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AI isn’t killing SEO in auto retail — bad strategy is.

In this episode of What The Prompt?, host Michael Rodriguez sits down with legendary automotive SEO expert Greg Gifford, COO at SearchLab Digital, to unpack what’s actually true about SEO, content, and AI for car dealers… and what’s pure snake oil.

If you’ve ever been pitched “20 pages of SEO content a month,” promised 500 leads from ChatGPT, or told that AI visibility can be “tracked just like rankings,” this conversation is your reality check.

Greg breaks down, in plain language for operators (not just marketers):

• Why most “SEO” being sold to dealers is really just shoveling low-value content
• The real difference between technical SEO, content marketing, and random blog spam
• How AI and LLMs (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) are actually changing search behavior—and where the hype stops
• Why it’s currently impossible to reliably “rank in AI search” the way vendors claim
• How Google’s AI Overviews / SGE work, and why local / dealer SEO is still driven by Google, not chatbots
• The concept of “information gain” and why your content must add something new to the conversation
• How to think about SEO as strategy vs. tactics—and why your market (Dallas vs. rural Iowa) changes everything
• The key questions GMs, GSMs, and dealer principals should be asking SEO vendors before they sign a contract
• Why ranking, traffic, and likes don’t pay the bills—but qualified conversions do

Greg also shares insights from the largest automotive SEO study ever done, and explains why dealers walking away from SEO to “go all in on AI” are chasing 1–2% of the pie while abandoning the 95% of customers still finding them through Google.

If you’re a dealer operator tired of buzzwords and silver bullets, this episode will help you:

• Cut through the noise around AI, SEO, and “visibility”
• Re-align your digital strategy around real business goals (sales, service, acquisition, hiring)
• Spot the difference between a true partner and a vendor running the same tired playbook

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For more conversations on how AI is reshaping auto retail—from the showroom to the service drive—check out past episodes of What The Prompt? and visit our website for updates and resources.