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DealerRater — DealerRefresh Vendor Library
Founded in 2002, DealerRater is the world's leading car dealer review and reputation management platform, featuring over 7 million consumer reviews across…
About suggest a correction →
Founded in 2002, DealerRater is the world's leading car dealer review and reputation management platform, featuring over 7 million consumer reviews across 41,000 U.S. and Canadian dealerships. The platform enables dealerships to manage their online reputation, grow their review presence, and achieve higher SEO rankings to attract in-market shoppers. It is a subsidiary of Cars.com (NYSE: CARS), having been acquired in August 2016.
What you do with it
collect, manage, and showcase verified customer reviews, so they can attract more in-market shoppers and rank higher in search results
When a dealer needs to build and protect their online reputation across key third-party platforms
promote salesperson profiles and reviews to pre-qualify buyers before they visit, so they can convert more leads into higher-closing showroom appointments
When a dealer wants to differentiate individual salespeople in a competitive market
leverage DealerRater's domain authority and SEO presence to stay competitive, so they can maintain search ranking against aggregator platforms like AutoTrader and Edmunds
When a dealer is concerned about losing visibility to third-party sites on Google and other channels
Community evidence → Stable
The DealerRefresh community broadly recognizes DealerRater as the dominant reputation management platform for car dealers, frequently citing it as the most recommended solution across dealership sizes and crediting it with SEO value and legitimacy. The Salesperson Connect feature and AutoTrader review integration are called out as meaningful functional wins. However, the community raises serious integrity concerns: the 24-month rolling review window, the Certified Dealer grace period for negative reviews, and a specific accusation of schema markup manipulation to inflate Google search rankings while displaying a lower star rating—all of which are seen as undermining consumer trust. Additional friction points include an advertising model some dealers view as coercive, unresolved ROI reporting gaps on paid banner ads, and a Facebook integration that backfired by triggering content suppression.
Review integrity and manipulation concerns4 mentions
SEO value and search ranking impact4 mentions
Salesperson-level review features driving conversions2 mentions
Certified Dealer program value and growth2 mentions
Advertising model and sales tactics perceived as coercive2 mentions
Third-party platform integrations (AutoTrader, Facebook, Cars.com)3 mentions
ROI measurement and analytics gaps1 mention
DealerRater vs. Google for review strategy3 mentions
90 mentions · 33 positive · 6 negative · Scored from 20+ years of candid DealerRefresh discussion. Scores shift as new conversations happen.
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Continues Growth Welcoming the 2,000th Customer to its Certified Dealer Program"
DealerRater Continues Growth Welcoming the 2,000th Customer to its Certified Dealer Program →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater announced an enhancement to Salesperson Connect that allows shoppers to view salesperson profiles, reviews, and biographies on Cars.com and contact salespeople directly before visiting the dealership. The feature reportedly increases closing rates by 89 percent for customers who select a salesperson based on reviews"
DealerRater Enhances Salesperson Connect, Features Employee Profiles on Cars.com →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater® Reports Strong Growth in Web Site Traffic"
DealerRater® Reports Strong Growth in Web Site Traffic →
POSITIVE
"Blake Arbogast partnered with DealerRater to expand their review platform into the RV dealer market, marking a significant step toward modernizing the RV industry's online reputation management."
DealerRater.com Goes RV Rating with Dave Arbogast →
POSITIVE
"Eleven vAuto Customers are Named Recipients of DealerRater's 2011 Dealer of the Year Awards"
Eleven vAuto Customers are Named Recipients of DealerRater’s 2011 Dealer of the Year Awards →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Customers to Reap Online Benefits with Google Star Counts"
DealerRater Customers to Reap Online Benefits with Google Star Counts →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater.com Celebrates 100,000th Review Posted"
DealerRater.com Celebrates 100,000th Review Posted →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater is recruiting an Inside Sales Representative for an entry-level position focused on reputation management and digital marketing. The company highlights its rapid growth, ranking #137 on the 2012 Inc. 500 list, and its significant market position as the leading online review platform for auto dealerships, attracting over 5 million annual consumers."
DealerRater is Hiring! →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Enhances DealerRater Push to Google"
DealerRater Enhances DealerRater Push to Google →
POSITIVE
"Cars.com announced its acquisition of DealerRater, prompting discussion about the strategic implications for the review platform's future and the competitive landscape with AutoTrader. The thread confirms Chip Grueter (DealerRater's founder) as the creator being acquired and celebrates the deal as validation of the importance of customer reviews in automotive retail."
