The AI world moves fast. Really fast.
At Leadbox, we spend a lot of time talking about GEO, AIO, AEO, and occasionally EIEIO. The acronyms seem to change almost as quickly as the technology itself! But behind all the alphabet soup is a fundamental shift in how consumers find information, research vehicles, and ultimately choose where to do business.
Earlier this week, our CTO and co-founder, Andrés Valera, started seeing indications that OpenAI was preparing to introduce a way for businesses to claim and manage their profiles directly within ChatGPT. Rather than waiting for an official announcement, Andrés got ahead of it and had our team develop a practical guide to help automotive dealers prepare for what was coming.
Well, on November 10th, OpenAI officially announced Businesses in ChatGPT, and suddenly something we were preparing dealers for became something they could start acting on.
Welcome to the pace of AI!
Think Google Business Profile, but for ChatGPT
Most dealers are familiar with Google Business Profile. It’s where you manage your dealership’s location, hours, contact information, and other details that help customers find and connect with your business. Now imagine a similar concept, but within ChatGPT.
OpenAI has introduced a new Business Hub, currently in beta, that allows eligible businesses to claim their profiles, verify their information, and gain visibility into how their businesses appear within ChatGPT. Businesses can manage details such as their website, description, category, and policies, with support for product information, including pricing and availability. And perhaps most interestingly, it’s free at launch.
For automotive retailers, this is a pretty significant development. Consider how a customer might use ChatGPT today. Rather than searching Google for “Honda dealer near me,” they might ask, “Where’s the best place to buy a used Honda CR-V near Coquitlam?” Or perhaps, “Which dealerships near Ottawa have a good selection of used SUVs under thirty thousand dollars?”
These are fundamentally different searches. The customer isn’t necessarily looking for a list of websites; they’re looking for an answer. And increasingly, AI is helping them decide which businesses deserve their attention.
A new way to measure your dealership’s visibility
One of the more interesting elements of this announcement is the introduction of business insights. Until now, it has been challenging to understand whether ChatGPT was mentioning your dealership. You could ask it questions about your market and see what it said, but that wasn’t exactly a reliable reporting strategy.
With the new Business Hub, verified businesses can begin seeing metrics such as how frequently they’re mentioned in ChatGPT responses, how often users click through to their websites, and how many people view their business profiles.
There are limitations, of course. You won’t be able to read individual customer conversations, and a mention isn’t necessarily a recommendation. But it’s a start, and it introduces an interesting new question for dealers who have spent years monitoring Google rankings and website traffic: How visible is my dealership when customers turn to AI for advice?
There’s also an important distinction worth understanding. Claiming your business profile doesn’t guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend your dealership. OpenAI will continue to draw information from multiple sources, which means the quality, accuracy, and accessibility of your online information still matter.
Sound familiar? It should.
For years, we’ve encouraged dealers to invest in accurate business information, useful website content, and strong technical SEO. Those fundamentals haven’t disappeared. In fact, they’re becoming more important as we expand our focus beyond traditional search engines to include AI-powered discovery. And don’t let all this excitement about AI fool you; traditional SEO is still where the lion’s share of your leads and deals are coming from.
Five things Canadian dealers should do now
The good news is that preparing for AI-powered search doesn’t require you to reinvent your digital marketing strategy. In many cases, it’s about getting the fundamentals right and making a few important adjustments.
-
Claim your dealership’s ChatGPT business profile. Visit chatgpt.com/business-hub to check eligibility and begin the verification process. Make sure the profile is claimed through an account controlled by the dealership, not an individual employee or outside agency. We’ve all seen the challenges that arise when someone else controls a Google Business Profile. Let’s not repeat that experience.
-
Make sure your information is consistent everywhere. Review your dealership’s website, Google Business Profile, manufacturer dealer locator, and major online directories. Are your hours, addresses, phone numbers, and department information accurate? AI systems can draw on multiple sources when answering questions, and conflicting information makes it harder to provide customers with reliable answers.
-
Make your inventory easy for machines to understand. Your vehicle detail pages should clearly communicate year, make, model, trim, mileage, VIN, pricing, and availability. Structured data and accessible vehicle information help search engines and AI systems interpret what you’re selling. This becomes particularly important in automotive retail, where inventory and pricing can change daily.
-
Answer the questions customers are already asking. Think about the questions your sales and service teams answer every day. Do you accept trade-ins? Can customers apply for financing online? Do you offer vehicle delivery? What warranties come with your used vehicles? These are exactly the kinds of questions customers may ask an AI assistant. If the answers aren’t available on your website, how can you expect AI to provide them accurately?
-
Start measuring traffic from ChatGPT. Review your website analytics to understand how many visitors arrive from AI platforms, which pages they visit, and whether they convert into leads. Establish a baseline now, even if the numbers are relatively small. As AI-assisted discovery grows, understanding its contribution to your dealership’s performance will become increasingly important.
This is bigger than another marketing channel
I think it’s tempting to look at every new technology through the lens of the tools we already understand. When Google became important, we focused on rankings. When social media emerged, we focused on followers and engagement. Now AI is introducing another change, but I don’t think the biggest opportunity is simply finding another dashboard to monitor.
Consider a customer having an extended conversation with ChatGPT about which vehicle best suits their family, how much they should spend, what financing considerations matter, and which dealerships might be worth visiting. By the time that customer reaches your website, they may already have completed a significant portion of their research.
That’s an interesting development for an industry that has spent decades trying to attract shoppers earlier in their buying journey. The question becomes: How do we make sure our dealerships are part of those conversations?
The answer starts with making sure our information is accurate, accessible, and useful, whether it’s being read by a customer, indexed by Google, or interpreted by an AI assistant.
The best time to prepare is now
One of the many things I appreciate about working with our team at Leadbox is their willingness to look around the corner. Andrés recognized that something was coming and got us moving before the official announcement. A few days later, the announcement arrived. That’s a pretty good illustration of the environment we’re operating in.
Dealers don’t need to become AI experts overnight, and they certainly don’t need to chase every new acronym. But they do need to pay attention and make sure their digital foundations are ready for a world where customers increasingly rely on AI to make purchasing decisions.
To help, our team has developed a short, practical guide called “Claim Your Dealership in ChatGPT,” outlining what’s changing and the steps Canadian dealers can take today.
At Leadbox, we’re already helping dealers navigate the transition from traditional search to AI-powered discovery. Whether we’re talking about SEO, GEO, AEO, AIO, or EIEIO, our purpose hasn’t changed.
We Help Dealers Win.