Case study
Own Property Abroad: #1 in ChatGPT for buying property in Indonesia
Own Property Abroad is an English-language real estate platform that helps international buyers purchase property in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, with guides on ownership structures, permits, taxes, and the buying process. After our GEO (generative engine optimization) work, the platform shows up as the #1 recommendation when someone asks ChatGPT about buying property in Indonesia (measured January 2026), and traffic from AI platforms grew 83% in four months (September through December 2025, measured in GA4). Before that, we used SEO to grow the platform from almost nothing to 243,000 users in twelve months (May 2023 through April 2024, GA4), 218,000 of them from Google. The same approach works for real estate agents, developers, and property advisors who want AI assistants to recommend them.
Own Property Abroad was built by Timmermans Media, optimized by us for Google and AI, and later sold. The figures in this case serve as proof of the method.
- Industry
- Real estate, international brokerage and property advisory
- Market
- Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand), English-language
- Services
- GEO, SEO, legal and tax content for real estate
- Measured
- January 2026
Why property buyers ask ChatGPT their first questions
Anyone considering property abroad now asks an AI assistant their first questions: can I own land in Indonesia as a foreigner, what's the difference between leasehold and freehold, what taxes do I pay when I buy. The answer ChatGPT gives decides which agent, advisor, or platform the buyer looks up next. If you're not in that answer, you don't exist for that buyer.
In a niche like Southeast Asian real estate, that goes double: the questions are legally and fiscally precise, the sources are scattered, and many answers in AI models are out of date. Own Property Abroad wanted to be the source models cite, and the recommendation they give, before competitors claimed that spot.
How SEO and GEO built the real estate platform
It started with SEO. With guides on buying property in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, Own Property Abroad grew from a few hundred visitors a day in May 2023 to more than 2,000 a day by spring 2024: 243,000 active users in twelve months, 274,000 organic sessions from Google, and 1.5 million events. Each guide answers one question a buyer asks, with the legal and tax details included.
Next came GEO. We optimized Own Property Abroad's content for AI search engines. The legal and tax guides (ownership structures like Hak Pakai and leasehold, PT PMA setups, transfer tax, visa rules) got directly citable answers at the top, a question-and-answer structure that models parse easily, and current figures with dates. We also made the entity information about the platform consistent across text and schema, so AI platforms recognize the brand and feel confident recommending it.
What the SEO and GEO work for Own Property Abroad included
- 01Content strategy and SEO for 600+ guides on buying property in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand: ownership structures, permits, taxes, and the buying process.
- 02GEO for the legal and tax guides: a directly citable answer up top, question-and-answer headings, figures with dates.
- 03Entity consistency: the platform's name, description, and expertise kept identical across text and schema.
- 04Measurement: ChatGPT checks on questions about buying property in Indonesia (January 2026); AI traffic in GA4 (September to December 2025).
Results
The result: 243,000 users and the #1 recommendation in ChatGPT
With SEO, the platform grew to 243,000 active users in twelve months (May 2023 through April 2024), 90% of them from Google organic. In a January 2026 check, Own Property Abroad appears as the #1 recommendation in ChatGPT for questions about buying property in Indonesia, and measurable traffic from AI platforms grew 83% in four months.
- 243,000
- active users in 12 months, May 2023 to April 2024 (GA4), 218,000 from Google organic
- 274,000
- organic sessions from Google in the same period
- #1
- recommendation in ChatGPT for buying property in Indonesia (measured Jan 2026)
- +83%
- traffic from AI platforms, Sept to Dec 2025, measured in GA4
Which real estate agents and property companies this applies to
The same approach works for anyone in real estate who wants to be found through AI assistants: real estate agents serving buyers from abroad, developers with units on the market, property advisors, and real estate attorneys or notaries who explain the legal side of a purchase. The questions buyers ask ChatGPT are the same in every market: is it allowed, what does it cost, how does it work, and who can help me. Whoever answers those questions first and most clearly gets recommended.
See it for yourself
The work is live at Own Property Abroad
Publicly available on the client’s own domain.
- Own Property Abroadownpropertyabroad.com
- Guide: property taxes in Indonesiaownpropertyabroad.com/indonesia/property-taxes-indonesia-guide
- Guide: setting up a PT PMA as a foreignerownpropertyabroad.com/indonesia/how-to-establish-pt-pma-foreigner
- Guide: investing in real estate in the Philippinesownpropertyabroad.com/philippines/invest-in-real-estate-in-the-philippines
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about GEO for real estate agents and property companies
How does a real estate agent or property platform get recommended by ChatGPT?+
By being the source the model cites for the questions buyers ask: ownership structures, taxes, permits, the buying process. That takes guides with a direct answer up top, figures with dates, a question-and-answer structure, and consistent information about the business itself. That's how Own Property Abroad became the #1 recommendation in ChatGPT for buying property in Indonesia (measured January 2026).
Does GEO also work for real estate agents and developers in the Netherlands?+
Yes. The method isn't tied to a country or language: Dutch buyers ask ChatGPT about transfer tax, ground leases, building inspections, and the best real estate agent in their city. An agent or developer who answers those questions clearly on their own site and is recognizable as an entity ends up in those answers. Tracking is done with a fixed set of prompts and a competitor benchmark.
What's the difference between GEO and SEO for a real estate website?+
SEO gets a page ranking in Google; GEO gets an AI model to cite the page or recommend the business in its answer. The foundation overlaps (good content, technical health, authority), but GEO asks for more: citable answers, entity consistency, proprietary data, and mentions on sources models trust. For Own Property Abroad, that delivered +83% traffic from AI platforms in four months.
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