Cars.com to buy DealerRater →
POSITIVE
"branded customer reviews (pulled from DealerRater API) generate 4-6x longer page views and lower bounce rates compared to plain text testimonials"
Does anyone have metrics on testimonials →
POSITIVE
"emphasizing their 2013 DealerRater Dealer of the Year awards for both brands in New York State"
Bob Hastings Buick-GMC in Rochester, NY is hiring! →
POSITIVE
"reputation management through customer reviews (DealerRater) as game-changers, with one contributor emphasizing that adopting review processes creates competitive differentiation since most dealers neglect this practice"
Milestones For Your Dealership or Dealerships →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Rolls Out Enhanced Connections Products To Automate The Process And Help Dealers Sell Mo"
DealerRater Rolls Out Enhanced Connections Products To Automate The Process And Help Dealers Sell Mo →
POSITIVE
"AutoTrader partnered with DealerRater to integrate 1.8 million dealership reviews directly into AutoTrader.com, a strategic move that positions the platform competitively against Cars.com while eliminating the need for dealers to manage reviews across multiple sites."
AutoTrader.com finally gets into the dealer reviews arena →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater reaching 10 million reviews and invites Jamie Oldershaw from DealerRater to discuss the milestone on the RefreshFriday webcast"
10 MILLION Reviews on DealerRater | Jamie Oldershaw →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater and Google lead with 4.7 and 4.6 average ratings respectively"
7 Review Benchmarks for 2021 | Local Marketing Insider #001 →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater emerging as the most widely recommended solutions across different dealership sizes. Responses range from simple free options like Twitter search to custom-built aggregation systems, with one dealer highlighting the competitive advantage gained from becoming a certified DealerRater dealer."
What online Reputation Management Tools are you using for your dealer? →
POSITIVE
"customer reviews on third-party platforms like DealerRater drive organic search traffic and impact dealership performance"
What's the relationship between organic search and reviews? →
POSITIVE
"posting customer reviews and testimonials from platforms like Cars.com and DealerRater"
Social posts that are share-worthy →
POSITIVE
"The consensus favors Google for SEO value and DealerRater for achievability and legitimacy"
Ranking of Reputation Sites →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Hits 300,000 Car Dealer Reviews"
DealerRater Hits 300,000 Car Dealer Reviews →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater, a sponsor of the forums, ran an iPad giveaway contest requiring participants to watch a video testimonial from a successful dealership and submit their name, title, and a specific sales figure to enter."
DealerRater Drawing for an Ipad- ends tomorrow! →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater remains the most practical platform for this purpose due to its built-in employee tagging and easier data access"
Sales Person Reviews →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater is recruiting for a Product Manager position in Waltham, MA, with Ryan Leslie highlighting the company's rapid growth (ranked #137 on the 2012 Inc. 500 list) and positive work environment to attract candidates."
DealerRater is looking for a few STARS... →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater Shows Off New Web Site Look and Features"
DealerRater Shows Off New Web Site Look and Features →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater announced the launch of a dedicated Content Monitoring Team to manually read and vet all reviews submitted to its platform, supplementing its existing Fraud Investigation Team. The move aims to ensure that all reviews comply with DealerRater's Terms of Use and maintain the integrity of its 250,000+ dealer reviews."
DealerRater Expands Review Monitoring to Increase the Integrity of Dealer Reviews →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater announced enhanced versions of its Connections product suite (Connections Plus and Connections Premier) designed to automate review generation and connect salespeople with ready-to-buy shoppers. One commenter expressed optimism about the new features"
DealerRater Rolls Out Enhanced Connections Products To Automate The Process And Help Dealers Sell Mo →
POSITIVE
"Ryan Leslie from DealerRater's team is promoting Movember, a fundraising initiative for men's health awareness where participants grow facial hair throughout November, and shares a photo of his company's team members participating."
MoVember →
POSITIVE
"DealerRater will be "in the game" no matter what happens with this program, Eley. Your hard work won't go unnoticed by your consumers. No disrespect intended to any of them, but DealerRater doesn't do what these companies do. We strike a unique, and often difficult, balance for dealers AND consumers. Since the site was built 10 yrs ago we've focused on providing dealers with a platform to collect and leverage positive reviews while reconciling the not so positive ones. But we ALSO serve the consumer as a decision-making engine with trusted content they can ONLY get from a true third party."
GM Reputation Management "Required" →
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