AI Is Collapsing the Car-Buying Journey, Says GM’s Global Media Chief
The number of touchpoints between a consumer first considering a new vehicle and actually purchasing one is shrinking.
For brands that have long relied on multiple opportunities to influence buyers throughout an extended decision-making process, a “collapse” means every remaining interaction carries significantly more weight.
“This is actually a collapse of the number of touch points that I have to influence a consumer,” said Shenan Reed, global chief media officer, General Motors, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “And that is really interesting to me because it means all of the touch points that I have before you get to the LLM become that much more important in the process.”
How AI reshapes the consideration phase
The shift is most pronounced in how consumers research vehicles, Reed said. Rather than navigating automaker websites organized around engine specifications most buyers don’t understand, shoppers are increasingly turning to AI tools to answer practical questions about seating capacity, towing capability, and safety ratings.
Reed described how AI tools allow consumers to build their own comparison charts across multiple brands, something that was previously difficult to accomplish. “You might have actually already started with a series of vehicles that you have in mind and you’re asking the AI to just build the comparison chart for you because it’s difficult to find places,” she said.
The pattern GM is observing shows consumers using AI for the research-heavy consideration phase, then returning to traditional search engines for the final steps. “We’re seeing really well over 60% of them turn back to the traditional search engines to know where there’s a dealer near me and what actual vehicles they have in stock,” Reed said.
Recent research from eMarketer supports that trend, finding that 44% of consumers are interested in using AI specifically to compare multiple vehicles.
Why brand building matters more than ever
The automotive purchase cycle operates on a timeline that separates discovery from consideration by months or even years. Whether a consumer’s lease is ending predictably or a tree falls on their car unexpectedly, they typically already have a mental shortlist of vehicles they would consider buying.
Reed emphasized the importance of being on that shortlist. “When that happens, you already have four vehicles in mind. There’s already four vehicles that you’re thinking of are the thing that are right for you, for your family, for your need state. And 70% of the time, you purchase one of those four,” she said.
This dynamic explains why upper-funnel brand advertising remains essential even as AI transforms the research process. “That’s why the brand media matters so much in the upper part of the funnel and in the conversation long before a consumer even gets to what I would call the modern search engine of an AI,” Reed said.
Optimizing for machines and humans alike
GM is adapting its digital strategy to ensure its content surfaces effectively in large language model responses. The approach draws on familiar search engine optimization principles but requires significantly more content production.
“What LLMs need that is a little bit different from the SEO engines of the past is they need a lot more content,” Reed said. “They can index things that the search engines have not been able to index in the past, and the more content we have and the richer that content is, the more likely it is to show up in the LLM when somebody’s researching something.”
The automaker is also partnering with platforms that perform well in AI results. “Reddit shows up incredibly well, YouTube shows up incredibly well. So how do you have strategies around those partners to make sure that you’ve got the right content, the right stories, that it’s authentic,” Reed said.
GM has been actively integrating AI into its own vehicles, recently announcing the integration of Google’s Gemini AI into millions of its cars to enhance in-vehicle interactions.
The number of touchpoints between a consumer first considering a new vehicle and actually purchasing one is shrinking.
For brands that have long relied on multiple opportunities to influence buyers throughout an extended decision-making process, a “collapse” means every remaining interaction carries significantly more weight.
“This is actually a collapse of the number of touch points that I have to influence a consumer,” said Shenan Reed, global chief media officer, General Motors, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “And that is really interesting to me because it means all of the touch points that I have before you get to the LLM become that much more important in the process.”
How AI reshapes the consideration phase
The shift is most pronounced in how consumers research vehicles, Reed said. Rather than navigating automaker websites organized around engine specifications most buyers don’t understand, shoppers are increasingly turning to AI tools to answer practical questions about seating capacity, towing capability, and safety ratings.
Reed described how AI tools allow consumers to build their own comparison charts across multiple brands, something that was previously difficult to accomplish. “You might have actually already started with a series of vehicles that you have in mind and you’re asking the AI to just build the comparison chart for you because it’s difficult to find places,” she said.
The pattern GM is observing shows consumers using AI for the research-heavy consideration phase, then returning to traditional search engines for the final steps. “We’re seeing really well over 60% of them turn back to the traditional search engines to know where there’s a dealer near me and what actual vehicles they have in stock,” Reed said.
Recent research from eMarketer supports that trend, finding that 44% of consumers are interested in using AI specifically to compare multiple vehicles.
Why brand building matters more than ever
The automotive purchase cycle operates on a timeline that separates discovery from consideration by months or even years. Whether a consumer’s lease is ending predictably or a tree falls on their car unexpectedly, they typically already have a mental shortlist of vehicles they would consider buying.
Reed emphasized the importance of being on that shortlist. “When that happens, you already have four vehicles in mind. There’s already four vehicles that you’re thinking of are the thing that are right for you, for your family, for your need state. And 70% of the time, you purchase one of those four,” she said.
This dynamic explains why upper-funnel brand advertising remains essential even as AI transforms the research process. “That’s why the brand media matters so much in the upper part of the funnel and in the conversation long before a consumer even gets to what I would call the modern search engine of an AI,” Reed said.
Optimizing for machines and humans alike
GM is adapting its digital strategy to ensure its content surfaces effectively in large language model responses. The approach draws on familiar search engine optimization principles but requires significantly more content production.
“What LLMs need that is a little bit different from the SEO engines of the past is they need a lot more content,” Reed said. “They can index things that the search engines have not been able to index in the past, and the more content we have and the richer that content is, the more likely it is to show up in the LLM when somebody’s researching something.”
The automaker is also partnering with platforms that perform well in AI results. “Reddit shows up incredibly well, YouTube shows up incredibly well. So how do you have strategies around those partners to make sure that you’ve got the right content, the right stories, that it’s authentic,” Reed said.
GM has been actively integrating AI into its own vehicles, recently announcing the integration of Google’s Gemini AI into millions of its cars to enhance in-vehicle interactions.
