The AEO Whisperer Dealer Reputation Score

The formula

Score = Σ (platform rating × platform review count) ÷ Σ (platform review count)

Each platform's rating is multiplied by its review count, those products are summed across all platforms, and the total is divided by the total number of reviews. A platform that reports a rating but no review count is given a weight of one review so it still counts, but never outweighs high-volume platforms. The result is rounded to two decimal places.

Why volume weighting

A simple average treats a 5.0 from three reviews the same as a 4.7 from four thousand. Volume weighting fixes that: the platforms where the most customers actually left feedback have the most influence on the final score. It is the same principle AI assistants use when deciding which dealership to recommend — consistent sentiment at scale beats a small, perfect sample.

Platforms we check

• Google
• Cars.com
• DealerRater
• CarFax
• Facebook
• Yelp
• CarGurus

Platforms where a dealership has no listing or no rating are excluded rather than counted as zero.

Worked example

27,250 ÷ 5,700 = 4.78. The weak Yelp rating barely moves the needle because so few customers reviewed there.

Rankings and ties

Rankings adjust for review volume so a handful of reviews can't outrank thousands. The national rankings use (n × R + 500 × C) ÷ (n + 500), where R is the real reputation score, n is total reviews, and C is the average reputation score across all dealers. The displayed score remains R. Dealers with fewer than three platforms are labeled Limited data and rank below every dealer with three or more platforms. Review totals break ties.

AEO Whisperer's founder is General Manager of BMW of Bridgewater, which appears in these rankings and is scored using the same published method as every other dealership.

Website provider comparisons

AI Visibility Score is 60% AEO + 40% GEO for each dealership with both scores, averaged across the provider's dealerships. SEO is shown for reference only. Estimated GEO scores (from sites that blocked our scan) are excluded from averages. Providers are sorted by AI Visibility Score, highest first.

Every detected provider gets its own row; providers with fewer than five dealerships are marked “Small sample” and ranked after providers with five or more. Dealerships without a detected provider appear in a final “Not yet detected” row with a dealer count only. Dealer count includes all dealerships in the group; scored counts show how many contribute to AI Visibility Score.

Verification badge

Every scored dealership gets a public score page at /dealer/[slug] and a downloadable badge that links back to it. The badge is regenerated from live data, so it always reflects the most recent scan.