- Chinese buyers use Doubao, Qwen, DeepSeek and Yuanbao, not ChatGPT. Doubao alone has about 382 million monthly users.
- These apps answer from Chinese content: WeChat articles, Douyin videos, Rednote posts and Chinese websites.
- In an October 2026 test, Doubao's Melbourne suburb answer drew mostly on Chinese videos and media, not the agencies selling there.
- Three easy steps: WeChat and Rednote accounts, listings on a Chinese property platform, and a properly written Chinese page.
Everyone assumes Chinese buyers use AI. Few know which AI, or what it reads.
Most agents now assume buyers ask ChatGPT before they call anyone. Chinese buyers do the same thing, just on different apps. Knowing which apps, and what they read, is the difference between being in the answer and being left out of it.
The apps Chinese buyers use
| AI assistant | Owner | Monthly users (June 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Doubao | ByteDance (owner of Douyin and TikTok) | 382 million |
| Qwen | Alibaba | 167 million |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek | 130 million |
| Yuanbao | Tencent (owner of WeChat) | 50 million |
Source: QuestMobile, June 2026. More than 700 million people in China now use generative AI. ChatGPT isn’t one of the apps they use day to day.
What these apps read
The answers come from Chinese-language content. Each app searches the web, and each also leans on the platforms its owner runs:
| AI assistant | Reads the web, and leans on |
|---|---|
| Yuanbao | WeChat articles |
| Doubao | Douyin and Toutiao |
| Rednote’s own AI search | Rednote posts |
| DeepSeek and Qwen | The wider Chinese web, including well-written Chinese websites |
In plain terms: if your listings, your suburbs and your agency are published where these apps look, they can end up in the answer.
We asked Doubao, China’s own ChatGPT
Doubao is the AI app most families in mainland China actually use, with about 382 million users a month. ChatGPT is not available there. So we asked Doubao two questions a Chinese family would ask, in Chinese.
| Question 1 | Question 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Asked (in Chinese) | Which Melbourne suburbs suit Chinese families? | Can foreigners buy established homes in Australia? |
| What Doubao said | Box Hill first (about 46.6% Chinese), then Glen Waverley and Doncaster. Balwyn and Templestowe for bigger budgets. Mount Waverley, Vermont South, Clayton and Wantirna South for value. Pakenham, Clyde North and Officer for a new house under A$1m. | Not until 30 June 2029, with few exceptions. New homes, off-the-plan and vacant land are still open with FIRB approval. Victoria adds an 8% foreign surcharge and a 4% absentee land tax. |
| Where it looked | 24 sources, most of them Chinese short videos and Chinese-language media | 15 sources, including the Australian government and one Australian agency’s English website |
| Accurate? | Broadly, yes | Yes |
Test run on Doubao, October 2026.
Two things stand out. For the suburb question, Doubao went to Chinese videos and Chinese media, the content families already watch. For the rules question, it quoted one Australian agency’s own website, because that page answered the exact question clearly. Neither answer named most of the big agencies working these suburbs every week.
That is the opportunity. Doubao quotes whoever is there, in Chinese, with a clear answer. An agency that publishes on the channels Doubao reads can be the name in the next answer.
Three easy ways to be in the answer
None of this needs a big budget or a China office.
- Have a WeChat account and a Rednote account. These are where Chinese families already look for homes, schools and suburbs, and they feed the AI apps owned by Tencent and Rednote. Even a simple, regularly updated account puts an agency on the map. Short videos help too: in our Doubao test, most sources for the suburb question were Chinese videos.
- Get your listings onto Chinese property platforms. A listing published on a Chinese-language property portal, and shared on its WeChat and Rednote channels, is in exactly the places these AI apps read.
- Make your Chinese page a real one. A Chinese page written properly in natural simplified Chinese, not run through a translator, is the kind of content Doubao and other AI apps can pick up from the open web.
Every listing on ACproperty is published in native Chinese on the ACproperty site and shared on its WeChat and Rednote channels, which is the kind of content Doubao and the other Chinese AI apps read.
Stay present: AI favours what’s fresh
Chinese AI apps favour content that is recent and keeps coming. A listing pushed into Chinese once fades from the answers within weeks. An agency that shows up in Chinese week after week becomes a name the answers keep returning to. That is why being in the Chinese market works best as a steady part of the marketing plan, not a one-off. It also gives the vendor a simple answer: the campaign reaches buyers on the portals, at the open, and in the apps where Chinese families now start their search.
The line for the vendor: “Many Chinese buyers ask an AI app before they call an agent. We make sure your home is where those apps look.”
Photo: ACproperty.
Common questions
Which AI apps do Chinese buyers use?
Mainly Doubao (ByteDance), Qwen (Alibaba), DeepSeek and Yuanbao (Tencent). Together they reach hundreds of millions of people each month. ChatGPT is not part of everyday use in mainland China.
What is Doubao?
Doubao is ByteDance's AI assistant, often called China's own ChatGPT. With about 382 million monthly users in June 2026, it is the most used AI app in China.
Can Chinese AI apps find Australian property listings?
Yes, when listings appear in Chinese on platforms and websites those apps read, such as WeChat, Rednote, Chinese property portals and well-written Chinese websites.
Does an agency need a WeChat or Rednote account?
It helps a lot. Both are where Chinese families research homes, and both feed the AI apps owned by Tencent and Rednote.
Is a translated Chinese page on our website enough?
A page written properly in natural simplified Chinese works much better than a machine translation, and is more likely to be picked up by apps like Doubao.
How do agents appear in Chinese AI answers about Melbourne property?
Publish listings and local information in native Chinese, consistently, across a Chinese property portal, WeChat, Rednote and a proper Chinese web page.
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