Google Is Ending Vehicle Listings, But North Carolina Dealers Have a Better Option

On November 12th, Google is pulling the plug on their free vehicle listings for Google Business Profiles.

But here’s the opportunity: KGI is launching a statewide dealer network built exclusively for independent North Carolina dealerships. The first 200 dealers get free enrollment for a full year.

What’s Actually Happening

As a Google Vehicle Listings partner, we got the announcement earlier this week. Google is simplifying their search results page and phasing out free vehicle listings.

For independent dealers, this closes off one of the last free ways to get found online.

But it also highlights something we’ve been watching for years: there’s a massive gap in how local car buyers search for vehicles.

The Missing Middle

Right now, the online car market works like this:

Individual dealer websites capture brand searches when someone already knows your name.

National marketplaces like CarGurus and Autotrader own the broad, generic searches and cost hundreds or thousands per month.

But what about the middle? The local, specific searches where buyers are actually ready to purchase?

Someone searching “reliable sedans under $15k in Raleigh” or “trucks for sale Charlotte” gets sent to national sites showing inventory from multiple states, mixed results, and franchise dealers with premium placement.

Meanwhile, independent dealers in those exact areas have the perfect inventory sitting invisible because individual dealership sites with 30-50 vehicles don’t rank for those searches.

Thousands of local buyers want to shop local. They just can’t find you.

What We Built

We’re launching a network of classified sites focused entirely on filling that gap for North Carolina and South Carolina.

This isn’t about competing with the big platforms. It’s about owning the space they’re not serving: hyper-local, independent dealer inventory for buyers who want to shop near home.

Area Code Sites: True Hyper-Local Visibility

We’re creating individual websites for each area code in the Carolinas. Each site exclusively features dealers from that specific region.

A 919 site for the Triangle. a 704 site for Charlotte. 828 for Asheville and the mountains. Every area code gets its own dedicated site!

Here’s why this works: Your dealership website with 40 vehicles won’t rank in search results. But when 50 independent dealers in your area code pool together, that’s 2,000 vehicles.

That inventory depth gets ranked by search engines and becomes incredibly valuable to car shoppers searching locally.

You get the visibility of a much larger operation without breaking the bank. When buyers click through to see a vehicle, they land directly on your dealership’s page.

Features that make these sites work:

• Clean, fast-loading design optimized for mobile search
• Advanced filtering for specific searches
• Automatic inventory updates from your existing feed
• Direct contact forms that go straight to your dealership
• New features like “Hot 100” list that give car buyers the newest inventory to drop
• No franchise dealers competing for the same searches

Statewide Site: Built for AI Search and Conversational Queries

Our larger site focuses on how car buyers actually search today, and more importantly, how they’ll search tomorrow.

With ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and other AI search tools, people are asking full questions instead of typing keywords.

This is called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and it’s changing everything about online search.

Search trends are shifting toward longer, conversational queries:

• “I need a reliable car for my college age kid who goes to NC State”
• “Best family SUV under $25,000 in the Triangle area”
• “Affordable trucks for small business in Charlotte”
• “Safe sedan for a new driver under $12k near Wilmington”

We’re creating pages specifically designed to answer those exact questions and display the vehicles that match.

This is content that gets picked up by AI search engines and recommended directly to buyers.

When someone asks that college kid question, they see sedans, crossovers, and wagons from 2012-2022, priced $8,000 to $20,000, located in the Raleigh area, from local dealerships.

Not generic advice pointing them somewhere else. Actual vehicles from dealers who deserve that business.

What makes the statewide site different:

• Pages optimized for AI search engines and conversational queries
• Buyer education content that answers real questions people are asking
• Local market insights (like “best used cars for college students in Raleigh”)
• Regularly updated content that keeps the site ranking and relevant
• Smart filtering that shows buyers exactly what they described in their search
• Dealership directory with linkbacks to your website
• And a new way to Sponsor articles for FREE! Just by sharing on your social networks!

The AI search revolution is just getting started. Buyers are already asking ChatGPT and Google’s AI “what car should I buy?”

We’re making sure your inventory is the answer they get.

This isn’t a listing service where you’re buried on page three. This is a network built specifically to make independent North Carolina dealers visible in local search.

Why Local Matters More Than Ever

“Near me” searches are consistently the highest converting searches online.

For used cars especially, people shop local. They want to see the vehicle, meet the dealer, and drive it home.

But independent dealers haven’t had a good way to capture those local searches without paying premium prices to compete on national platforms alongside franchise groups with much deeper pockets.

This network gives North Carolina’s independent dealers a way to be found exactly where local buyers are searching. Together, you own the local market.

This Changes November 12th

When Google shuts down free vehicle listings, independent dealers lose visibility.

But the first 200 dealers in our network gain something better: permanent positioning in local car search, optimized for both traditional search engines and the new AI-powered search tools that are taking over.

Enrollment is limited to 200 dealerships statewide. We’re keeping it exclusive to ensure each area maintains quality inventory depth and every dealer benefits from the network.