Automotive Marketing, Automotive SEO, Social Media Marketing, and Reputation Management
CDPs. AI chat. Identity-resolution retargeting. GEO. AEO. First-party data activation. Cookieless solutions. Two weeks before NADA, the industry is once again awash in promises that this—finally—is the thing that will fix your 2026. It won’t—at least, not on its own. More and more, we’re lost in the static—the white noise of buzzwords and quick-fix shiny solutions. I’m going to call […]
What happens when “being nimble” stops meaning clever marketing tweaks—and starts meaning leadership, discipline, and brutal honesty about what’s actually changing week to week? In this episode of In Search Of, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings sit down with Andrew Ruck, GM of LaFontaine Automotive Group, for a real-world look at what it took to win in 2025—and […]
At the beginning of 2025, many predicted that it would be a year that changed automotive SEO forever. There were numerous statements and rumors being thrown around about how AI was going to take over, and traditional search was on its way out. Because of this, many dealers braced for a complete reset in how people research and shop for […]
What happens when the “AI revolution” meets the unglamorous reality of dealership operations, OEM programs, and messy data? In this new episode of In Search Of, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings sit down with Brooke Furniss to cut through the noise and get brutally practical about what actually moves the needle heading into 2026. Together, they unpack why “AI-only” promises and paid “GEO/AEO switches” don’t […]
The buzz around artificial intelligence in automotive search marketing is deafening. What exactly does it look like? How much does it matter? The answers to these questions are constantly changing, but for now, you might be surprised to know how little AI has truly impacted customers’ path to purchasing a vehicle at your dealership. Between AI Overviews and the general […]
In this episode of ‘In Search of…Insights’, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings break down their biggest takeaways from MRC 2025 — from real-world tech adoption to AI myths, dealership education, and why so many stores are still chasing “level 47” when they haven’t mastered levels 1–4. This conversation pulls back the curtain on what dealers are actually doing with advanced technologies, […]
Can Atlas Really Change the Car-Buying Journey? In this episode of In Search of Insights, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings unpack the hype surrounding OpenAI’s newly released Atlas – and what (if anything) it means for automotive dealers right now. Is Atlas the beginning of a fundamental shift in how shoppers discover, research, and buy vehicles? Or is […]
What happens when the automotive industry’s biggest blind spots finally get called out? In this new episode of In Search Of, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings sit down with Brian Pasch – author, researcher, conference founder, and one of automotive retail’s most respected voices.Together, they unpack what’s actually hurting dealership performance today: bloated websites, missing ASC events, broken measurement, AI hype cycles, and an industry-wide […]
It’s been three years since ChatGPT was released to the public, making a boom in industries around the world. Access to this type of technology has changed the way we think, process, and execute. And now, with access to a variety of models from Gemini to DeepSeek, and the ability to train models how to do specific tasks, artificial intelligence […]
What happens when you cut through the hype and look at what’s actually driving dealership performance?In this new episode of In Search Of, Dan Barker and Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings sit down with George Nenni, Founder of Generations Digital and one of automotive retail’s leading digital minds. Together, they unpack the myths, metrics, and realities behind Google Performance Max, GA4 reporting, and the growing influence of […]
Can AI really handle your dealership’s SEO? In this first episode of In Search of Insights — a new spinoff of the In Search Of podcast — Wikimotive Co-Founder Zach Billings joins Dan Barker to unpack the realities vs. misconceptions surrounding generative AI in automotive marketing.Why Watch Understand where AI tools actually fit into dealership marketing workflows Learn why AI content can’t simply replace human SEO strategy See how […]
If you migrate your website, you’re going to see a change in traffic. This might be frustrating, but unfortunately, it is inevitable. With that said, migrations are not a traffic death sentence. Realistically, you will see a temporary drop in traffic immediately following your migration due to URL and page changes. With a solid automotive SEO strategy in place, though, […]
In this episode of In Search Of…, Dan Barker is joined by Zach Billings (Co-Founder, Wikimotive) and Patrick Downes of Ruge’s Automotive Group to uncover how a family-owned dealership competes — and thrives — in today’s mega-group marketplace.From reputation management (1,500+ reviews at 4.9 stars!) to smart use of third-party automotive sites, SEO vs. SEM strategy, and where AI in automotive marketing actually helps, Patrick shares a playbook that’s just as relevant for metro dealers as […]
The truth is, your dealership’s online success is only as strong as the platform it’s built on—and too often, those platforms are the problem. In the competitive dealership market, SEO (search engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) are critical to ensuring those looking for a vehicle find you, whether in organic results, AI overviews, or an AI chat. But […]
In today’s installment of “Stuff I Mythbusted This Week,” we have a story from a 20 group. Most myths seem to propagate through 20 groups, so this isn’t a shock, but just about everyone reading this will face this exact problem at some point. There’s no doubt that your 20 group is an excellent place to gather new ideas and […]
Visualize this scene and see if it’s familiar. You’re at your desk, determined but worn… Determined to grow your store but worn out from drowning in a deafening sea of what has become white noise. Your inbox is filled with reports; some say everything is great! Others say the sky is falling… The news is saying tariffs could price consumers […]
Is your content working as hard as it could be? In the ever-evolving world of search, what worked yesterday might not be enough today. Don’t worry, though. We’ve cracked the code on a more agile approach to SEO, one that embraces shorter, AI-friendly content without sacrificing organic performance. Our recent case study on 600-word pages coupled with long-form foundational content […]
As we move into the second half of 2025, one thing is clear: the automotive SEO landscape is shifting faster than ever. From the rise of AI Overviews and chat-based search to the continued importance of intent-driven content and technical SEO fundamentals, dealers must stay agile to stay competitive. I’ve talked about all of these changes and developments in my […]
We’ve all been there. The month is going slow, and the showroom is a ghost town. You get on a vendor meeting and ask them what they’re doing to fix it, and they feed you a line about how it’s the market and everyone is down right now. They deflect the blame and offer nothing useful to actually help you […]
It’s time to pay attention to AI overviews. Over the last couple of years, we’ve stated time and again that you didn’t need to put energy into optimizing your dealership’s website for artificial intelligence because it wasn’t yet being utilized for transactional search terms––the ones you want to rank for, the ones that bring you meaningful leads. But within the […]