Agency Recon: Surrey Quays

Data snapshot: 21 January 2026, 09:35
Report built: 21 January 2026, 09:42
Agent of Focus: Oliver Jaques

Agency Recon is a monthly market-intelligence reporting system that shows how each business in a defined market is discovered across Google Search, AI assistants and local map results. It combines live search data with structured multi-AI testing using Gemini and ChatGPT to show how each brand is interpreted, how visible it is against competitors, and where reputation or content gaps affect digital performance. The system benchmarks businesses across SEO, review sentiment, content signals and AI perception. Because AI and GEO discoverability often differ from traditional rankings, the report highlights how each business is positioned within the current digital landscape and where the strongest commercial opportunities sit.

Table of Contents

1. Market Mood: National Topics Driving Search and AI Attention

2. Which is the "best estate agent"? Live Strategy Test: Two AI engines' choice vs the SEO Leaderboard.

3. AI Search Radar: How AI already talks about Surrey Quays estate agents

4. Local Visibility Battle: Decisive Search Rankings that Win Instructions

5. Share of Voice: Who Owns the Surrey Quays Search Landscape?

6. Agent of Focus vs Competitors: Strengths, Weaknesses and Discoverability Opportunities in Surrey Quays

1. Market Mood: National Topics Driving Search and AI Attention

This section tracks the latest national housing and mortgage stories from Rightmove and leading news sources. These topics shape what buyers, sellers and landlords see, search for and ask AI tools about. Used well, they also double as a content brief for agents who publish clear, practical advice on these themes tend to build stronger visibility and long-term discoverability. These themes also connect directly to the discoverability opportunities highlighted later in this report.

• Rightmove: “What are the current UK mortgage rates?”
• Rightmove: “9 cosy cottages for sale right now”
• Rightmove: “10 most-viewed homes on Boxing Day after record-breaking ‘bounce’”
• Google Housing News: “Broken housing market ‘has shut out 1.5m potential buyers’ - The Telegraph”
• Google Housing News: “UK property market ‘on the up’ amid new year bounce in asking prices - The Guardian”
• Google Housing News: “UK housing market rebounds after budget as average price jumps 2.8% - Yahoo Finance UK”

Gemini Analysis:

The UK housing sector is currently demonstrating a powerful post-holiday seasonal uplift, characterised by a record-breaking surge in buyer activity and views immediately after Christmas, indicating a significant new year bounce. This renewed consumer enthusiasm, which is focused heavily on understanding prevailing mortgage rates and browsing highly desirable, character properties, has swiftly translated into a measurable market rebound, with multiple reports confirming asking prices are rising robustly after recent stabilising budgets. Nevertheless, this positive momentum occurs against a backdrop of deep structural concerns; despite the jump in average prices and renewed confidence, the affordability challenges are acute, with data suggesting the market remains broken and continues to exclude millions of potential purchasers from homeownership.

2. Which is the "best estate agent in Surrey Quays"? Live Strategy Test: Two AI engines' choice vs the SEO Leaderboard.

This section shows how AI assistants currently answer a simple, high-intent question about the market. These verdicts do not reflect personal preference, they reveal which brands AI models can confidently reference based on the evidence they find online. Comparing the AI choices with the real SEO Leaderboard highlights where digital signals converge or diverge, and where clear discoverability gaps exist for local businesses. The strengths, gaps and visibility patterns shown here can be replicated for any competitor unless they are addressed directly.

Gemini's Verdict:

"The single best nomination for a homeowner looking to sell in Surrey Quays must be Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH), primarily because their marketing intelligence strategy provides the most robust, balanced visibility necessary to achieve top prices in this competitive, docklands market. KFH consistently punches above its weight through superior localised SEO performance; they typically dominate the Google Map Pack and organic search results for core local terms like ‘property for sale Surrey Quays,’ ensuring their listings capture maximum initial intent traffic, which is the brilliant foundation for a swift sale. Crucially, their digital platform integrates seamlessly with the major portals (Rightmove and Zoopla), allowing for real-time data flow and ensuring a high-quality portfolio presentation. Beyond sheer visibility, KFH maintains an enviable reputation score—visible across Google Business Profiles and specialist review sites like AllAgents—demonstrating professional client management and a measurable track record of achieving excellent parity between asking and sold prices, making them the most strategically sound choice for the savvy homeowner."

