When a car shopper asks AI for the best dealer in your area, are you in the answer?
Or did the citation go to CarMax, Carvana, AutoTrader, Cars.com, or three same-brand rooftops you didn't even know were owned by the same mega-group?
Most US dealerships rank somewhere on Google. Most are invisible across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. The aggregators (Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, CarGurus, Edmunds, KBB) and the used-car chains (CarMax, Carvana, Vroom) win the citations because their content scale dwarfs any individual rooftop. Your same-brand local competitors win when AI engines do return dealer names, and you may not realize three of them are owned by AutoNation, Lithia, or Hendrick.
HAWK Reports tells you exactly where you appear, where you don't, which competitors get cited when shoppers ask, and how much of your local 'competition' is actually a single mega-group. Free, in your inbox in about ten minutes.
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This is the free preview. There's a lot more we can show you.
The report landing in your inbox is the AI Visibility scan, the foundational layer. The full version goes deeper on each engine, includes sentiment analysis and reputation triage, and surfaces named-asset recommendations.
We also run twelve other HAWK reports that aren't part of this scan: competitive ad intelligence, Reddit and forum pulse, GBP and local pack analysis, share of search, brand news monitoring, content gap mapping, and more.
Book a 30-minute strategy call now. We'll walk through your gaps when the report arrives, the deeper version of this scan, and which of the other reports would actually move the needle for you.
No prep needed. Bring questions, leave with a plan.
US auto retail is local. AI search isn't, by default.
When a shopper in your DMA asks ChatGPT 'best Ford dealer near me,' the engine has to figure out who 'near' is. Most of the time it cites CarMax, AutoTrader.com, or Cars.com, because those companies have content scale every individual rooftop lacks. Or it cites three rooftops in your metro that look like indie competitors but are actually all owned by AutoNation, Lithia, or one of the seven other mega-groups consolidating US auto retail.
What you'll see in the report
- AI Visibility across 3 AI engines. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews (the full report adds Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Mode, plus many more queries) for queries shoppers actually use: 'best [Ford/Toyota/Honda/etc] dealer in [your city],' 'no pressure car dealership,' 'best used [brand] [your city],' 'is [your dealership] trustworthy.'
- National chain + aggregator competitive set. CarMax, Carvana, Vroom for used; Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, CarGurus, Edmunds, KBB, TrueCar, DealerRater for aggregator citations. We track which ones win in your specific DMA and which queries they own that should be sending shoppers to you.
- Mega-group concentration callout. When 3+ of your tracked competitors are actually owned by the same parent group (AutoNation, Lithia, Sonic, Penske, Group 1, Asbury, Hendrick, Berkshire), the report flags it. This is a routine US-auto finding. Most metros have multiple AutoNation or Lithia rooftops sharing parent ownership.
- Reputation signal audit. AI engines surface DealerRater reviews, BBB complaints, and Cars.com dealer-page content verbatim when shoppers ask reputation questions ('is [your dealership] trustworthy,' '[your dealership] complaints'). If toxic reputation language surfaces about your business (yo-yo financing complaints, BBB pattern of complaints, FTC concerns), the report shows exact quotes and source pages.
- The two journeys. Vehicle discovery (where shoppers see actual cars) is different from dealer evaluation (whether to trust your rooftop). The report separates them so you see which journey you're winning and which you're losing.
What's NOT in the free report
The free version covers AI Visibility, the foundational layer. We also run aggregator and chain ad intelligence (where CarMax, Carvana, AutoNation, and Lithia are buying ads in your DMA), Reddit and r/askcarsales pulse for shopper discussion, GBP and local pack analysis (multi-rooftop groups get group-rollup analysis), and reputation monitoring across DealerRater, BBB, and FTC enforcement records. Those layers are part of our full US auto dealer engagement and walked through on a strategy call.
FAQ
Will this work if I'm a single-rooftop independent franchise?
Yes. Single-rooftop franchised dealers are the default config. The report shows where you compete against CarMax/Carvana scale, the aggregators, and your same-brand local competition. The 'we're locally-owned' wedge becomes a sharper finding when the report flags how many 'competitors' in your metro are actually mega-group rooftops.
What about CarMax, Carvana, AutoNation, Lithia, and the other US auto giants?
Tracked as competitors. Their content scale and brand recognition outpace anything an individual dealership publishes. We show you which queries they win in your specific DMA and which you can take back.
I'm a multi-rooftop franchise group. How does that work?
We run the report against your primary rooftop for the free tier. If you operate multiple rooftops in one or more metros, the full diagnostic walks through cross-rooftop brand cannibalization (where your own rooftops compete with each other in AI responses) and how to route attention strategically.
Are you affiliated with any specific OEM brand or dealer group?
No. The pack is brand-agnostic. It works for Ford, Toyota, Honda, Chevy, Hyundai, BMW, MB, every OEM. We have no sponsorship from any aggregator, chain, or mega-group. The report is honest about where they win and where they don't.
How is this different from Cars.com or AutoTrader.com dealer reports?
Those tell you about activity on their platform. This tells you about searches happening OUTSIDE those platforms, directly inside ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Different data, different fix.
What about FTC issues, yo-yo financing complaints, BBB ratings?
The reputation triage section flags these explicitly when AI engines are surfacing them. The free report shows the verbatim quotes and source pages. The full diagnostic includes a recommended response strategy.
Can I get the deeper layers (chain ad intel, multi-rooftop analysis, FTC monitoring)?
Yes. Those are part of our full US auto engagement. Book a strategy call from inside your free report and we'll walk you through what they show.
Run the scan.
Free. Ten minutes to your inbox. See what AI says about your dealership, which mega-groups and chains win the citations you should be getting, and where the gaps are in your DMA.