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Inventory Pages Are Often Underutilized

I have always thought this was a big feature that website companies were missing. And customer reviews.

I tried hard to get a customer review concept approved that would automate the process of getting them back in my Dealer.com days. It would have used the CRM to solicit reviews, gate them for the dealer to decide whether they wanted them, publish them to the inventory pages by model, and create a review library for even more SEO cred.

This was when I started seeing my friends posting about their new car on Twitter... along with what they ate that day... yes, dating that one :unclejoe:

Rebates, Inventory sync and more for custom Websites

I'm not 100% sure they do. I haven't spoken to them in years but they look like they have an office in Canada:
So I'm sure they do have Canadian data.

Rebates, Inventory sync and more for custom Websites

You could enter the data yourselves or you could try other providers, such as JATO Dynamics, that may have the vehicle and incentives data.
We are a website provider and enter our own data in the US.
Does JATO have Canadian data as well, do we know for sure?

How We Sold 24+ Cars in 30 Days for FREE Using Facebook Marketplace (Interactive Guide)

Interesting read. Facebook Marketplace is still one of the strongest sources of local car buyer traffic when it's used correctly. One thing I'd add is that inventory quality and transparency seem to matter more now than they did a few years ago. We've had good results with vehicles sourced through AutoBidMaster and other auction channels, but listings that include VIN details, plenty of photos, and an honest description consistently generate better conversations than listings that try to game the algorithm. Curious if you've noticed any difference in lead quality between Marketplace buyers coming from a single dealership account versus multiple accounts. The volume might be higher with the latter, but I'd imagine trust could become a factor too.

What Actually Moves the Needle in Dealership SEO

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Nice pic but I’m not sure about a lot of things or what you’re trying to say.

450 referring domains, sourced because the dealership has good content? Could be organic, could be a directory dump, could be bought. The count doesn’t lead. And it doesn’t speak to relevance, if they pass any authority, or if a single one drives quality organic traffic. It’s a tally of links, not a measure of link quality, and quality is the only part that moves rankings or sells cars.

Local, meaningful, intent driving, authoritative links matter and if this is that… sign me up. My small mind can’t imagine that world is real.

Is DriveCentric just running away from the pack at this point?

We switched from Vinsolutions to DriveCentric at the end of May, so 9 days into June solely on Drive Centric. Drive seems awesome but the solds are not matching. All the different places you look the sold counts are different. Coming from Vinsolutions i do i transition my brain or thinking to see how many vehicles we have sold?

Seems to me in Drive the solds are actually pending, and delivered is from DMS/Tekion, so you add those two numbers together to get your total sold.

Rebates, Inventory sync and more for custom Websites

from Ford to vendors that are on the approved list so for somebody outside to get it on the 1st is going to be tough.
Even JD Power sometimes doesn't get them until they day after they go live, but they are usually quite accurate and complete through their system, even in Canada.

Rebates, Inventory sync and more for custom Websites

Interesting... great to hear! As a fellow Canadian - glad to hear this... obviously Ford has an approved list right? is that going to be a challenge? Just curious is all. When it comes to new inventory and monthly programs that is going to be the toughest part... i would think that feed goes from Ford to vendors that are on the approved list so for somebody outside to get it on the 1st is going to be tough. Now there could be work arounds - but it may be a manual process that takes some time (though maybe quick each month) and if changes mid-month could require updates. But I don't know of a platform that pulls new car programs..

Rebates, Inventory sync and more for custom Websites

I might be able to help here - we have a website product (in Canada) but it's completely disconnected from our inventory syndication platform, so technically I have a headless inventory management system that you would hit with API calls to manage your inventory. It also has ChromeData/JDP data access, from VIN decoding to stock photos and LenderDesk incentives.

If you want to build the website part and layer it on top of an existing inventory syndication solution I can find out what the hard cost would be on that.

AI = Awesome Intelligence

Ok, time for my contribution to this thread.

The State of Nebraska enacted a Law that states that Effective January 1, 2026, any Independent Auto Dealer must complete 4 hours of Continuing Education each year, and anyone wishing to get their first Independent Auto Dealer License must complete 8 hours of Pre Licensing Education. As the Vice President of the Nebraska Independent Auto Dealers Association, I was tasked with the responsibility of creating these courses. Full disclosure...I volunteered to do it because I am passionate about our industry and am at the point in my life that I want to make a difference. I put up the money to build the platform and take a small royalty for each dealership that is trained. The Association gets the bulk of the money. I decided to go with 4 Hours of Online Training via an LMS (Learning Management System) and the other 4 hours for the New Licensees would be a Live In Person Class that I would teach to start and move toward bringing other Dealers in as Trainers for the Live Class.