ChatGPT's Verdict:

"Nomination and Justification: I nominate KALMARs Residential as the leading estate agent in Surrey Quays. KALMARs has established a commendable presence in the local property market, supported by a robust digital footprint and stellar client reviews. Online, KALMARs consistently appears in the top search results when querying estate agents in Surrey Quays, a testament to their strong SEO strategy. They leverage their comprehensive website and engaging social media channels effectively, ensuring a wide reach and accessibility. Client feedback highlights their deep local knowledge, professionalism, and dedication to achieving the best results for both buyers and sellers. Many clients express satisfaction with their personalised service and attention to detail, fostering long-term relationships and repeat business. This potent combination of visibility, performance, and client satisfaction makes KALMARs an excellent choice for homeowners looking to navigate the Surrey Quays property market with confidence."

2.1 The Disconnect - Executive Summary

The Surrey Quays market reveals a striking strategic misalignment between high-credibility AI perception and immediate digital user intent. While Gemini robustly champions Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH), citing their balanced visibility and enviable reputation (evidenced by 83% AI discoverability), KFH consistently fails to make the organic SEO Top 3 for the core 'estate agents Surrey Quays' search terms, typically languishing on Page 2. Conversely, Oliver Jaques displays commanding authority in the traditional search landscape, securing the number one rank across all critical keyword variants, yet holds a low AI discoverability score (17%), confirming a clear bifurcation: KFH dominates the emerging, high-credibility AI space, while Oliver Jaques captures the immediate, high-volume transactional traffic via organic search. ChatGPT's pick, KALMARs, currently lacks the ground truth SEO visibility to challenge either of these leaders. Therefore, the single biggest strategic insight for agents aiming to secure lucrative instructions—with a typical sales commission opportunity of £6,498—is the urgent necessity to **integrate SEO excellence with AI credibility**. Relying solely on either organic ranking dominance or AI-driven reputation leaves a critical vulnerability, demanding a unified digital strategy to secure maximum market share in this competitive docklands enclave.

3. AI Search Radar: How AI already talks about Surrey Quays estate agents

3.1 The High-Intent Question Test

We ask multiple AIs specific, high-value questions that sellers, buyers and landlords use when looking for an agent. The table below reveals exactly who the AIs recommend for each scenario.

3.2 Agent Visibility Summary

Based on the live tests above, this scorecard grades each agent's total 'AI Discoverability'. It aggregates how often each brand appeared across the varied seller and buyer scenarios.

4. Local Visibility Battle: Decisive Search Rankings that Win Instructions

These rankings are based on report time-stamped Google searches that combine the market name (Surrey Quays / SE16) with nearby areas and high-value intent phrases such as estate agents in or estate agents reviews. The three keyword tables below represent the most valuable data points collected in the market, with Agency Recon estate agents of focus shown in bold.

Keyword: “estate agents Surrey Quays” (Desktop Only) (Keyword Vol: 170)

Keyword: “Surrey Quays estate agents” (Mobile Only) (Keyword Vol: 170)

Keyword: “Canada Water estate agents” (Desktop Only) (Keyword Vol: 170)

5. Share of Voice: Who Owns the Local Search Landscape?

The Share of Voice (SOV) Score is an industry-standard, CTR-weighted metric that measures each agent's share of total potential search traffic for key terms in the Surrey Quays market. It uses methodology consistent with tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs. This score reflects real contact opportunity for high-value instructions. The one-off sales commission opportunity in this market is typically £6,498. Supported by a combined keyword volume of 510.

Agent NameSOV Score (%)Est. Monthly ImpressionsUtilising Google AdsReview Variance
Oliver Jaques39.6%202❌ No Ads Detected4.8 (+-0.00)
Winkworth12.3%63❌ No Ads Detected4.0 (+-0.00)
Urban Patchwork6.7%34❌ No Ads Detected5.0 (+-0.00)
Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward6.1%31✅ Active4.7 (+-0.00)
Chestertons3.3%17✅ Active4.7 (+-0.00)
Alex & Matteo1.7%8❌ No Ads Detected4.8 (+-0.00)
Benham & Reeves1.7%8❌ No Ads Detected4.7 (+-0.00)
Dexters1.2%6❌ No Ads Detected4.9 (+-0.00)
Metro Village1.1%6❌ No Ads Detected4.7 (+-0.00)
Living in London0.5%3❌ No Ads Detected4.4 (+-0.00)
Oppida0.0%0❌ No Ads Detected4.8 (+-0.00)

Data collected from Rightmove: Rightmove House Prices

Source Snippet: "House prices in SE16 have an overall average of £519,871 over the last year. The majority of properties sold in SE16 during the last year were flats, selling for an average price of £485,076. Terraced properties sold for an average of £735,554, with semi-detached properties fetching £786,000. Overall, the historical sold prices in SE16 over the last year were similar to the previous year and similar to the 2017 peak of £516,539."

