Scout24 uses AI to reinvent real-estate search

Scout24, Germany’s largest real-estate platform, is leveraging generative AI to transform how people search for homes. CTO Gertrud Kolb explains how her team built HeyImmo, a GPT-5-powered conversational assistant that goes beyond simple search results. The assistant adapts its responses—using concise summaries, bullet points, or image previews—based on user preferences. Scout24’s approach was surprisingly simple: they avoided complex multi-agent setups and focused on function calling and modular components for speed and reliability. To ensure quality, they built a custom evaluation system inspired by the OpenAI Evals framework and conducted company-wide “swarm testing” with almost every employee. A key insight was that customers wanted a real-estate expert, not just a better search engine. The assistant guides users through the entire platform experience, asking clarifying questions and summarizing options. Why it matters: Scout24’s approach shows that the real breakthrough in applied AI isn’t just smarter algorithms but rethinking the entire user experience around guidance and personalization, which could set a new standard for property platforms worldwide.