AI Meets Automotive Search: How CarGurus Used Intent Segmentation to Drive 38% More Car Purchases.

 
 
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+23%
Content-to-Intent Alignment
+49%
Conversion Increase
+189%
Incremental Impressions
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The Challenge

When CarGurus set out to modernize its paid search strategy, it wasn’t just looking to optimize ad performance—it wanted to align every campaign with real buyer intent.

Partnering with MotiveMetrics, the team applied cutting-edge AI to segment audiences by purchase motivation and restructure the account around those insights. The result? A 38% increase in car purchases, a 49% boost in conversions, and a blueprint for how AI can reshape the future of digital marketing in the automotive space.


The Solution

To tackle the inefficiencies in its paid search structure, CarGurus partnered with MotiveMetrics to implement an AI-driven overhaul focused on intent-based segmentation. MotiveMetric’s platform leverages MotiveMap AI to analyze thousands of search queries, clustering them based on purchase motivation and predicted customer lifetime value (LTV). This segmentation enabled the separation of high-value and low-value search intents into distinct campaigns, unlocking the ability to customize the budget and performance targets for these distinct audiences.

Once the segments were defined, MotiveMap’s SmartMap AI deployed cloned keywords relating to the lower LTV audiences into new ad group structures in the new campaign, along with three new RSAs built using SmartAd technology. The Low Value campaign had a CPA target set 25% lower than the target of the originating campaign, now the High Value LTV campaign. Moving traffic to a campaign with tighter performance targets creates a major challenge. The only way to drive that traffic transition is with query level Ad Relevance improvement that boosts Ad Rank.

RSAs built with SmartAd leverage brand guidelines, competitor insights and tokenization technology producing over 240,000 compliant asset variations, targeted at the ad group intent level, without sacrificing message control or compliance. Once three RSAs are established in each ad group real-time, query level optimization begins.

AdPulse, a generative AI feature, built with brand safety in mind, automatically created and injected query-matched ad assets driving performance and ad relevance without sacrificing message control. With intent alignment at the core, every campaign element—from ad group structure to creative messaging—was built to reflect user purchase intent and motivation. This full-funnel transformation allowed CarGurus to scale performance while deepening audience relevance.

 

 

Results That Matter

The impact of MotiveMetrics’ AI-powered restructuring was immediate and measurable. Within just 30 days, by separating audiences and right-pricing traffic, CarGurus saw a 26% increase in conversions and a 38% lift in actual car purchases. Ad impressions surged by 189%, dramatically expanding reach and visibility. Importantly, search intent alignment improved from 34% to 57%, meaning more users were seeing ads that spoke directly to their motivations. Unique search term coverage also more than tripled—from 941 to over 3,198—indicating significant expansion to new audiences. Together, these results show how intent-based AI isn’t just optimizing spend—it’s reshaping bottom lines.

AdPulse Injects New Assets to Maximize Query-Level Intent Alignment.

AI Intent Segmentation + AI Content Optimization = Performance & Market Share

 
 

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