Assumed Commission Rate: 1.25%

Avg. Commission Value: £6,498

This average fee underscores the substantial return on investment available from effective digital marketing spend to improve discoverability.

6. Agent of Focus vs Competitors: Strengths, Weaknesses and Discoverability Opportunities

The analysis that follows combines branded search demand, content signals, review strength and AI perception to highlight each agent’s current digital position and the commercial opportunities that arise from it. Brand Demand tables provide today's Google Search results for the individual business name. Large corporates and independents compete in the same markets and can explain high brand search volume returns.

Oliver Jaques (Agent of Focus)

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Oliver Jaques

Google Review Rating: 4.8/5 from 350 reviews.

AI Analysis:

The agent holds an enviable position within traditional search, securing Rank 1 visibility for all three high-value terms across the Surrey Quays and Canada Water catchment areas. This Page 1 dominance ensures consistent instruction wins from active searchers. This success is underpinned by strong local trust, evidenced by a 4.8-star average across 350 reviews, and a deep content inventory confirming their transactional expertise. However, their digital authority is significantly unbalanced. While excellent on SEO, AI discoverability is notably low, with the brand absent from all key decision-making questions such as 'best for selling' or 'premium specialists'. This limited visibility stems from infrastructure choices. Current site permissions are actively preventing AI assistants from reading and recommending the brand to potential customers. Furthermore, they are missing the signals that invite modern AI tools to prioritise this brand. This means that despite winning core searches, the brand is unnecessarily reducing the inbound commercial funnel and sacrificing valuable market share, thereby limiting the opportunity to secure the typical £6,498 average opportunity.

SEO and AI Discoverability Strategy - Sales:

Oliver Jaques holds dominant organic search visibility, achieving Rank 1 for all primary local battle terms, securing foundational traffic. The high-value strategic opportunity lies in translating this dominance into AI recommendations to secure high-value instructions. This requires customising the Flagship Seller-Intent Question & Answer Bank into a recurring Quarterly Vendor Sales Dossier. This structured asset would address complex vendor concerns specific to South East London's competitive, high-density market, moving beyond generic advice towards nuanced selling strategies. This approach directly tackles the 'weak AI discoverability' shown in Section 3 by creating rich, attributable knowledge. By providing structured evidence of sales sophistication—such as detailed advice on navigating simultaneous transactions—this recurring initiative targets the missing AI perception tags, specifically 'best for selling' and 'premium specialists.' This content leverages the agent's 350 strong review count as proof points of transactional success, transforming sophisticated seller queries into consistent valuation requests and maximising commission revenue.

SEO and AI Discoverability Strategy - Lettings:

Oliver Jaques holds excellent local search rankings, yet this organic authority currently fails to establish AI credibility, evidenced by the missing perception tags in Section 3. The opportunity is the AI Visibility Reinforcement Playbook, customised as a recurring Landlord Yield Strategy Brief delivered quarterly. This initiative capitalises on existing local knowledge to create authoritative content focused purely on South East London rental performance, yield optimisation, and managing regulatory changes. The brief, distributed as gated content, would analyse recent rent movements and predict void rates in specific micro-markets like Canada Water and Surrey Quays. This structured, periodic insight provides the necessary proof signals for AI models to tag Oliver Jaques as the 'local expert' and 'best for lettings' specialist, converting their exceptional SEO visibility into persistent AI discoverability. This directly feeds the pipeline with serious landlords interested in yield maximization, better tenant quality, and securing recurring management fees across a sustained 12 to 36-month instruction.

