Q:. I am a real estate broker with 12 years of broker experience and 7 years in home sales. Zillow, Compass, and other large platforms keep changing the rules, and now AI is being added to the mix. I am hearing that some brokers are losing clients to these platforms before they ever get a chance to compete. How should I be thinking about my business in this environment?
A: Your concern is well-founded, and the timing of your question is striking. As this column goes to press, Zillow has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Compass and a major Chicago-area MLS, accusing them of conspiring to hide listings from public view. The outcome could reshape how homes are marketed nationally. You are right to pay attention.
Let us separate the two forces you are describing, because they require different responses.
- The platform wars.
Zillow, Compass, and large brokerages are fighting over the most valuable currency in real estate: listing data. Compass has built a private listing network that markets homes to select buyers before they appear publicly. Zillow calls this anti-competitive. This writer agrees with Zillow. Here is a link to a Dear Monty column to learn more. The courts will decide. What this fight reveals is that the rules of listing distribution – rules your business has depended on for decades – are in flux.
The independent broker caught in the middle faces a real risk. If listings increasingly flow through private networks controlled by the largest brokerages, smaller operators lose visibility before the client conversation even begins. Your instinct that you are losing clients before competing is not paranoia. It is an accurate read of the battlefield.
- Artificial intelligence.
AI is no longer an experiment in real estate. A January 2026 survey published by Delta Media Group found that 97 percent of brokerage leaders report their agents actively use AI tools. Brokerages gaining ground use AI to respond to leads within 90 seconds, generate listing content at scale, and surface their agents in AI-driven search results, where more buyers and sellers now begin their search than on Google or Zillow.
The brokers losing ground are waiting.
Your options, in order of priority:
- Audit where your clients find you. If the answer is referrals alone, you are invisible to the next generation of buyers and sellers who start with an AI tool or platform search. Visibility is now a strategy, not an accident.
- Adopt AI for tasks that cost you time. Lead follow-up, listing descriptions, market reports, and client communication are areas where AI creates measurable efficiency. The goal is not to replace your judgment, it is to free your time for relationship work that platforms cannot replicate.
- Evaluate buyer-side platforms. Two-sided marketplaces that represent both buyers and sellers give independent brokers tools to compete with large platforms on more equal footing.
- Consult a real estate attorney about your MLS rights. The Zillow-Compass lawsuit may directly affect what listings you can access and where. Know your rights before the rules change around you.
Bottom line: platforms are not replacing skilled brokers. They are replacing brokers who are not paying attention. Twelve years of experience is a competitive advantage, but only if you are putting it in front of the right people, in the right places, with the right tools.
