Rightmove CEO Defends AI Strategy While Minimizing ChatGPT Impact
Property portal giant Rightmove's chief executive Johan Svanstrom has attempted to navigate a delicate balance, defending the company's controversial artificial intelligence investments while simultaneously downplaying the significance of traffic from OpenAI's ChatGPT platform. The executive's comments came during the release of the FTSE-100-listed firm's financial results on Friday 27 February 2026, which revealed a substantial 12 percent profit increase despite ongoing shareholder concerns about the company's technological direction.
Shareholder Concerns and Market Performance
Rightmove's announcement of its £60 million AI investment plan over three years in November had previously triggered significant market anxiety, wiping approximately £1 billion from the company's valuation. However, Svanstrom's latest presentation appeared to reassure investors temporarily, resulting in a five percent share price boost following the results announcement. This positive movement comes amid broader concerns about the property portal's market position, with analysts predicting the company could be pushed off the FTSE-100 index next month due to steadily declining share prices since early November.
ChatGPT Traffic Deemed 'Meaningless'
During questioning from financial analysts, Svanstrom was pressed about whether Rightmove's partnership with ChatGPT was essentially "feeding the beast" by diverting potential web traffic away from the company's own platform. The CEO responded emphatically, describing ChatGPT-driven traffic as "meaningless" within the broader context of Rightmove's user base.
"They're meaningless in terms of a feed or a platform for people going after homes," Svanstrom explained. "It is a tool that lots of people use for different things, so for us this is a test and learn opportunity. We want to be where some people are."
The property firm estimates that less than 0.5 percent of its total traffic originates from OpenAI's chatbot, despite research from RSM indicating that 66 percent of consumers plan to increase their use of AI for property searches in the coming years.
AI as the 'New Front Door' to Property Market
James Bull, technology industry senior analyst at RSM, offered a contrasting perspective, suggesting that AI assistants are becoming the "new front door" to the property market. "The real challenge for Rightmove, and other platforms, is where property search begins as AI assistants become the new front door," Bull stated.
He continued: "The test will be whether the AI features introduced are able to generate an increase in average customer spend. This will be the deciding factor of whether the current margin dilution is temporary or becomes a structural feature to stay ahead of AI native newcomers."
Defending the AI Investment Strategy
Svanstrom offered a somewhat contradictory stance on Rightmove's internal AI developments, initially claiming that users of the company's conversational search function were three times more likely to pursue a property sale, before casting doubt on whether this feature actually had any measurable impact.
"To be honest, is that cause or correlation... it's too early to say," he admitted during the presentation.
Despite this uncertainty, the chief executive firmly defended the company's substantial AI expenditure, which had previously led to downgraded profit forecasts last winter. "It's a cost to deliver opportunity," Svanstrom asserted. "It's an item to keep track of but it's not something that concerns us particularly."
Financial Performance and Future Outlook
Rightmove reported strong financial results for the year ended December 2025, with profit before tax reaching £290 million, representing a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Revenue grew by nine percent to £425 million, while the company announced a £90 million share buyback program and increased its dividend by eight percent to 6.59 pence per share.
The company's AI initiatives include a Google Cloud-powered conversational search tool and a separate application designed for integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT platform. Looking forward, Rightmove's financial report predicts stronger growth in the second half of 2026, with total revenue growth for the year forecasted at between eight and ten percent.
Svanstrom emphasized that the most valuable aspects of user data—including navigation patterns, historical behavior, and future intentions—would remain securely within the Rightmove platform. "So yet another reason not to worry too much about some other alternative universe being built up," he concluded. "But, again, interesting enough to test it."