Urban Patchwork

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Status: No Fresh Posts

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Urban Patchwork

Google Review Rating: 5.0/5 from 207 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Urban Patchwork currently holds a commercially enviable position in core customer satisfaction, supported by an excellent 5.0 rating across 207 reviews, and demonstrates solid local search visibility by ranking in the top three for critical 'Surrey Quays estate agents' keyword variations, showing positive momentum in traditional SEO ranking performance. However, this visibility is heavily reliant on conventional search methods, as the agent is almost entirely absent from modern generative AI discovery channels, failing to register for crucial high-intent recommendations such as 'best overall' or 'most recommended'. This acute deficiency in future-proof discoverability is exacerbated by a static content footprint, evident in the lack of fresh blog posts, and significant underlying technical debt, specifically the missing Schema markup and the absence of an AI Readiness File, which jointly undermine the brand's potential for establishing technical authority in the evolving digital landscape.

Winkworth

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Winkworth

Google Review Rating: 4.0/5 from 21 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Winkworth currently holds a very strong commercial foothold within its immediate catchment area, evidenced by impressive top-tier SEO performance, securing Rank 2 for critical 'Surrey Quays' search terms. This fundamental visibility is complemented by fresh, seasonally relevant content posts and a solid operational review rating of 4.0. Technically, the detection of Schema Markup confirms sound adherence to core indexing best practices. However, the agency demonstrates a substantial gap in authoritative positioning and modern discoverability; despite robust traditional SEO, Winkworth is entirely absent from key AI recommendation categories, indicating a severe lack of citation or mention within datasets powering algorithmic answers. Furthermore, the firm's geographic reach appears constrained, dropping sharply to a second-page result for 'Canada Water' terms, and a crucial technical signal, the AI Readiness File, remains notably absent.

Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward

Google Review Rating: 4.7/5 from 833 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward presents a robust online posture, anchored by exceptional AI discoverability and strong consumer trust, evidenced by a 4.7 rating across 833 reviews, where they are frequently established as the primary pick for tested queries. Their content strategy is sophisticated and timely, focusing on critical landlord concerns such as the Renters' Rights Act and tax compliance, which ensures high topical relevance and fresh content signals. However, visibility is inconsistent; while local SEO is strong in Canada Water (Rank 2), performance drops notably into Page 2 for Surrey Quays terms, suggesting localised search authority is uneven. Crucially, KFH is failing to register against the 'premium_specialists' AI tag, suggesting a missed opportunity in high-value positioning, and while Schema markup is detected, the absence of a dedicated AI Readiness File represents an obvious technical oversight that could impede maximum data processing.

Alex & Matteo

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Alex & Matteo

Google Review Rating: 4.8/5 from 139 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Alex & Matteo currently benefit from a strong commercial perception, anchored by an excellent 4.8 rating across 139 reviews, alongside an active content stream evidenced by fresh blog posts covering local interest and moving logistics. Their SEO performance is promising in pockets, securing a competitive top-five ranking for 'Canada Water estate agents', yet visibility remains highly inconsistent, dropping sharply to Page 2 for primary 'Surrey Quays' search terms. The most significant strategic void is a near-total lack of presence within emerging AI channels; the firm registers zero mention on the AI Radar and is missing from all high-value competitive tags, suggesting that their current SEO performance is not translating into modern generative authority. This lack of AI visibility is compounded by foundational technical gaps, specifically the missing Schema Markup and the absence of an AI Readiness File, which suppresses their ability to signal technical authority to both search engines and large language models.

Chestertons

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Status: No Active Blog/Latest News Page

Agent Home Page: Visit Chestertons

Google Review Rating: 4.7/5 from 248 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Chestertons maintains a respectable online position, primarily anchored by strong commercial credibility demonstrated through a high 4.7 rating across nearly 250 customer reviews. They hold established local SEO visibility, consistently achieving fifth-place rankings for core 'Surrey Quays' search terms, though their presence noticeably weakens into the second page for the adjacent 'Canada Water' market. However, significant gaps exist concerning content depth and technical authority: the complete absence of an active blog or news section limits topical authority and organic footprint, while technical foundations are weak due to missing Schema Markup and an absent AI Readiness File. This deficiency in technical and substantive signals correlates directly with their complete lack of discoverability in the generative AI space, leaving the brand entirely overlooked across all key commercial questions relating to being the best for selling, lettings, or as premium specialists.

