What is AI search optimisation for a car dealership?
It is the work that decides whether an assistant names your dealership when a buyer asks it who to use. ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Google’s AI answers build a reply rather than a list of links, and only a handful of dealers get named in it. Getting your group into that reply is the job.
How does a dealership end up being named in ChatGPT, Gemini or Google’s AI answers?
There is no single switch to flick. These systems build an answer out of what they can find about your group and how much of it agrees. The clearer and more consistent that picture is, the more often your name comes back. That is the work we do.
If we already rank well on Google, do we still need AI search optimisation?
Yes. Ranking well and being recommended are related, but they are not the same job. A buyer who types gets ten links and picks one. A buyer who asks gets two or three names, with a reason attached to each. Top of the page is worth having and you’ve earned it. Being one of those names is a separate job, and your usual reporting only shows part of it.
What does the AI visibility check tell us?
Three things. What the tools your buyers use say about your group, sent to you word for word. Where your name stops coming up. And who is showing up in your place. A written piece of work rather than a dashboard, with nothing to log into.
Can anyone guarantee our dealership will show up in AI answers?
No. No agency can guarantee a dealership appears in an AI answer. What you get is the work and the evidence. We improve the things that decide whether an assistant names you, then show you what changed and what it moved, in your own listings and in the answers themselves.
We’re tied into our current website provider. Can you still help?
Yes. Email, search visibility, social content, landing pages, campaign creative and data all sit outside your website provider. So does a good deal of what decides whether you turn up in an AI answer. We work with what you’ve got and start where the opportunity is.
Can you run our email and lifecycle campaigns?
Yes. Most of what you need is already sitting in your DMS: who bought what, when they last came in, and what they’re likely to be ready for next. From there it is service reminders, tyre and seasonal checks, new model announcements, stock that suits the car they already own, event invitations and a newsletter. We write, design and build the lot, with motion and photography so people look forward to it landing. Built for dealers, going out under your name, to people who already chose you once.
Can you make the photography and motion, or do we need a separate crew?
You don’t need one. Stills, motion and film, made for wherever they run: the website, email, social, the screens in the showroom and print. Motion on your used stock, so the car moves rather than sits there. Infographics and presentations for the board or the manufacturer. Billboards and pop-up stands for launch days and events. The brand work sits with it, so a buyer meeting you on Instagram and a buyer sat in aftersales on a Saturday morning see the same group.
How long has Kee worked in automotive retail?
Since 1993. That work was inside dealerships, on dealer management systems, sales process, F&I and retention. Kee Creative was established in 2008 and has worked with UK dealer groups and independent dealers ever since. The trade knowledge came first and the marketing came after, which is why every brief starts with how your dealership runs.
How do we get started?
Send us a quick message with as much or as little detail as you like, and we’ll aim to come back to you within one working day.