Drivers now ask AI which body shop works with their insurance. What that means for a body shop
More drivers ask ChatGPT and Google's AI which shop takes their insurer. If your site never names carriers or certifications, the answer names someone else.
A driver just got rear-ended. Instead of typing "body shop near me," they ask their phone: "Which body shops near me work with State Farm and do Honda certified repairs?" The answer comes back as a short paragraph naming two or three shops. If your shop is not in that paragraph, you were never in the running.
AI answers in Google and assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity are now a normal part of how people search for local services. For body shops, the questions people ask them are unusually specific, and that changes what your website and Google profile need to say.
What changed
Google shows AI-written summaries at the top of many searches, and more people are asking chat assistants for recommendations directly. Those tools do not just list the nearest shops. They try to answer the actual question, and they build the answer from text they can find: your website, your Google profile, your reviews, and other sites that mention you.
That means the shop that clearly states "We work with all insurance companies, including State Farm, GEICO, Progressive and Allstate" has a better chance of being named than the shop with a nicer building and no text about insurance at all.
We cannot tell you exactly how each tool picks its answers. Nobody outside those companies can. But the pattern is consistent: the tools quote what is written down. If it is not written down, they cannot quote it.
The questions drivers ask a body shop
Collision customers ask questions most trades never get:
- Do you work with my insurance company?
- Are you on my insurer's direct repair program?
- Are you certified for my car brand?
- Do you do paintless dent repair?
- Can you help me with a rental car?
- How long will my repair take?
- Do you guarantee your work?
Every one of those can be answered on your website in plain sentences. Most shops answer none of them.
What to do about it
1. Write an insurance page. One page that says, in plain words, that the customer has the right to choose their shop, which carriers you work with regularly, which direct repair programs you are on if any, and how the claim process works at your shop. Do not list a carrier you do not actually work with.
2. Write a certifications page. List each OEM certification and industry training you hold, with the brand names spelled out. "Certified collision repair for Honda, Acura and Subaru" is the kind of sentence an AI answer can lift directly.
3. Add an FAQ. Take the seven questions above and answer each in two or three sentences. Put it on your website and add the same answers to the Q and A on your Google profile. Our AI search guide covers the format that gets quoted.
4. Fill out your Google profile services. Add collision repair, PDR, bumper repair, paint, frame repair, glass, ADAS calibration if you do it. Write a short description under each. The Google Business Profile guide walks through every field.
5. Ask for reviews that mention the details. When you ask a customer for a review, say: "If you can, mention your insurance company or what we fixed. It helps the next driver in the same spot." A review that says "they handled everything with Progressive and the rental" does more work than "great shop." The review guide has the wording.
Where body shops stand right now
Our benchmark report shows how much room there is. Across 70,441 body shop listings, 35.4% have no website at all. Those shops are giving AI tools almost nothing to read beyond a name, a phone number and some reviews.
The ones with a website are ahead on reviews too. Shops with a site have a median of 91 reviews, compared to 21 for shops without one. More reviews and more written detail both give an AI answer more to work with.
A simple test you can run today
Open ChatGPT or Google on your phone and ask the question your customers ask: "Which body shops in [your town] work with [a carrier you take]?" See who comes up. Then ask about your car brand certification. If your shop is missing, look at what the shops that came up have on their websites. Usually it is a page that answers the question in plain words.
Run the same test again in a month after you add your insurance, certification and FAQ pages.
Do not forget the phone
Even when an AI answer names your shop, the driver still calls. If they get voicemail, they call the next name in the paragraph. A text-back within a few minutes holds the lead while your front desk is with a customer. The calculator shows what one missed collision call is worth.
The short version
Drivers are asking AI tools specific questions about insurance, certifications and repair types. Those tools answer from what is written on your website, your profile and your reviews. Write it down: an insurance page, a certifications page, an FAQ, and reviews that mention the details.
If you want the insurance and FAQ pages written for you, the free 14-day trial covers any one service, no card: text or call (385) 213-1580.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, auto body and collision shops among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor