Detailers Roadmap 2025 Search Volume and Trend Report: Buyers Stopped Searching and Started Scrolling
How’d Your Shop Finish 2025?
If you felt like the phones were quieter, you weren’t imagining it. As we reached the end of Q3 and moved into Q4, slower car sales and broader consumer hesitation had a real impact.
But search volume, in general, is also down, and this could be because the entire market landscape is changing. Customers are finding out about your shop in different ways than just a few years ago. It used to just be Google. Now buyers are learning about you from YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, AI search, and brand-based referrals.
What’s interesting is the paradox we’re seeing: search demand slowed, but more shops reached out for websites than ever before. That’s great for us, but it’s not necessarily great for the market. Historically, when more shops start reaching for marketing help, it’s usually because something disrupted their business, and they’re forced into a new look, new approach, or new system.
This year felt like a reset. Not just in search demand, but in how people buy.
What We’re Seeing In The Market
1) Search volume is down, and it’s not random
Late Q3 and Q4 saw a major shift. In some markets, the dip was as much as ~30%. This isn’t a “one-week dip.” It’s the market responding to a broader hesitation: fewer vehicle purchases, fewer impulsive upgrades, and more cautious consumer spending.
2) Buyers didn’t disappear. They just moved
Late Q3 and Q4 saw a major shift. In some markets, the dip was as much as ~30%. This isn’t a “one-week dip.” It’s the market responding to a broader hesitation: fewer vehicle purchases, fewer impulsive upgrades, and more cautious consumer spending.
Search volume going down doesn’t mean demand is gone. It means buyers are changing where they learn first and where they build trust. The real buyer journey looks more like this now:
- They see you on social.
- They watch your work.
- They look at your reviews.
- They ask friends.
- They check your website.
- Then they reach out.
That is a completely different funnel than “Google search → click → call.”
3) The shops seeing the most growth are getting comfortable on social
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This is the most consistent growth pattern we’re seeing right now. The shops that are growing the fastest aren’t the ones with the fanciest branding. They’re the ones who’ve gotten comfortable being visible online:
Showing full vehicles (not just quick clips).
Taking time to explain what their shop is, what they do, and what makes them different.
Being inviting and clear, not overly polished or robotic.
Showing the process and the finished result.
They are winning trust before a customer ever searches.
When someone trusts you before they even Google you, search volume doesn’t dictate your revenue.
What We’re Seeing In The Market
1) Search volume is down, and it’s not random
Late Q3 and Q4 saw a major shift. In some markets, the dip was as much as ~30%. This isn’t a “one-week dip.” It’s the market responding to a broader hesitation: fewer vehicle purchases, fewer impulsive upgrades, and more cautious consumer spending.
2) Buyers didn’t disappear. They just moved
Late Q3 and Q4 saw a major shift. In some markets, the dip was as much as ~30%. This isn’t a “one-week dip.” It’s the market responding to a broader hesitation: fewer vehicle purchases, fewer impulsive upgrades, and more cautious consumer spending.
Search volume going down doesn’t mean demand is gone. It means buyers are changing where they learn first and where they build trust. The real buyer journey looks more like this now:
- They see you on social.
- They watch your work.
- They look at your reviews.
- They ask friends.
- They check your website.
- Then they reach out.
That is a completely different funnel than “Google search → click → call.”
3) The shops seeing the most growth are getting comfortable on social
This is the most consistent growth pattern we’re seeing right now. The shops that are growing the fastest aren’t the ones with the fanciest branding. They’re the ones who’ve gotten comfortable being visible online:
- Showing full vehicles (not just quick clips).
- Taking time to explain what their shop is, what they do, and what makes them different.
- Being inviting and clear, not overly polished or robotic.
- Showing the process and the finished result.
They are winning trust before a customer ever searches.
When someone trusts you before they even Google you, search volume doesn’t dictate your revenue.
If you’re slow, here are the only two moves that matter
If your shop is finishing 2025 slower than you want, here are the two paths:
1) Increase your reach and engagement on purpose
This is where removing pricing and shifting to “Get a free quote” can help, but it must be paired with a real sales system.
You should also be:
- Retargeting past leads and past customers.
- Asking for referrals consistently.
- Using email and text follow-up like a real business (not a hobby).
- Building content that answers the questions buyers are too afraid to ask.
2) Improve your conversion, not your traffic
Traffic is a vanity metric right now. Conversion is the truth. This is the year where a shop doing half the traffic can outperform a shop doing double if they have:
- Better messaging.
- Better reviews. (I beg you to ask people to use a photo in their reviews)
- Better photos and proof.
- Better social media and being used on the website to close the loop.
- Giftology is a real thing you may want to explore
You don’t need more people to see you. You need more people to trust you.
The shops “not slowing down” are usually one of two types
When someone tells me, “We’re not slowing down,” I always look at it through this lens:
A) They’re in years 1–3 (the hungry growth stage)
These shops are obsessed. They will outwork the market. They’re new enough to sprint, and they’re willing to do what others won’t.
B) They’re in years 7–10 (the established trust stage)
These shops have leverage. They’ve built a reputation, a client base, and a steady stream of repeat/referral business. They may not be better marketers. They may just have more trust equity.
If you’re in the middle years (4–6), this is where it can feel the hardest. You’ve grown past “startup energy,” but you haven’t built the deep market trust yet.
The shops “not slowing down” are usually one of two types
When someone tells me, “We’re not slowing down,” I always look at it through this lens:
A) They’re in years 1–3 (the hungry growth stage)
These shops are obsessed. They will outwork the market. They’re new enough to sprint, and they’re willing to do what others won’t.
B) They’re in years 7–10 (the established trust stage)
These shops have leverage. They’ve built a reputation, a client base, and a steady stream of repeat/referral business. They may not be better marketers. They may just have more trust equity.
If you’re in the middle years (4–6), this is where it can feel the hardest. You’ve grown past “startup energy,” but you haven’t built the deep market trust yet.
What 2025 is really showing us:
2025 wasn’t a year of crazy demand. It was a year of market maturity.
- Buyers became quieter.
- Competition grew.
- Search volume softened.
Top shops weren’t the ones who waited for Google to fix it. They were the ones who became better operators, better communicators, and better closers.
Key takeaways and what we recommend you do:
π Search volume is down (especially as of late Q3/Q4).
Don’t assume it’s your SEO failing. The market slowed. That’s real.
π More shops are reaching out for websites than ever.
That’s typically a sign of disruption in the industry. Shops are forced to improve.
π£ If you are struggling with sales volume, hide pricing.
Switch to “Get a Free Quote” and force the conversation. But be realistic: it’ll increase lead volume and expose weak sales systems.
β
Get comfortable on social.
The highest growth shops are the ones showing full vehicles, explaining what they do, and being real. Social trust is driving more revenue than search in many markets right now.
β Stop chasing traffic. Start chasing trust.
You don’t need more clicks. You need more people to believe you’re the best choice.
β
Treat follow-up like a system, not an afterthought.
Fast response, consistent follow-up, and clear communication are winning strategies in a slower market.
2026 will reward the shops that use this moment to sharpen their message, tighten their sales process, and get visible across digital channels.
