With so much of the average car-buying journey taking place online, dealerships must know if and how they are showing up on search platforms and social media channels. According to media intelligence company Cision, evaluating the two together shows a fuller picture of consumer sentiment.

The company said it analyzed more than 564 million social media conversations and 4,700 search queries across automotive and other industries to show why brands should evaluate social and search together.

In the automotive sector, it found that in the U.S. and the U.K. Google search interest for terms like “best car,” “best family car,” and “best SUV” has been on the decline since September 2024 because buyers have largely shifted to using artificial intelligence platforms or large language models.

When it prompted five different LLMs about “best car,” Toyota was the leading brand with nearly 14% of mentions and a 90% positive sentiment. However, Toyota’s own website drove only 135 answers, while YouTube drove 4,000, which points to the important role social media plays in AI search.

“Social media isn’t just a channel for reaching consumers directly. It’s part of the raw material that shapes what AI says about your brand when a buyer asks,” said Cision Senior Social Media Manager, Brandwatch, Katie Slayford.

The social media analysis found that overall mention volume for the automotive industry grew 91% year-over-year, nearly nine million mentions expressing active buying intent. Fuel costs led the conversations, followed by insurance and safety. Most carried a negative sentiment, except when it came to driver assistance and driving range.

Circling back to Google search, a third-quarter report by market intelligence company GrowByData on car searches via Google offered insight into the platform’s AI Overviews. It found that those search results are the single biggest source of visibility on Google for most car publishers.