Every proptech pitch promises more leads, faster payouts or a smarter workflow. This week’s Inman Tech Roundup brings three new ones, plus a reality check from Wall Street on whether artificial intelligence spending is actually paying off anywhere outside Silicon Valley.
Here’s what you need to know:
Keyes joins HouseCanary’s Google Listings Program
Florida’s largest independent brokerage is getting its listings onto Google through a side door.
The Keyes Family of Companies, which bills itself as the state’s largest independent brokerage and includes The Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties, has joined HouseCanary’s Google Listings Program.
Mike Pappas
The firm’s 4,000-plus agents will now have their active listings eligible for the carousel at the top of Google mobile search results in live markets.
The listings aren’t coming through a South Florida MLS, since none appear on the program’s participant list. Instead, they flow through My State MLS, a national MLS that’s one of eight participating so far, alongside Bright MLS, California Regional MLS and REcolorado.
“A seller’s home deserves to be found where buyers are looking, and today many of them begin on Google,” said Mike Pappas, CEO of The Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties, in a statement. “Strengthening how our listings are distributed puts more buyers in front of every home we market and gives our agents one more way to win with sellers.”
As part of the deal, Keyes agents also get free access to HouseCanary’s agentic AI platform. The Google program launched in early 2026 and is slated to expand to all eligible U.S. markets this fall.
What this means for real estate agents
Agents whose local MLS hasn’t signed on aren’t necessarily locked out, since Keyes shows brokerages can reach Google’s carousel by joining a participating national MLS like My State.
Because each listing page shows the listing agent’s name and a contact button, Google placement could become a selling point in listing presentations, especially as the program reaches more markets.
Delta Media Group debuts Intelligent Websites
Delta Media Group wants brokerage websites to talk back.
The Canton, Ohio-based tech provider, whose clients include more than 80 LeadingRE affiliates, unveiled Intelligent Websites on Wednesday, which lets consumers search for homes by asking questions instead of clicking through filters and menus.
Michael Minard
The bigger change is how it captures leads. Rather than gating listings behind a registration form, the AI asks visitors for contact information during the conversation, and those leads go directly to agents.
“Real estate websites have traditionally been designed to display listings and collect contact information,” said Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media Group. “We’re changing that experience. Your website should do more than display listings. It should engage visitors, guide their search and turn conversations into opportunities for agents. Intelligent Websites brings that capability directly into home search.”
Intelligent Websites is the first product under Delta Connected Intelligence, the company’s new umbrella for AI across its websites, CRM and other tools.
Next up is Intelligent DeltaNET, which will bring AI into agent-facing tools, along with an Action Center designed to flag priorities and next steps for agents. Delta didn’t say when either will launch.
What this means for real estate agents
Dropping the registration wall should mean fewer visitors bounce before handing over their contact info, though leads captured mid-chat may arrive earlier in the buying journey and need more nurturing than a traditional sign-up.
The upside is that each lead comes with an attached conversation, so agents can see what a buyer asked about before making the first call.
Mainstreet Realtors offers members instant commission payouts
Mainstreet Realtors, which serves 18,000 members in suburban Chicago, will be the first organization to deploy Upfront’s new white-label banking platform and its AI compliance tool, Upfront Docs.
John Gormley
The banking product, launching in November, lets brokerages and associations offer agents branded accounts held at Upfront’s partner, i3 Bank.
When a brokerage runs its commission account through Upfront, agents get paid as soon as closing funds arrive, including nights and weekends. Agents also get free business checking at 1 percent APY and a tax savings account earning up to 2.67 percent.
Upfront Docs is slated for November.
“No other association will be able to match the level of business support or the value that the Upfront platform brings to managing brokers,” said Mainstreet CEO John Gormley.
The New York-based startup, which sells back-office, healthcare and retirement products for 1099 agents, says it works with 200 brokerages, including JPAR and more than 50 REMAX offices, and three associations representing more than 50,000 agents combined.
What this means for real estate agents
Instant commission payouts and an interest-earning tax savings account address two of the most common cash-flow headaches for 1099 agents, though how much they benefit depends on whether their brokerage moves its commission account onto Upfront.
For brokers, the branded banking pitch is really a recruiting play, so agents may start seeing financial perks like these show up in offers from competing firms.
Apollo: AI hasn’t paid off outside Big Tech
AI still hasn’t shown up on the bottom line for most of corporate America, according to a new analysis from Apollo Global Management, the New York-based private equity and private credit giant.
“Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech,” writes Torsten Slok, the analysis author and partner and chief economist at Apollo.
Torsten Slok
The analysis finds that revenue per worker and profit margins are climbing for the Magnificent Seven tech giants (such as Meta and Microsoft) but have stayed flat for the rest of the S&P 500. Slok adds that AI still hasn’t lifted productivity growth, either.
Without a payoff, mainstream companies are starting to treat AI token spending as a cost center rather than a growth driver, even as VC-backed startups keep ramping up.
The question is whether cheaper, commoditized models will eventually help ordinary companies grow revenue and margins. That may be harder than it sounds, since business decisions hinge on context, trust and accountability that AI doesn’t grasp.
“AI may be a great calculator, but in business, intelligence is mostly judgment,” writes Slok.
This October, Inman turns its focus to AI and its rapid rise in real estate. During Artificial Intelligence Month, we’re digging into the startups shaking things up and the established players folding AI into their offerings.
Real estate will face this test, too, as brokerages pour money into AI platforms and agents weigh which subscriptions actually pay for themselves.
What this means for the real estate industry
Brokerages and franchisors spending heavily on AI platforms will face the same scrutiny as the S&P 493, with pressure to show that the tools lift agent productivity or company margins rather than just adding another line item to an already thin-margin business.
If AI’s financial gains stay concentrated among a handful of tech giants, the housing-market payoff will likely stay concentrated too, in high-cost tech hubs like the Bay Area and Seattle rather than the broader market.
