Measuring What You Can't Click - Metrics for AI Visibility in the Automotive Aftermarket

Presented at the 2026 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Search didn’t die. Clicks did. Google search volume is as strong as ever, but in June 2026 only 40% of searches ended with a click to a site outside Google, a record low. Add AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, and a growing share of buyers are researching parts, comparing brands and picking installers without ever landing on your website. Your products may be winning in AI results and your dashboard would never show it.

This session unpacks the measurement problem the automotive aftermarket is walking into and what to do about it:

What actually changed, and what didn’t. Search is still where buyers research. The purchase happens somewhere else, and the research step is increasingly a no-click step.
Why AI ranking tools can’t deliver what they promise. Ask an AI the same question 100 times and you’ll get a different list almost every time. Ranking position in AI isn’t a meaningful metric. Visibility percentage is.
Mentioned vs. cited. Your product almost always shows up in the answer. The question is whether AI is pulling from your site or from a retailer listing, a forum thread or a YouTube video you didn’t make.
A six-dimension readiness assessment that brands, e-commerce sellers and shops can score themselves against: discovery awareness, information accuracy, brand representation, technical readiness, measurement evolution and stakeholder communication.
The clicks that still happen. How to segment higher-intent AI referral traffic in GA4 and connect it to real-world signals like quote requests, dealer inquiries, marketplace sales and the phone ringing.
Three actions to run this week and how to explain all of it to your boss, your sales team or the owner before someone asks why traffic is down.

The readiness assessment, the step-by-step GA4 tutorial and the research referenced in the session are all on the resources page: blacktruckmedia.com/sema-measuring-what-you-cant-click

Presented by Jason Dodge, founder of BlackTruck Media + Marketing, a Michigan-based search and AI visibility agency trusted by brands to improve how they show up when and where customers are looking for them. Specializing in technical SEO, paid media, data analytics and generative AI search. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dodgejd