Dexters

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Dexters

Google Review Rating: 4.9/5 from 61 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Dexters exhibits exceptional consumer confidence, evidenced by a stellar 4.9 rating across 61 reviews, which provides a strong bedrock of operational trust. Commercially, they hold a respectable position six for 'Canada Water estate agents'; however, this SEO strength is inconsistent, with visibility immediately dropping to the second page for comparable Surrey Quays search terms. The significant immediate concern is the critical lack of presence within the AI ecosystem; the brand is entirely absent from responses to tested questions and fails to register for any key strategic roles such as 'premium specialists' or 'most recommended', indicating that current SEO visibility is masking a profound, long-term content authority gap. Compounding this visibility deficit are foundational technical oversights, notably the complete absence of Schema Markup, which hinders structured indexing, and the missing AI Readiness File, preventing optimal ingestion by generative search systems.

Living in London

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Living in London

Google Review Rating: 4.4/5 from 51 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Living in London maintains a credible operational profile, evidenced by a decent 4.4 average rating across 51 reviews, supported by an active content schedule featuring market-relevant commentary, such as Bank of England updates, and boosted by a recent industry recognition via the SME News UK Finance Awards. Their SEO visibility is competitive locally, achieving Rank 9 for the 'Canada Water estate agents' term, yet immediate traffic opportunities are being missed with key 'Surrey Quays' search terms landing them on Page 2. The most significant strategic gap is the profound absence within the AI-driven visibility landscape, where they are completely missing from all high-value consumer questions concerning best overall agents or specialists, suggesting that their SEO performance significantly outpaces their AI traction. This lack of automated authority is compounded by critical technical deficiencies, specifically the missing Schema Markup and the lack of an AI Readiness File, which inhibit structured data indexing and overall signal strength.

Benham & Reeves

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Content Status: Fresh Posts Found

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Benham & Reeves

Google Review Rating: 4.7/5 from 139 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Benham & Reeves maintains a commercially viable online position, anchored by strong social proof reflected in a 4.7 customer rating across 139 reviews and competitive mid-page one SEO visibility for primary Surrey Quays search terms. The firm supports this position with fresh content that strategically claims market leadership and offers future-focused property analysis. Crucially, however, their visibility is severely constrained by a substantial gap in authoritative AI discoverability; the agent is completely absent from all tested high-value AI questions, indicating that while traditional SEO visibility is strong, they currently lack the digital authority necessary for AI recommendation. This deficit is further compounded by poor Page 2 ranking for the Canada Water location and a failure to establish key technical authority signals through the missing AI Readiness File, despite having detected schema markup and open bot access.

Metro Village

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Status: No Fresh Posts

Blog/Latest News Page: Visit Metro Village

Google Review Rating: 4.7/5 from 461 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Metro Village presents a strong commercial foundation underpinned by excellent social proof, evidenced by a high 4.7 rating across 461 reviews, and maintains solid organic visibility with established top-ten SEO positions for critical local search terms around Surrey Quays and Canada Water. The operational intelligence, however, identifies significant gaps in forward-facing authority and content depth; content is visibly stagnant due to an absence of fresh blog activity, and critically, the agent is entirely absent from the AI Radar, suggesting zero discoverability within new authority environments and missing all high-value recommendation queries. This profound weakness in future authority is further compounded by basic technical deficiencies, specifically the reported lack of Schema Markup and a missing AI Readiness File, indicating that while current search visibility is acceptable, technical authority signals and preparedness for the next generation of search are severely lacking.

Oppida

Digital & AI Infrastructure:

Website Content and Agent Analysis:

Status: No Active Blog/Latest News Page

Agent Home Page: Visit Oppida

Google Review Rating: 4.8/5 from 109 reviews.

AI Analysis:

Oppida currently holds a robust commercial position built on exceptional client satisfaction, evidenced by a substantial volume of reviews averaging 4.8, suggesting strong local trust and service delivery. However, this reputational success is not being reflected in their digital discoverability; performance for key local search terms is critically weak, with all analysed phrases languishing on Page 2, meaning they capture negligible organic traffic. Visibility is further compromised by a complete deficit in topical authority and content depth, confirmed by the absence of an active blog or news hub, which directly correlates with the agent's zero profile within AI conversational searches. While the technical foundations are sound, with Schema Markup detected and AI bot access open, the missing AI Readiness File represents an obvious gap in establishing advanced digital authority signals necessary for competitive standing in modern generative search environments.

How Agency Recon Analyses

Multi-AI Analysis, Live Search Data, Keyword Analysis and Cross-Checked Intelligence:

Agency Recon is driven by powerful multi-AI analysis, live search intelligence, and a proprietary blend of automated data and technology, developed in-house by JPPC.