How to use this list
Each table is one theme. Treat each theme as its own ad group in Google Ads and its own page or section on your site: used cars, certified pre-owned, new cars & leases, financing & credit, trucks & SUVs and cars by budget. When the ad and the page match the search word for word, you pay less per click and more people call.
Need more volume? Start with near-me and core terms
The near-me searches in this list add up to 1,579,600 searches a month, led by “used cars near me”, “car dealerships near me”, “cars for sale near me”. These searches show the map pack first, so a complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews and a page for each town you serve matter as much as the ads.
Want higher-value customers? Target the makes
Make-specific searches are a lever on volume and value. The luxury-make keywords here (“second hand bmw x3 cars for sale”, “used bmw x3 cars for sale”) total 16,020 searches a month at an average CPC of $1.02. The common-make keywords (“toyota used cars”, “chevy truck for sale near me”) total 230,300 at $1.14.
- Need more high-end work? Target the luxury makes you are certified or experienced with. You will get less volume, but each customer is usually worth more, and a page and ad group per make lets you speak to those owners directly.
- Need more volume? Cover the common makes and the generic searches someone would use to find your business, service or product.
Use cost and question searches for content
Searches like “low price cars for sale”, “auto dealer invoice price”, “are car dealerships open today” come from people still researching. They usually convert better on a pricing page, an FAQ or a blog post than in a search ad. Answer them clearly on your site and they also feed the answers AI assistants give, which is where AI visibility comes in.
Models beat makes for volume
Make and model searches (“used chevy silverado for sale”) out-search almost every generic dealership term. Build ad groups and inventory pages around the models you actually stock, and keep them in sync with your inventory so ads never point at a car you sold last week.
Rising keywords to watch
These keywords were searched at least 30% more over the last three months than over the nine months before. Some are seasonal, so check the trend line before you move budget.
| Keyword | Monthly searches | CPC |
|---|---|---|
| used car dealerships near me | 90,500 | $1.76 |
| sale used car sales | 40,500 | $0.99 |
| for sale used cars for sale | 27,100 | $0.97 |
| used car dealers | 22,200 | $1.75 |
| certified pre owned | 22,200 | $1.92 |
| lease deals | 18,100 | $4.26 |
Negative keywords to add first
Before you launch, add these as negative keywords so your budget goes to buyers, not to job seekers, DIYers and unrelated searches: jobs salary salesman game simulator toy parts repair manual recall rental insurance quote motorcycle. Then check your search terms report every week and keep adding.
How we built this list
We pulled these keywords from Semrush’s US database on October 28, 2026, removed brand names, other companies’ names, specific towns, DIY product searches and job searches, then sorted what was left into themes. Monthly searches are Semrush’s 12-month average; the trend line shows the last 12 months, oldest to newest.


