, review financing as they would on the Zillow app or website itself. Wacksman described the integration as a “new doorway” to Zillow during the earnings call.
“Being early matters, and as we learned then, (the) first mover advantage pays off when technology transforms how people use the internet,” Wacksman continued. “We are currently the only real estate app inside ChatGPT, a testament to the speed and technical depth of our teams, as well as our near 20-year track record of using AI to build innovative, data-driven (and) consumer-first products responsibly.”
Zillow’s embrace of AI didn’t end there; Wacksman also discussed AI-powered virtual staging in Zillow Showcase, a listing enhancement tool for agents. He cited that 50 brokerages have adopted Zillow Showcase as a “go-to” marketing solution, and that it appeared on 3.2% of new listings in the U.S. by the end of Q3 2025.
Wacksman used this in support of a larger point about the strength and trust in the Zillow brand, such as his claim on the call that agents who use at least one Zillow product make up about 80% of U.S. transactions.
“For consumers, (the Zillow brand) means a simpler, faster, more transparent way to buy, sell or rent a home,” he said. “For real estate professionals, it means more effective tools to grow their businesses.”
Not all news was good news for Zillow during Q3, however. Since June this year, the company has been embroiled in litigation with Compass over Zillow’s Listing Access Standards program that mandates publicly marketed listings be entered into an MLS within one day.
In September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin—soon joined by multiple states’ attorneys general—over an alleged “anticompetitive” partnership where Zillow would become “the exclusive provider” of multifamily listings on Redfin sites.
At rival portal giant CoStar’s earnings call earlier this week, CoStar CEO Andy Florance described Zillow as “under siege” from lawsuits.
Wacksman and other Zillow executives largely avoided talking about these legal challenges during the earnings call. Asked about the FTC lawsuit during the investor Q&A section, Wacksman talked up the success of the agreement, saying that property managers have seen increased return on investment since Zillow began syndicating the multifamily Redfin listings six months ago.
“To us, (the agreement is) obviously pro-consumer and pro-property manager, which makes it pro-competitive. We look forward to making that case as the process plays out,” he concluded.
When asked about possible market impacts about Compass’s acquisition of Anywhere, Wacksman answered that Zillow did not see “any concerns for our business.” However, he did take the chance to talk about Zillow’s Listing Access Standards.
“For us, our listing standards, which help ensure that agents do right by their sellers, and if they’re going to market a listing, they make that listing broadly available to all buyers. We continue to see the vast majority of the industry align with those standards. We’ve always advocated for open, fair and transparent access. That’s why we always have the most listings. Most folks want their listings on the internet. They don’t want to put the internet back in the box,” Wacksman said.
Zillow’s Q3 2025 financials
Zillow reported that in Q3, their financials and traffic were both up year-over-year, with revenue and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) exceeding the company’s outlook and the overall performance of the residential real estate industry. Compared to a loss of $20 million in net income a year prior, Zillow generated a net income of $10 million this past quarter.
Total revenue for Zillow in Q3 was $676 million, up 16% year-over-year, compared to the previous Q3 outlook of between $663 – $673 million. Rentals revenue made up $174 million of that; this was a 41% annual increase, driven by a 62% increase in multifamily revenue.
Zillow’s for sale revenue was $488 million, up 10% year-over-year. Residential revenue was up 7% year-over-year to $435 million. Mortgage revenue reached $53 million, a 36% year-over-year increase, due to a 57% increase in purchase loan origination volume.
Looking forward to Q4, Zillow projects between $645 – $655 million in total revenue, up 16% – 18%.
Traffic to Zillow mobile apps and websites during Q3 was up year-over-year, reaching 250 million unique monthly visitors (a 7% annual increase), with total visits reaching 4 billion (a 4% annual increase).
“Zillow’s Q3 results show how well we’re delivering on our mission to make buying, selling, financing and renting easier,” said Wacksman in the earnings press release. “What drives our success is that we deliver exceptional consumer and partner experiences, relentlessly innovate with our products and consistently execute well on our integrated-transaction strategy. Zillow is leading the industry toward a more transparent, consumer-first future.”
For the full Zillow earnings report, click here.
Devin Meenan is an assistant editor for RISMedia, writing Premier content and assembling daily newsletters for digital publication. His writing at RISMedia typically focuses on political issues and legislation impacting the real estate industry; he is the creator of the “Legislative Round-Up” series. He holds a B.A. in English and Film from Denison University, where he was also Arts & Life editor of student-run paper The Denisonian.
Buyers are purchasing more than just a home when they sign their final offer—they’re buying into the entire neighborhood, so it’s a good idea to get acquainted with it yourself to highlight all of its features to potential buyers. Read more.
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