Independent Auto Shop Digital Visibility Study 2026
The first annual benchmark measuring digital visibility across 500+ independent auto repair shops in 50 US markets — scored across 12 dimensions including website, Google Business Profile, reviews, local SEO, and AI presence.
Why We're Running This Study
Most digital marketing advice for auto repair shops is based on anecdote, vendor case studies, or generic small-business data. There is no publicly available benchmark showing what digital visibility actually looks like across the independent auto repair industry — what percentage of shops have claimed GBPs, how many have functional websites, what the average review count is, or how many are visible to AI systems.
This study changes that. We are crawling and scoring 500+ independent auto repair shops across 50 US markets — covering every major region and a range of market sizes — to produce the first data-led visibility benchmark for the industry.
The results will be published as a free report in November 2026. Every shop owner who registers will receive the full benchmark data, their market's averages, and a self-assessment tool to score their own shop.
What We Measure
Each shop is scored across 12 visibility dimensions, 5 questions each. The full scoring methodology will be published alongside the report.
Website Presence
- Does the shop have a website?
- Is it mobile-responsive?
- Does it load in under 3 seconds?
- Does it have a clear CTA above the fold?
- Is it indexed in Google?
Google Business Profile
- Is the GBP claimed and verified?
- Is the business category correct?
- Are photos present (interior, exterior, team)?
- Is the description complete?
- Are services listed with descriptions?
Reviews & Reputation
- Total Google review count
- Average star rating
- Owner response rate
- Review recency (last 90 days)
- Presence on Yelp, Facebook, CarFax
Local SEO & Citations
- NAP consistency across directories
- Presence in top 10 citation sources
- Schema markup (LocalBusiness, FAQPage)
- Ranking for primary service keyword
- Map Pack visibility
AI Visibility
- Mentioned in ChatGPT local queries
- Mentioned in Gemini local queries
- Mentioned in Perplexity local queries
- Structured data present for AI crawlers
- llms.txt or AI-accessible content index
Content & Authority
- Blog or resource section present
- Content published in last 90 days
- Backlinks from local sources
- Social media activity
- Video content (YouTube, GBP)
Study Timeline
Crawling and scoring 500+ shops across 50 US markets
Scoring each shop across 12 visibility dimensions
Publishing the full benchmark with industry averages and percentile rankings
Self-assessment tool for shop owners to score their own visibility
Get the Full Report When It's Published
Register now and we'll send you the complete benchmark report in November 2026 — including your market's averages, percentile rankings, and the self-assessment scoring tool.
No spam. One email when the report publishes. Unsubscribe anytime.