A new study reveals the massive financial gap between dealerships that prioritize search engine optimization (SEO) for their websites, and those that don't.
The details: The 2025 Google Business Profile Report: Auto Edition, conducted by SearchLab Digital, analyzed 2,260 dealership profiles across 20 major U.S. cities to measure the performance gap between top-ranked and lower-ranked stores.
The study determined that top-ranked dealerships on Google search appear in more than twice as many results as those outside of the top 10.
Dealers that ranked #1 for a general search query, average 4,455 ranking keywords compared to just 1,855 for those at #10.
And the dealer ranked #10 would need to spend ~$245,000 per month (nearly $3 million annually) on Pay-Per-Click ads to match the organic traffic of dealerships ranking #1.
What they're saying: "For the first time ever, the automotive industry has hard data that proves the effectiveness of SEO," said Greg Gifford, COO of SearchLab Digital. "Quick wins can be tempting, but our data proves that the fundamentals of SEO still matter.
Greg Gifford
Why it matters: The difference is that paid traffic requires continuous spending while SEO builds cumulative advantage. Every review earned, every optimized page, and every quality backlink makes future rankings easier to maintain, lowering customer acquisition over time.
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Between the lines: The study also exposes how many dealerships are missing foundational optimizations that top performers execute consistently.
47% of dealerships still lack separate Service & Parts Google Business Profiles, limiting their ability to capture service-specific customers.
29% of dealerships don't have Vehicles for Sale enabled on their Google Business Profile.
Only 17% use all 10 Google Business Profile category slots—a ranking factor that costs nothing but significantly expands search visibility.
21% of dealerships are missing auto dealer specific schema for Google to crawl, limiting search capabilities.
Bottom line: Stores that fix basic issues now (separate department profiles, proper categories, consistent reviews, quality content) can begin closing gaps with their competitors without massive budget increases. But the longer dealers wait, the steeper the climb becomes as rivals build momentum that compounds over time.
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