Robert May has spent much of his career spotting problems in the property industry before everyone else catches up. He has influenced material information requirements, challenged unreliable property data, helped shape the technology that became Alto and built rummage4, which was later acquired by CoreLogic. Today, his attention is firmly on the next major shift: how AI will change property search and what estate agents must do to remain visible, relevant and valuable. In this episode, Robert and I discuss why portal valuations can be dangerously misleading, how good agents distinguish between overvaluing and genuinely understanding a changing market, and why winning instructions means very little if those properties never complete. We also explore contract-ready listings, material information, the absurdity of sales taking 19 weeks in an age of instant communication and how better preparation helped one agency increase its share of local completions from 19% to 37%. Most importantly, Robert explains why he is no longer writing solely for humans. He is building the structured information that allows ChatGPT and other AI platforms to understand individual estate agents, their properties and the local expertise that makes them different. Robert has also been incredibly generous with his time outside the podcast. When I need an honest view on property technology or data, he is my go-to person. He occasionally makes my brain hurt, but it is usually worth it.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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