Customers are shifting the way they interact with chatbots to discuss more complex areas like service and sales needs, rather than requesting callbacks and basic information.
AutoConverse has taken data over the last 15 months from the dealers using its chatbot product and has noticed the shift to customers having more complex conversations as buyers become increasingly more confident with the technology.
As a proportion of total interactions between customers and chatbots the analysis reveals a rise from 12.8% to 36.2% for specific car servicing discussions.
Chats about buying a car or trading in a customer’s vehicle have risen from 13.1% to 37.5% of conversations.
Miscellaneous enquiries for information have fallen from 69.2% of interactions to 21.7%, while requests for a call-back have dropped from 10.2% to 4%.
AutoConverse stresses that bots are not designed to replace dealer staff, but to focus on qualifying individual customer requirements before delivering them to relevant dealer teams as qualified leads.
Ross Olsen, AutoConverse co-founder, said: “The latest figures suggest people are now getting down to business with bots, rather than simply using them as a timesaving device to find an email address or request a call-back.
“A year ago the majority of customer-bot conversations were inquiries for miscellaneous bits of information but today the biggest slice of time is spent discussing sales or trade-ins.
“The bots were always providing a useful link with customers and delivering leads to the dealership but now that the topics of conversation have become more focused on specific customer needs, those interactions are producing much higher quality leads.”
Autoconverse said it has seen a 40% year-on-year increase in total chatbot conversations across its UK business.
It said 2025 saw almost 50% of chats result in a “high-quality lead”, compared to a third just 12 months ago.
Olsen adds that the improving performance of bots as a business growth tool is also due growing public acceptance of virtual staff as a first point of contact.
He concluded: “We are seeing an increased willingness from people to treat a well-trained chatbot as if it were a friendly, well-informed member of the dealer’s staff and therefore trust it with more relevant information.
“This trend is repeated across all commercial sectors as people grow generally more used to using technology such as AI assistants in their own devices.
“The best evidence for that comfort is now revealed by the increased focus of dealership customers on discussing their specific needs rather than scrolling through a website for answers that may not even be there.”