First-party data, free to cite.

Direct sessions jumped about 66 percent across the board, and the lift was essentially the same whether or not SmartSites managed the client's SEO.

Ninety-two percent of the entire organic click decline came from informational how-to content such as "how to check tire pressure" or "how to jump-start a car" pages that AI Overviews now answer directly.

Sites carrying FAQ structured data were cited by AI engines no more often than sites without it, with no statistically significant difference between the groups.

In September 2025 smartsites.com was receiving roughly 2,000 visitors a month from AI citations.

In Rand Fishkin's January 2026 SparkToro research, when Google's AI was asked to recommend digital marketing consultants with e-commerce expertise, SmartSites appeared in 85 of 95 responses.

Dealerships without active SEO averaged 3,743 monthly organic visitors.

Organic search delivered 51 percent of dealership website traffic while receiving about 7 percent of digital marketing spend.

ChatGPT ads launched as a CPM product; translated to a cost-per-click basis the early inventory worked out to hundreds of dollars per click, and early movers saw no first-mover advantage.

Google AI Overviews has carried ads since 2024 in 12 English-language markets using existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns, with no opt-in, no opt-out and no segmented reporting.

Telling Google what each conversion is worth, rather than treating a page view, a call and a form fill as equal, doubled form submissions month over month with the same spend and the same clicks.

Revenue rose 152 percent, conversion rate 27 percent, average order value 28 percent and return on ad spend 117 percent, while sessions grew only 4 percent.