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Search Is Changing: How to Win Visibility in AI Overviews for Local Car Searches

Angle: “Winning visibility in AI Overviews for local car searches (‘best SUV under R400k in Cape Town’).”

Google’s AI Overviews are now a mainstream part of Search, summarizing answers and linking out to sources the system trusts. The rollout now covers 200+ countries and 40+ languages, which means South African dealers are squarely in scope.

The good news: Google says you don’t need special markup to be considered for AI Overviews—core SEO and clean structure still apply. The better news: you can engineer pages that LLMs love to quote by making facts explicit, machine-readable, and locally grounded.

Build pages that LLMs can quote (and shoppers can trust)

Tight Q&A blocks that answer the exact query

Create a focused “Questions” section for each high-intent local query and answer in 1–2 precise sentences with units and context. Example:
Mark the block up as QAPage/Question/Answer in JSON-LD. Even though Google rarely shows FAQ rich results beyond certain categories, the structure still helps machines extract answer sentences.

Emerging Trends Shaping Backlinking in 2025

Side-by-side comparisons and specs tables

LLMs and shoppers both parse tables well. Use simple <table> HTML with explicit units and consistent labels:
Then mirror the table in JSON-LD (see Section 2).

Local availability that’s actually local

State where the car is available: “In stock at Paarden Eiland (Cape Town), test-drives by appointment.” On the page, include the branch address, opening hours, and clear CTAs (call, WhatsApp, book test-drive). This helps the Overview pick up the Cape Town intent and gives users a fast path to visit or enquire.

Structured data that travels well inside AI Overviews

You can’t “force” inclusion, but you can make your data quote-ready:

Vehicle / Car (schema.org) on each VDP, with:

Offers on the VDP:

AutoDealer (LocalBusiness) for each branch page:

ItemList on comparison/list pages:

Review/Pros & Cons (editorial pages):

Vehicle listing structured data (program-dependent):

Tip: Use JSON-LD everywhere, validate with the Rich Results Test, and keep attributes identical between the visible table and the JSON-LD to avoid contradictions.
Example (trim to fit your model):
HTML

<script type=“application/ld+json”>
{
   “@context”: “https://schema.org”,
   “@type”: “Vehicle”,
   “name”: “Kia Sonet 1.0T EX”,
   “brand”: {“@type”: “Brand”, “name”: “Kia”},
   “bodyType”: “SUV”,
   “vehicleModelDate”: “2024”,
   “fuelType”: “Petrol”,
   “vehicleTransmission”: “Automatic”,
   “seatingCapacity”: 5,
   “fuelConsumption”: {“@type”:“QuantitativeValue”,”value”:5.4,“unitText”:“L/100 km”},
   “enginePower”: {“@type”:“QuantitativeValue”,”value”:88,”unitText”:“kW”},
   “offers”: {
   “@type”: “Offer”,
   “priceCurrency”: “ZAR”,
   “price”: “399000”,
   “availability”: “https://schema.org/InStock”,
   “areaServed”: “Cape Town, ZA”,
   “seller”: {
     “@type”:“AutoDealer”,
     “name”:“Addweb Motors – Paarden Eiland”,
     “address”:{“@type”:“PostalAddress”,“streetAddress”:“…”,“addressLocality”:“Cape Town”,“addressRegion”:“Western Cape”,“addressCountry”:“ZA”}
     }
   }
 }
</script>

Page templates that tend to surface in AI Overviews

Template A: City-Qualified Comparison (editorial)

Template B: VDP

Template C: Branch Page (AutoDealer)

Local signals: GBP + inventory

Keep Google Business Profile immaculate: correct primary category (e.g., “Motor vehicle dealer”), additional categories for service/parts, fresh photos, and review responses. If your region becomes eligible, connect vehicle listings to your GBP so Search can show live inventory (this is supported by Google’s vehicle listing program, which has expanded over time—check regional availability).

Measurement: realistic testing cadences in GSC & Analytics

Weekly SERP scripts (manual or tool-assisted):

Track 15–30 “AI-likely” local queries (e.g., best SUV under r400k cape town, family suv boot space cape town, diesel suv under r400k western cape). Log: date, device, whether an AI Overview appears, which sources are cited, and whether your page appears as a citation.

Search Console reality check:

Google currently includes AI Overviews/AI Mode interactions within normal Performance data, but you generally can’t break them out as a separate appearance (Google has discussed AI Mode counts; visibility is not reliably isolated). Expect AIO-influenced impressions/clicks to be mixed with standard web results. Create a GSC query group for your tracked prompts and monitor position/CTR over time; annotate content and markup changes.

Event tracking in Analytics:

Tag key CTAs (“Book Test-Drive”, “WhatsApp Sales”, “Call Now”) and compare city-qualified comparison pages vs. generic SRPs. If AIO begins citing your pages, you’ll often see higher engagement per click even if CTR fluctuates.

Quarterly markup audit:

Validate JSON-LD site-wide; ensure table facts match JSON-LD; refresh prices, fuel figures, and availability. If you experiment with generative content, ensure it meets Google’s quality/spam policies.

Publishing checklist (fast pass)

What not to do

Sources

  • Google: AI features & your website (no special optimizations needed beyond SEO fundamentals; AI experiences surface relevant links). Google for Developers

  • Google: AI Overviews global expansion & links to the web. blog.google+1

  • Google Support: How AI Overviews work for searchers. Google Help

  • Google: Vehicle listing structured data (dealership inventory). Google for Developers

  • Schema.org: Vehicle and AutoDealer vocabularies. Schema.org+1

  • Google: Pros & Cons structured data for reviews. Google for Developers

  • Google & trade coverage: AI Mode/Overviews reporting in Search Console is mixed with standard data; not fully broken out. Search Engine Landgsqi.com

Bottom line: AI Overviews reward pages that are precise, structured, and local. To win citations for searches like “best SUV under R400k in Cape Town,” publish city-qualified comparison pages with tight Q&A blocks and uniform specs tables, mirror every fact in JSON-LD (Vehicle, Offer, AutoDealer, ItemList), and make real local availability obvious (branch, hours, CTAs). Keep your Google Business Profile accurate and, if eligible, feed Google vehicle listings. Measure impact with a simple cadence: weekly SERP spot-checks for target prompts, event-tracked CTAs, and monthly GSC reviews—then correct inconsistencies between page copy and markup fast. Avoid thin listicles; prioritize dealer-only value (inventory, pricing, service plans).