Homes have never looked better online. AI is making it easier to brighten skies, remove clutter, add furniture and even alter elements of a property. But it’s prompting a growing issue in the industry: What needs to be disclosed when a listing photo has been digitally altered—and how?
New global research from Coraly, a property portal tech company, found that one in 15 property listings worldwide show signs of being altered with AI, with the U.S. having the highest rate—at about one in nine. In its analysis of about 40,000 primary listing photos across leading U.S. portals, Coraly flagged about 11%—or 4,330—primary images that had been digitally altered. Yet, more than 90% of those images carried no visible disclosure on the image or immediately adjacent listing context.
“The tools to enhance images are everywhere,” says Fouad Bekkar, founder of Coraly, which conducted the research as part of its broader Global Property Portal Index. “But the tools to make it easy to disclose barely exist.”
That gap is beginning to close as tech companies—including Coraly—develop tools to help real estate professionals address disclosure requirements for digitally altered images. The push comes as AI photo enhancement tools become more widely available and some state lawmakers and real estate organizations call for greater transparency over what’s been altered in listing photos online.
How Are Homes Being Digitally Altered
The Coraly analysis found that alterations ranged from cosmetic changes to edits that could potentially affect a buyer’s understanding of the property. Sky replacement appeared in 69% of flagged images, while color enhancement appeared in about 52%. Virtual staging—digitally furnishing a space—accounted for about 10% and object removal was at nearly 2%. (The categories overlap because one image could contain multiple alterations.)
Related: Are You ‘Catfishing’ Buyers With Picture-Perfect Real Estate Photos?
Adding Transparency Into Listing Workflows
As regulations and consumer expectations evolve, technology companies are building transparency and disclosure features into the tools real estate professionals use to create, manage and distributing listing images. That includes several companies coming through NAR's REACH program, the accelerator operated by Second Century Ventures.
Coraly, part of the inaugural 2026 REACH Middle East cohort, isn’t just studying the issue but also developing tools to help real estate professionals, MLSs and property portals manage image disclosures. Its system can screen images for potential alterations, locate originals among large batches of photographer-supplied images, compare edited and original versions, and recommend a disclosure or further review.
In its recent partnership with the San Diego MLS, Coraly’s technology operates as a Chrome extension that scans images as they’re uploaded to the MLS, flags any alterations and helps agents comply with California’s new requirements for disclosing digitally altered listing images.
“The objective is to give agents, MLSs and portals a practical workflow for preserving provenance, applying disclosure consistently and escalating potentially material changes for human review,” Bekkar says.
Coraly calls its approach “Responsible AI Deployment,” which still includes access to most of the AI tools used for image or video enhancement while incorporating disclosures and links to original images. Its system also maintains a compliance record showing what was altered and what the original looked like. A QR code also can be embedded alongside listing photos to see the original, unedited photo and the altered image.
Restb.ai, a 2025 REACH participant, is also helping increase photo transparency in MLS and brokerage portal workflows. Its tool can be used to automatically scan listing images and flag potential violations. The system can detect issues such as watermarks and logos, AI-generated images, and duplicate or near-duplicate images. The tool uses automated image analysis to monitor listing accuracy and compliance.
REACH companies like Pixlmob are taking a similar approach to transparency. It connects real estate professionals with photographers, editors and AI tools for property visuals, including photo editing, virtual staging and video. Through its collaboration with PropMedia, it offers a QR-code disclosure tool that lets consumers view the original photo alongside an edited version, giving them a way to see what was digitally changed.
BoxBrownie, a real estate photo editing company part of the 2018 REACH cohort, is building accuracy checks into its virtual staging workflow. Its editors use measurements of not just a room but also the door frames, windows and ceiling height to make sure virtually staged furniture stays proportionate to the room, ensuring it’s the appropriate height, depth and scale for the room.
“Buyers form expectations about the size and functionality of a room from the images,” says Tabitha Thomas, general manager at BoxBrownie.com. “They might arrive expecting a room to accommodate a particular sofa, bed or home office setup, only to find the space doesn’t work in reality. That can lead to wasted inspections, disappointment and, more important, a loss of trust in the marketing.”
How Do You Know When You Need to Disclose?
The National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics already provides a framework for truthful marketing. Article 2 says REALTORS®, members of NAR, must avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation or concealment of pertinent facts about a property or transaction. Article 12 requires REALTORS® to present a “true picture” in advertising and marketing.
States and MLSs recently are adding more guidance for digitally altered images, such as California’s new disclosure requirements and a similar New York state bill under consideration.
California's AB 723, effective Jan. 1, 2026, requires disclosure when an altered image adds, removes or changes elements of a property, along with access to the original image. Digitally altered images are defined broadly, covering changes to fixtures, furniture, flooring, walls, paint, landscape, façade, floor plans and elements outside or visible from the property, including views through windows and neighboring properties. Routine adjustments such as exposure, sharpening, white balance and color correction generally aren’t covered when they don’t change the property representation.
Related: When Does Enhancing Listing Photos Go Too Far?
Knowing what crosses the line, however, can get complicated, as even seemingly harmless edits can raise questions. For example, Chris White, a real estate photographer and product marketing manager for Planitar's iGUIDE, has been asked to remove moving boxes from photos. But when AI is used to remove the boxes, it then has to make assumptions of what is behind those boxes. “There could be anything behind those boxes—water damage, a hole in the wall,” he says.
“My rule is simple: Improve the photograph, not the property.”
-Fouad Bekkar, founder of Coraly, part of the 2026 REACH Middle East cohort
BoxBrownie urges agents to be cautious of any changes to property images that:
- Change the structure of layout, such as adding or removing walls, doors or windows;
- Change the size or proportions of rooms or furniture, making a space appear larger or more functional than it is;
- Add or removing permanent features, such as pools, fireplaces, cabinetry or flooring;
- Change the exterior, surroundings or views, such as altering landscaping, neighboring buildings, power lines or the outlook from a window.
Watch How You Disclose
When photos are altered, the nature of the disclosure is also important, Fouad says. Don’t just s say that “AI was used,” but he suggests that the disclosure should include specific labels of what was changed:
- “Virtually staged—furniture digitally added.”
- “Sky digitally replaced.”
- “Objects digitally removed.”
- “Renovation visualization—not the property’s current condition.”
“That disclosure should sit on or immediately beside the affected image, remain visible on mobile devices and travel with the image when it is syndicated to another platform,” Fouad says. “The original photograph should also be retained and accessible. … Clear disclosure also protects the agent by creating a record of what was changed and preventing an otherwise innocent marketing edit from becoming a trust or compliance problem later.”
As digitally altered images gain more scrutiny, experts aren’t saying stop using AI altogether. A brighter sky, corrected color or virtual furniture can help buyers understand a home's potential, Bekkar says.
“My rule is simple: Improve the photograph, not the property,” Bekkar says. “Normal adjustments to exposure, brightness, white balance, sharpness and perspective can be legitimate when they preserve what the buyer will encounter. The line is crossed when an edit changes a reasonable buyer’s understanding of the property’s condition, dimensions, contents, structure, surroundings or view.”