Transcript

1. Measuring What You Can’t Click Analytics for AI-Driven Discovery Jason Dodge BlackTruck Media + Marketing Founder & CEO Slides and Resources: bit.ly/sema-26
3. How many of you pulled up your analytics dashboard before this show…
4. …and felt good about what you saw?
5. The problem might not be your marketing. The problem might be your dashboard.
6. WHY I’M HERE Search guy first. Hot rod and fab guy second Last year: how AI is changing search. This year: the follow-up you asked for.
7. 01 What Actually Changed
8. Search didn’t die.
9. Share of US desktop activity, June 2026 10.5% Traditional search 2.8% E-commerce AI tools 1.8% AI tools are growing fast. Still a fraction of where people spend their time. Source: Datos State of Search Q2 2026 Desktop,
10. 92%+ ~100 Google’s share of desktop search. Its user base grew this year. Searches per Google user per month. Flat for over a year. People aren’t searching less.
11. But.
12. Where a Google search ends, June 2026 40% Click to a non-Google site 17% Paid click (1%) Stays on Google 25% No click at all 16% Searches again Roughly 42% of searches never leave Google. Desktop only. Mobile is higher.
13. 40% of Google searches ended with a click to a non-Google site. Record low.
14. What people search for changed in one year NAVIGATION AL INFORMATIONA L Typing in a brand or site you already know Asking a question, researching a problem Comparing products before a purchase from 22.8% from 59.7% from 16.4% Down Up Up 16.4% 65.1% COMMERC IAL 17.7% Fewer people typing in a brand they know. More people asking research questions that produce AI Overviews. Source: Datos/SparkToro State of Search Q2 2026,
15. <2% of searches show purchase intent. Search is where buyers research. What about the purchase?
16. Where does the clicks go after a Google search? 1 2 3 YouTube Reddit Amazon Build videos. Install videos. Reviews. Forum threads. Fitment questions. Where the purchase lands. Not present on these three? You’re invisible where searchers actually land.
17. “ People didn't stop searching for what it is you and I do... the platforms have changed.
18. If your measurement only captures clicks, you’re measuring a shrinking slice of the pie. The pie isn’t shrinking. Your slice is.
19. 02 The Measurement Problem
20. $100M+ spent every year on AI tracking tools.
21. Ask ChatGPT 100 times. How many different answers do you get?
22. AI answers are not consistent <1 in 100 <1 in 1,000 chance of the same list of brands in any two answers to the same question chance of the same list in the same order 0.081 2,961 average similarity across 142 prompts with the same intent. People never ask the same way twice. runs of 12 prompts by 600 volunteers across ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Source: BlackTruck participated SparkToro user response study.
23. Stay skeptical. “Ranking position in AI” is not relevant.
24. Who sells cold air intakes?
25. So is tracking completely useless?
26. No.
27. Visibility Percentage How often your brand appears across many runs of a search is a statistically meaningful signal.
28. “Our brand appears in X% of relevant AI automotive-related searches" That’s the metric.
30. 03 Mentioned vs. Cited
31. Your product almost always shows up.
33. The question is: who gets credit?
34. Visibility Your product is mentioned in the answer. The product gets seen ≠ Authority Your site is cited as the source. Someone else gets the credit
35. Four Questions to Ask 1 Is my brand showing up? 2 Is my content being cited? 3 Is the information accurate? 4 Am I shaping the narrative?
36. 04 The Assessment
37. Score yourself honestly. Most land between 0 and 1. 0 1 2 3 Not on our radar Aware but not acting Early steps Active and building Scan to score along. Six dimensions, three points each, 18 possible. bit.ly/sema-26
38. 1 Discovery Awareness Do you know how buyers are finding your brand and products in AI results? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
39. 2 Information Accuracy Is what AI says about your products and services actually correct? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
40. 3 Brand Representation Does the AI version of your brand match your positioning? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
41. 4 Technical Readiness Is your website set up to be the source AI pulls from? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
42. 5 Measurement Evolution Are you tracking signals beyond website sessions? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
43. 6 Stakeholder Communication Can you explain what’s happening to your boss, your sales team or the owner? YOUR SCORE: 0 1 2 3 bit.ly/sema-26
44. 05 The Click That Does Happen
45. If the pool of clicks is shrinking, the clicks that still arrive are higher intent. They saw the AI answer. They could have stopped. They clicked anyway.
46. Start with what you already have Signals you already have Segments to build in GA4 • Search Console impressions vs. • AI platform referral traffic clicks • Branded search volume trends • Direct visit growth • Google Business Profile views, calls, directions • Branded vs. non-branded organic • Landing pages that trigger AI Overviews • Engagement depth, not volume
48. Step-by-step GA4 setup for AI referral tracking Channel group regex, segment definitions and the landing page report. bit.ly/sema-26
49. Beyond the website: real-world sales signals Brands & Mfg E-commerce Shops & installers • Dealer and • Marketplace sales • Phone calls from distributor portal vs. direct search engagement • Conversion rate by AI • Direction requests • Quote requests vs. referral source • Review velocity branded search • Amazon is where the • Where-to-buy and click lands dealer locator traffic Website traffic was always a proxy.
50. Three layers. One story. 1 2 3 AI Visibility On-Site Behavior Real-World Impact Before the click. Visibility percentage, citation frequency, accuracy. What arriving traffic does. Segments, engagement depth, conversion actions. Parts sold. Installs booked. The phone rang. Parts sold, installs booked, the phone ringing is the outcome.
51. Same data. Different story. STORY ONE “Our website traffic is down 15%.” STORY TWO “Our brand appeared in 78% of AI answers for our category this quarter, up from 55%. Branded search grew 12%.”
52. 06 What to Do This Week
53. Your score 0 to 5 Starting line 6 to 10 Building awareness 11 to 14 Gaining ground 15 to 18 Leading the shift You’re not alone. You know where to focus now. You’re asking the right questions. Make it consistent. You have early processes. Connect them to your reporting. You’re ahead of most. Keep refining and share.
54. 1 Run an audit. 15 queries. Three platforms. One hour.
55. 2 Start a baseline. Quarterly snapshots in a spreadsheet are fine.
56. 3 Have the conversation. Don’t wait until someone asks why traffic is down.
57. That’s not just better measurement. That’s better marketing.
58. Trusted by brands to improve their visibility online. 17+ From traditional search to AI-driven discovery, we help brands show up where their audience is looking today and tomorrow. Years in Business Focused Expertise. Deeper Questions. Performance We're not a full-service agency, and that's by design. As search evolves and Google, Bing, Meta, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok between noise and signal is growing. generative AI reshapes how people find and engage with brands, the gap We go deep where it matters, asking the questions that connect your marketing strategy to the conversations happening in the boardroom. The result is Discoverability Paid Media + SEO/GEO + Analytics bit.ly/sema-26 marketing aligned with where your organization is actually going. CL IENTS & PAR TNER S
59. We need your feedback! 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.
60. Let’s connect. Jason Dodge jason@blacktruckmedia.com blacktruckmedia.com @dodgejd bit.ly/sema-26