Jasetin McPherson
Founder, InventoryPilot AI
Jasetin McPherson is the founder of InventoryPilot AI, which writes a unique, AI-search-ready description for every VIN and delivers it into vAuto Inventory Comments for dealerships. He writes here about vAuto, vehicle merchandising, and how answer engines and AI assistants read dealership inventory.
Connect on LinkedInArticles by Jasetin McPherson (31)
How to Automate vAuto Inventory Comments
The Inventory Comments field is the only free text vAuto syndicates to your VDPs and listing sites. Here are the three ways to keep it filled on every VIN, and what to check before you automate it.
vAuto Description Generator Alternatives: What to Compare in 2026
vAuto now offers GenAI vehicle descriptions inside the suite. Here is what is public about that feature as of September 2026, what is not, and the five questions to ask before choosing it or an alternative.
What Is vAuto? A Plain-English Guide for Dealers (2026)
vAuto is Cox Automotive's inventory management suite. Here's what each module actually does, who it's for, and where it stops — explained without the sales pitch.
How Much Does vAuto Cost? What Dealers Should Expect in 2026
Cox Automotive does not publish vAuto pricing. Here's what actually drives your quote, what to ask before you sign, and how to judge whether the number is worth it.
How to Use vAuto Provision: A Practical 2026 Guide
A step-by-step guide to the Provision workflow — appraisal, stocking, pricing, aging, and the merchandising step almost everyone skips.
vAuto Login and Access: Troubleshooting Guide for Dealership Teams
Can't get into vAuto? Here's the correct login path, the most common access failures, how to check whether vAuto is down, and who at your store can actually fix it.
SEO for Car Dealerships: The Complete 2026 Playbook
What actually moves dealership search traffic in 2026 — inventory pages, local signals, and AI citations — plus what to stop paying for.
Automotive SEO Services: What to Look For (and What to Skip) in 2026
How to evaluate an automotive SEO agency, the questions that expose weak retainers, and the deliverables that actually move dealership traffic.
Optimizing vAuto Provision with AI Descriptions
How dealers using vAuto Provision layer AI-narrative descriptions on top of pricing strategy to win Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI search visibility without changing their workflow.
Google I/O 2026 for Car Dealers: Every Announcement That Affects Your Inventory, With Action Items
AI Mode hit 1 billion users. Queries are doubling every quarter. Gemini 3.5 Flash is now the default. Information agents are coming this summer. Here is the dealer playbook for every May 19 announcement that changes how buyers find your inventory.
Google Preferred Sources for Dealerships: The Complete 2026 Setup Guide
Google's official Preferred Sources deeplink format is now published. Here's the exact setup — eligible domains, the deeplink URL, official badge assets, every customer touchpoint to deploy, and how to measure adoption without a direct metric.
Build-to-Order Listings in Google Merchant Center: Step-by-Step
How to publish configurable trims in GMC using build_to_order, wire vehicle_fulfillment: online, add schema.org PreOrder, and earn AI Mode citations.
YouTube Walkarounds as an AI Citation Channel: The 2026 Production Playbook
ChatGPT and Google AI read your walkaround transcripts — not your videos. Here's the structure, SRT requirement, chapter format, VideoObject schema, and production checklist that gets dealer walkarounds cited.
AEO vs SEO for Car Dealers: Which Drives Sales in 2026?
SEO captures buyers who already know what they want. AEO captures them while they're still asking ChatGPT. Here's how the math actually works for dealers.
VDP Optimization for AI Search: The 11-Signal Checklist You Can Run Today
Score your VDPs against the 11 signals AI retrieval systems actually evaluate — entity density, schema completeness, factual citability, freshness, and seven more. Most dealers score 2-3 out of 11.
How to Get Your Dealership Cited in ChatGPT: The 2026 Tactical Guide
Exact query patterns, the 5 VDP signals ChatGPT checks before naming a dealer, how to track your citation rate, and what to do the day a competitor shows up instead of you.
GEO for Dealerships: Generative Engine Optimization (2026)
GEO is the broader discipline that includes AEO. Here's what it means for dealers — and why it's the next strategic frontier after SEO and AEO.
How Google and AI Assistants Detect Templated VDP Copy
Every automotive SEO post says "avoid duplicate content." This one explains, from Google's published documentation, what actually happens to templated VDP descriptions and why AI answer engines make the cost binary.
Dealership Marketing Automation Stack 2026: Layer-by-Layer Guide
Map the realistic 2026 stack—DMS, CRM, vAuto, website, digital retailing, AI descriptions, paid media—with a sequenced 90-day rollout for a single-rooftop store.
How AI Search Is Changing Car Buying in 2026
From ChatGPT recommendations to Google AI Overview, AI is fundamentally reshaping the car buying journey. Here's what's happening and what it means for dealerships.
Google AI Overview for Car Dealers: The Trigger Rates, Citation Mechanics, and What Actually Gets Cited
New SearchLab data across 1,600 real automotive queries shows AI Overviews fire 97% of the time on informational searches but only 10.5% on transactional ones. Here's what that means for your content strategy and how to get cited.
ROI of AI Vehicle Descriptions: What Dealers See
Hard numbers on what our vehicle descriptions actually deliver — from time savings and VDP engagement to AI search visibility and lead generation.
How to Write Vehicle Descriptions That Actually Sell Cars
Learn the proven formula for writing VDP descriptions that convert browsers into buyers — with real examples, psychological triggers, and AI optimization techniques for 2026.
vAuto Tips & Tricks for 2026: Maximize Your Inventory
Unlock the full potential of vAuto with these expert tips — from Inventory Comments optimization to AI-powered description workflows that save your team hours every week.
The 2026 VDP Build Standard: Every Element That Converts, Ranks, and Gets Cited by AI
Minimum image counts, 360 spin, video, five schema types, price transparency, trade-in widget placement, finance pre-qual, and the description block — the full 2026 VDP specification.
How ChatGPT Actually Decides Which Dealership to Name
ChatGPT fans every local dealer query into 8-15 hidden background searches before composing a reply. Here's exactly how it picks which dealership to name — and the 4-step test you can run today.
What is AEO? Answer Engine Optimization for Dealerships
AEO is replacing SEO as the dominant strategy for digital visibility. Here's what it means for automotive dealers and how to get ahead.
Why 90% of Dealership VDPs Are Invisible to AI Search (The 5 Real Failure Modes)
It's not a content strategy problem. It's five specific technical and workflow failures that make your VDPs uncitable. Here's the diagnostic and fix for each.
The Future of AI-Powered Vehicle Descriptions
Discover how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way dealerships create compelling vehicle listings that rank in AI search results.
vAuto Integration: How It Works
Exact onboarding steps, what changes downstream on Cars.com and Autotrader, the CRM-overwrite gotcha, and what to expect in week 1 vs. week 4.
AI Search Optimization for Dealerships
How to ensure your inventory appears in ChatGPT, Google AI, and other AI-powered search results.