Why it matters:

An unclaimed profile can’t be fully managed, meaning no edits, posts, or review responses, which immediately puts a dealership at a disadvantage. Social media links reinforce credibility and give customers more ways to engage.

Every dealership should claim and verify all of their GBPs, including department profiles, to ensure they’re in full control. Social media links should always be added to showcase an active and trustworthy presence.

Why it matters:

Regular posting helps you stand out from the competition and drives pre-site conversions. Position 1 dealers post more often than those at position 10. Dealerships averaged just under 4 posts monthly.

Publish weekly Google Posts to highlight specials, events, or inventory updates. Posts should be compelling and promotional. Don’t treat Posts like social media. They’re free ads that appear on your Profile.

Why it matters:

Customers need to see your site to decide if they want to buy from you or service with you. Fifty-four of the profiles in the study didn’t list a website. It’s also incredibly helpful for a customer to click on an appointment link and view products and services from the GBP.

Always list your website. Bonus: use proper UTM tracking (see UTM Tracking Overview section) so you don’t lose attribution.

Why it matters:

When UTM tracking is missing, a large portion of GBP-driven organic traffic gets misattributed as “direct” in Google Analytics, making it impossible to know what’s really working. Even worse, when UTMs are added incorrectly, Google Analytics Data is actively polluted, which leads to bad reporting and poor decisions.

Every dealership should add UTM parameters (source and medium are required to function properly) to all GBP website links, and always set the medium to “organic” (with a lower-case “o”). This ensures proper attribution in Google Analytics, avoids data pollution, and allows you to measure which actions are truly driving results.

Why it matters:

29% of the dealerships in the study did not have Vehicles for Sale displayed on their GBP. Google added Vehicles For Sale (VFS) almost 8 years ago (called Cars for Sale at the time), and research has proven that VFS can have a big influence on GBP conversions.

Enable Vehicles for Sale. It displays your live inventory and drives more customer actions before they even hit your website

Why it matters:

Separate profiles for Service and Parts allow you to target more categories and appear in more searches. Many dealers still miss this easy win. Used car dealers rarely create department profiles (since most don’t do service), and if we remove them from the data, the number drops to 36%, meaning 1 in 3 franchise dealerships still haven’t set up department GBPs.

Set up Service and Parts Profiles and nest them under the main dealership GBP. More profiles = more search visibility. 

Why it matters:

The primary category is the most influential ranking factor for dealerships (ranking #1 in the 2023 LSRF study). We should have only seen 6 unique primary categories, since dealers should have selected either “[brand] dealer” or “used car dealer” as their primary category. Instead, we saw 19 unique primary categories, showing that many dealers are selecting incorrect categories that hinder their visibility in searches.

Secondary categories expand your search coverage, and dealers in the top spots consistently select more relevant categories than those further down. There are more than 10 categories related to car sales, so dealerships should always have 9-10 selected.

Don’t get your categories wrong. Adding irrelevant categories can hurt visibility and confuse Google, making it harder for your dealership to appear in the right searches.

We’re not totally sure what’s going on with the “Dealers with 10 categories” Position 1 and Position 10 data. Maybe a few of the Position 10 dealers were trying harder, but if that were really the case, we’d expect to see them beating Position 1 on other factors too (like number of categories). Most likely it’s just a couple of weird outliers throwing things off.

Every dealership should begin by getting the primary category correct. Instead of choosing the more generic categories like “Car dealer,” use precise and relevant categories such as “[brand] dealer” or “Used car dealer.” Once the primary is correct, dealerships should maximize visibility by filling out all available category slots with relevant options. Franchise dealers should never have fewer than nine or ten categories selected.

Why it matters:

Dealers ranking in Position 1 have significantly more photos, with an average of about 150 more than those in Position 10. The oldest photo upload date was back in 2018 and the oldest photo upload date by the owner was in 2013.

Freshness also plays a key role, since top dealers tend to have newer images thanks to both customer uploads and consistent updates. When photo galleries sit untouched for years, it makes a dealership look inactive and untrustworthy, which reduces customer engagement.

Dealerships should maintain a large, high-quality library of photos that includes facilities, staff, and service areas. It’s important to upload new photos regularly to keep the gallery looking active and relevant. Encouraging customers to add their own photos through reviews or direct location tagging can also help maintain freshness and credibility. Above all, avoid letting years pass between uploads, since outdated images send the wrong signal to both Google and potential buyers.

Why it matters:

Reviews influence both how often a dealership shows up in Google’s map pack and how many customers choose to click or call.

Dealers ranking in Position 1 had nearly double the number of reviews compared to those at Position 10, confirming that volume makes a difference. Ratings also matter, with the sweet spot typically between 4.4 and 4.7 for balancing trust and visibility.

Recency is another factor: top dealers earn new reviews more consistently, which signals ongoing activity to both Google and customers. However, the study revealed a surprising gap: Position 1 dealers actually responded to fewer reviews than those at Position 10. It’s been best practice for years to respond to customer reviews, so it was surprising to see that nearly 1 out of 5 reviews had no owner response. Regardless of ranking, ignoring reviews damages credibility and customer relationships.

We actually expected the opposite data with the “Reviews Not Responded To” for position 1 and position 10. Odds are the Position 10 dealers were just trying harder on this one factor.

Dealerships should build a steady system for collecting new reviews each month, aiming to outpace competitors in their market rather than chasing arbitrary numbers. Maintaining a rating between 4.4 and 4.7 is ideal, and consistent recency shows both Google and customers that your dealership is active and engaged.

Equally important is responding to reviews. Every review, positive or negative, deserves a timely reply. Businesses that respond within 24 hours not only build stronger customer trust but also send positive engagement signals. Long delays, or failing to respond at all, can undo the benefits of having a large review volume.

