# Dealership inventory search

> Dealership inventory search is how shoppers find vehicles on a dealer website - traditionally through make/model/year/trim dropdowns, and increasingly through natural-language queries like "used SUV with third row under 30k miles."

_Source: https://nobi.ai/glossary/dealership-inventory-search_

## What does "dealership inventory search" mean?

Dealership inventory search is the way shoppers find vehicles on a dealer's
website. Traditionally it's a set of **dropdown filters** - make, model, year,
trim, price - that the shopper combines to narrow the lot. More recently it also
means **natural-language search**, where a shopper types a full description like
"used SUV with third row under 30k miles" and gets matching vehicles.

It's the automotive equivalent of ecommerce product search, run against the
dealership's vehicle detail pages and inventory feed.

## How does dealership inventory search work?

Filter-based search asks the shopper to translate their need into selections:
pick a make, then a model, then a price band. Natural-language search flips
that - it reads the shopper's phrasing, maps it to vehicle attributes (body
style, mileage, features, price), and returns matches from the live inventory
feed.

Either way, the search should be tied to the **live feed** so results reflect
what's actually on the lot: a vehicle that just sold drops out, and a new
arrival appears.

## Why does dealership inventory search matter?

Most car shopping happens on the website before anyone contacts the dealership,
and much of it after hours. If a shopper can't find a vehicle that fits - or
hits a dead end because their wording didn't match the dropdowns - they leave
for another dealer's site. Search quality therefore affects both lead volume
and the shopper's first impression of the store.

[Nobi](https://dashboard.nobi.ai) lets car shoppers search a dealership's live
inventory in plain language instead of guessing filter combinations, so
descriptive queries resolve to real vehicles on the lot.

## Frequently asked questions

**What is the difference between filter-based and AI-powered dealership
inventory search?**
Filter-based search makes the shopper translate their need into dropdowns;
AI-powered search lets them describe the vehicle in their own words and matches
it against the live inventory feed.

**Why do dealership searches return no results?**
Usually because the shopper's phrasing doesn't map to the dropdowns or listing
text, or filters combine into a set no current vehicle matches.

**Does inventory search need to stay in sync with the lot?**
Yes - results should reflect the live feed so sold vehicles drop out and new
arrivals show up.