In May of 2025 I hired an Attorney from Texas to write the content and do all of the Legal Research. She is in this business although she had never done anything for the Auto Industry. However she worked in a car dealership while she was in Law School and had a really good understanding of the Industry. I was honestly surprised by this. It took about 90 days to complete the Content. It was a lot of back and forth and proofing etc. Content Complete.

I started hosting on a platform called Learn Worlds. Learn Worlds. We kicked off on January 3rd or so and away we went. It was an absolute nightmare. Courses would lock up if Assessment questions were answered incorrectly, No CRM to keep track of Users, the Completion Certificates weren't generating, you name it. Complete disaster. I tried to tie the system to a CRM but that didn't work either. Absolute mess.

I moved the entire platform over to Zoho. Zoho has a strong platform with an actual LMS, but none of their own products actually talk to one another in a reasonably easy manner. In fact, It is really hard to get the LMS to talk to the CRM, and the Site Builder Forms to tie to the CRM or to the LMS. Again, total nightmare.

One day while driving home, it hit me. What is keeping me from just building this damn thing myself. So away I went. It has taken me basically a month but here is the result.


I knew all of the pain points and knew all of the questions that people were blowing up my phone with. This is a 100% Custom built LMS with website, CRM, Course Builder, Payment Integration, SMS, Email, Telephony, drip Email, Live Class Scheduler, Document Generator, Secure Government Verification Portal, and the list I suppose goes on but mostly really cool stuff to me that is boring to everyone else (my favorite being an AI Agent that lives on the Admin Panel).

Apps that I integrated:
Eleven Labs-AI Agent
SignalwireSMS/MMS/Voice
Stripe-Payment
Brevo-Campaigns both SMS and Email
Pushover-Notifications

What I learned more than anything else is that it can be done.
There was ZERO effort wasted to try to get a 3rd Party app to work with my business.
Existing Software Solutions most often have no fucking idea what it is like to actually USE their product.

I have enjoyed the process and hated it as well. This platform launched Friday 6/6/26.

AI = Awesome Intelligence

It takes a big pivot in how I think. What I used to dismiss as being too far outside my wheelhouse will now get some legitimate thought and consideration. Things I used to look to 3rd Party for are now things that I may be better off doing myself

HOW CAN YOU KICK MORE ASS WITH LESS WORK?
**ASK YOUR AI**

# SELF-INTELLIGENCE BRIEF — PROMPT FOR CLAUDE

**Requirements:** Works in Claude.ai with "Search and reference past chats"
enabled. The more real working sessions you have, the better the output.
20+ sessions is the sweet spot.

**How to use:** Paste everything below the line into a new Claude chat.

---

I want you to analyze my actual chat history with you and build me a
document called a **Personal Intelligence Brief**.

**The job to be done:** I am a leader who uses AI as a core part of how I
work. I believe I need an AI system designed around MY specific strengths
and weaknesses, not a generic setup. This brief is the raw material for
that design. Write it as if it will be handed to a senior prompt architect
whose job is to build an AI operating system that fits me, not the other
way around.

**Your method, before writing anything:**
1. Pull my 20 most recent conversations.
2. Run targeted searches on my history for evidence of friction: moments
of frustration, repeated questions, abandoned threads, context I had
to re-explain, tasks that stalled, and workflows that failed.
3. Also search for evidence of avoidance: topics I deferred to others,
skills I said I don't have, projects I dropped at a technical wall,
and work I assumed required hiring someone.
4. Base every claim on observed behavior in my actual sessions, not on
what I say about myself. If I describe myself one way but behave
another way, the behavior wins. Flag the gap.

**The brief must contain these sections:**

1. **Who I Am, First Principles.** My job to be done, my working
context, and my operational reality (technical ability, team,
constraints) as evidenced by my sessions.

2. **Observed Strengths.** What I do well, with specific session
evidence for each claim. Don't flatter me. Only include strengths
the record actually supports.

3. **Observed Weaknesses.** Where I struggle, stall, or create my own
friction. Be direct. A weakness stated kindly but vaguely is useless
to an architect.

4. **Failure Taxonomy.** Name my recurring failure patterns. Give each
one a short memorable name, describe the trigger, the behavior, and
the cost. This is the most important section.

5. **Skills AI Already Covers For Me.** From the record, list the
specific skills I lack that you have been supplying in our sessions:
the work that used to be my stopping point.

6. **Wheelhouse Expansion Map.** This is the payoff. Identify things I
have dismissed, avoided, or outsourced because they were "outside my
wheelhouse." For each one, judge honestly: is it now viable because
AI covers the missing skill? Split into three lists:
- Now in reach: the missing skill is one AI handles well.
- Worth a test: partially covered, name what's still on me.
- Still out of reach: AI doesn't close this gap. Say why.

7. **Design Requirements.** Translate everything above into specific
requirements for an AI system built for me: what the system must
carry so I don't have to, what guardrails it needs, what interaction
patterns fit how I actually work, and what it should never ask of me.

8. **Open Questions.** What you couldn't determine from the record and
would need to observe or ask to complete the picture.

**Rules:**
- Evidence over opinion. Every claim traces to something I actually did.
- No generic advice. If a sentence could appear in anyone's brief, cut it.
- Honest over comfortable. I'm asking because I want the real picture.
- Plain language. No AI-consultant jargon.

Deliver it as a document I can save and reuse.
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What Actually Moves the Needle in Dealership SEO

Unpopular opinion - build good content and you’ll win off page citations organically. If you’re not growing backlinks on the merits of your content your content isn’t good. - Change my mind
I'll give that a shot ;-)


Your opinion isn't unpopular, it's just incomplete. "Build good content and you'll win" is true the way "build a good product and you'll win" is true: directionally it sounds great but operationally, platitudes don't sell cars.


Here's the nuance I'd love to change your mind with. "Good content" isn't something you write, it's something you discover. You don't know what's good until it's tested against real audience and real intent, which means good content requires shipping mediocre content to earn the learnings. The iteration is the strategy.


And on backlinks as the scoreboard: the pages that earn citations and the pages that actually convert are usually two different sets. Top-of-funnel explainers attract links because they're broadly useful and easy to reference. But the white hot moment, when someone's ready to transact, happens on pages that aren't link magnets. They win by capturing intent and delivering value at the point of decision, not by being popular.


So I'd reframe it: good content earns citations, but a content system, test, measure, iterate, then map the right asset to the right stage of intent, is what actually wins. Merit gets you noticed. Strategy gets you paid.


Show me the dealership page earning editorial links on merit, I'll wait. Nobody's citing your VDP or blog, no matter how sexy. Dealership links come from hockey team sponsorships, supporting the local community centre and local engagement, we buy our way to "earned," we don't just create good content to make our way there.

AI = Awesome Intelligence

I never knew I had an ADHD mind until I got AI. AI's strengths addressed my core weaknesses so well it shocked me.

If you have a friend or family member that has stunning potential but struggles with focus and execution, share this video with them. AI has been a life changer for me & this video explains it well.
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I watched this video once, and listened to it a second time while driving. This video really hit home for me.

I am a person with a racing mind that is really hard to shut off. The number of projects that I never see to completion is astounding as I walk around or think about it. I will hit a point where the solution is not readily available so I just don't come back to it. The end result is piles of papers and brain storming notes laying everywhere, a cluttered desk, poor task management, etc..

AI has allowed me to be able to grasp large projects and execute them. I have "someone" that I can delegate to. I can get pissed or frustrated with my AI without having to worry about hurting feelings (although I openly admit to apologizing to my AI Agents). WTF???

It takes a big pivot in how I think. What I used to dismiss as being too far outside my wheelhouse will now get some legitimate thought and consideration. Things I used to look to 3rd Party for are now things that I may be better off doing myself.

Thank you for sharing that.

DEAL AI videos from your VDP; paste a URL, get a finished video. Try it on your own inventory.

AI video generators love EVs. I swear, those tools put the extra effort in for their cousins :lol:

You've got something cool for adding a little flavor to a vehicle page. I agree with Mitch on his last point that in-market shoppers are too deep down the funnel. They have already seen the stock imagery and model videos, and these look like that. They're looking for the real-world images and story about a specific VIN.

This kind of video would do well as part of a landing page for generic model ads or possibly for those leads who didn't submit on a specific car.

P.S. DealerRefresh is going to hit you between the eyes with the toughest feedback. It is the feedback you want. The advice you get here will get you to a winning product.

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