Why it matters:

Dealers with faster-loading, mobile-friendly, and secure websites create better experiences for customers and stronger signals for Google. In this study, average page load times were nearly identical for Position 1 and Position 10 dealers, but the extremes told the story: some sites loaded in fractions of a second, while others took nearly two minutes, an immediate conversion killer.

Responsiveness is another critical factor. With most automotive customers browsing on mobile, a non-responsive site creates frustration and directly impacts rankings after Google’s Page Experience Update (which rolled out in 2021).

Similarly, HTTPS has been a ranking signal since 2014 and was updated in the algorithm as part of the Page Experience Update, yet nearly one in five dealership sites still lacked it.

Finally, consistency between the GBP phone number and the website phone number matters less today than it once did, since call tracking numbers are now best practice, but unintentional mismatches can still create confusion.

Dealer.com is still the only website platform that isn’t responsive. While responsiveness is a signal, it’s not a deal breaker. Strong optimization in other areas can offset it, which is why some non-responsive sites are still sitting at #1.

Every dealership should monitor and do what they can to improve website speed to stay competitive, with the goal of keeping load times under three seconds. Websites must be fully responsive to deliver a seamless mobile experience, and sites should be secured with HTTPS to build trust and meet Google’s baseline requirements. While exact phone number matches between GBP and the website are no longer mandatory, consistency should be intentional. If a tracking number is used, ensure it’s implemented correctly.

Why it matters:

1 out of 5 dealership sites in the study didn’t have the correct LocalBusiness schema markup. Schema sends a clear, machine-readable signal to Google about your dealership. When the wrong schema is used, or when AutoDealer schema is missing entirely, search engines get conflicting information, which can hold back visibility. As Google rolls out more AI-powered search features, structured data is becoming even more critical in determining which businesses appear in those results.

Every dealership should include AutoDealer schema on the homepage and ensure it’s the only LocalBusiness schema type on that page. Using multiple or incorrect schema types dilutes the signal and can confuse Google’s understanding of the site. Implementing schema correctly not only helps with visibility but also enhances how your listings display in search, supporting higher click-through rates.

Why it matters:

Dealership websites are naturally image-heavy, but without supporting text content, customers have no insight into the business and Google has nothing to index and rank. In this study, 11% of dealerships had zero text on their homepages, relying only on images.

That’s a major missed opportunity for search visibility. Dealers ranking in the top positions generally had more balanced pages with both images and meaningful content.

Optimization also plays a critical role. Dealers in Position 1 were much more likely to include the searched-for keyword on the homepage, in title tags, and in heading tags compared to those in Position 10. The inclusion of the city name in the title tag was another clear differentiator, with 68% of Position 1 dealers doing so versus just 36% of those at Position 10.

These signals reinforce relevance and strengthen local ranking.

If you want to show as a search result when someone types something into Google, you need a page about that singular concept on your site. That page needs to be the best answer in the local area to the question the user is asking. That’s tough to do with the standard 450-500 words most providers offer.

Every dealership should aim to include at least 800–1,000 words of well-written, customer-focused content on their homepage. This content should naturally include relevant keywords and location signals, while also answering the questions customers are most likely to ask. Images should complement, not replace, this content.

Optimizing title tags, headings, and homepage copy with both brand and city information remains essential. By optimizing every page element for the same keyword and location, dealers make it clear to Google what they sell and where they sell it. The goal is to provide a complete, relevant, and helpful page experience that satisfies both search engines and customers.

Why it matters:

Dealers ranking in Position 1 consistently had more inbound links and more unique referring domains than those at Position 10, confirming that links remain a powerful ranking factor. However, not all links are equal. A dealership with millions of spammy inbound links may still struggle to rank compared to one with a smaller number of relevant, trusted, and local links.

The study also revealed diminishing returns when multiple links come from the same domain. We subtracted the number of unique linking domains from the total number of inbound links to get the link-to-domain difference for each site.

The biggest difference was for a Toyota dealership that had 3,918,144 links from only 511 unique websites!

Quality and diversity matter more than sheer volume. A balanced link profile with a wide mix of referring sites is a far stronger indicator of authority than one inflated by spammy or repetitive sources.

Dealerships should prioritize building local links from businesses and websites in the same local area and trusted industry sites. The focus should be on earning links that are both credible and connected to the dealership’s local market. The number of unique referring domains is more important than the total link count.

Over time, dealers should audit their backlink profiles to identify and address spammy or irrelevant links. By steadily increasing the diversity of quality inbound links, dealerships can send stronger signals to Google and maintain more stable rankings.

Why it matters:

On average, dealers would need to spend over $245,000 a month with PPC to get the same amount of traffic they’re getting with organic search.

The biggest shock of the study is the gap in organic cost between dealers at Position 1 and dealers at Position 10. To make up for less visibility, lower-ranking dealers would need to spend over $245,000 monthly!

Dealers in Position 1 ranked for more than twice as many keywords overall compared to those in Position 10. This shows that consistent optimization across GBP, website content, and technical factors expands keyword coverage. The more relevant keywords a dealer ranks for, the more chances they have to capture traffic and generate conversions.

One interesting insight: according to Google, about 20% of daily search queries have never been searched before. That means it’s nearly impossible to track every keyword you might rank for.

Instead, the focus should be on building high-quality content and optimizing for the terms that matter most to customers. When done correctly, rankings for new and unexpected keyword variations naturally follow.

Dealerships should focus on creating content that aligns with customer needs and includes the key terms people are searching for both brand-related and local.

Optimizing GBP landing pages and homepage copy for these terms is critical. It’s not about chasing thousands of keywords individually but ensuring the site is structured, helpful, and comprehensive enough to rank for many related queries over time.