Harnessing Generative AI Beyond SEO in the Automotive Aftermarket - SEMA 2025

This presentation was delivered at The SEMA Show (2025) and focused on how brands in the automotive aftermarket can harness generative AI search beyond SEO.

In this session, Jason Dodge from BlackTruck Media + Marketing, delivered insights on the visibility of brands online in the age of AI. AI-powered search, featured snippets, and answer engines reshaping how people discover brands, zero-click interactions continue to expand.

This session shares tactics on how to position your brand for discovery in an AI-first environment. It explores and breaks down in an easy-to-understand format, how AI summarizes your content, where it pulls from, and why your brand voice and structure matter more than ever.

Interested in this topic or having Jason come deliver a similar talk to your group? Reach out at https://blacktruckmedia.com/contact/ or email speaking@blacktruckmedia.com

Transcript

1. Jason Dodge BlackTruck Media + Marketing Harnessing Generative AI Beyond SEO Founder & CEO Next-Level Marketing in the Automotive Aftermarket Slides & Resources: bit.ly/semashow25
3. Trusted by brands to improve their visibility and discoverability online.
4. Your brand is already being described by AI. . . Are you writing the script?
9. Agenda 01 AI & Zero-Click Trends 02 How AI Describes Brands 03 Brand Voice in AI 04 Audit & Measure AI Presence 05 Future-Proofing Strategies
10. Search results are becoming answers, not pathways. Zero-click search isn’t the future. It’s right now.
11. Google searches end without the user clicking-through. 60 Percent
14. Clicks are shrinking, but decisions are still being made.
16. What This Means for Brands • Search behavior has changed. Again. • AI Overviews are infiltrating traditional search results. • Traffic alone no longer tells the full story. • Visibility ≠ engagement if you're not in the summary.
17. AI Descriptors Part-2: How AI Describes You
19. Google AI Overviews pulls from multiple sources. Yours might not be one of them.
20. AI Builds Answers from the Web’s Strongest Signals.
21. AI Prioritizes Credibility, Structure & Recency.
22. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Optimizing for zero-click answers such as Google Snippets, People Also Asked results and voice search responses. Optimizing content to be cited or summarized by AI-driven search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini).
23. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Optimizing for zero-click answers such as Google Snippets, People Also Asked results and voice search responses. Optimizing content to be cited or summarized by AI-driven search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini). AI Optimization – Hype from Reality: bit.ly/theredirectpodcast
25. If AI Is Telling Your Story—Make Sure It’s the Right One
26. Brand Voice Part-3: Owning Your Brand Voice in AI
27. AI Reads Differently Than Humans Do
28. Generic Gets Overlooked. Distinct Gets Quoted.
29. Building an AI-Friendly Brand Voice Step 2: Brand Voice Step 1: Core Message
30. Making Your Brand Discoverable to AI Tips for AI Recognition Step 3: Attributes
31. Make Your Voice Consistent Everywhere AI Looks
32. Make Your Voice Consistent Everywhere AI Looks Define: Brand Voice Avoid: Generic Language Deploy: Consistently
33. Auditing AI Part-4: Auditing & Measurement
34. Start with a Self-Search: How Is AI Representing You?
35. Start with a Self-Search: How Is AI Representing You?
36. Audit Checklist
40. Measure Traffic from AI Tools
41. Measure Traffic from AI Tools
42. Preparing for AI Part-5: Prepping for an AI-First Future
43. Quick Wins to Start This Month
44. Mid-Term Moves to Build a Smart Infrastructure
45. Future-Proofing for 2025 and Beyond
46. Train the AI by training your content.
47. Build a system Not Just a Strategy. Think: Like a Publisher Train: Teams and Partners Align: On Visibility
48. Google’s AI already knows your brand. It’s time you helped write the guide.
49. Organic Search has a greater likelihood of conversions over oLLMs. 13 Percent University of Hamburg, Grips Intelligence Study
50. Take Action
51. Let’s Connect Jason Dodge – Founder & CEO jason@blacktruckmedia.com blacktruckmedia.com @dodgejd Thank You! Over three decades of expertise in digital marketing, with international recognition for outstanding achievements in SEO, digital advertising, content creation, and data analytics. Slides & Resources: bit.ly/semashow25
52. Thank you for attending today’s session. Please help us improve our education program by providing your feedback. Use the SEMA Show app to complete the survey. We need your feedback!