Automotive Management’s Innovation Week headline sponsor Cazoo has added AI-powered image search to its app, allowing buyers to photograph a car and find matching models advertised by dealers.
The new “snap and search” function identifies the make and model from an image uploaded by the user, then searches Cazoo’s live dealer listings for relevant stock.
Buyers can use photographs taken themselves or images saved to their camera roll, including cars seen on driveways, on the road or in social media posts.
The tool was developed by Cazoo’s in-house app team in response to buyer behaviour.
Cazoo believes it is the first UK used-car marketplace to allow customers to begin their search using an uploaded image.
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Cazoo expects more dealer enquiries
Thomas Orthgiess, chief product officer at Cazoo, said: “Snap and search presents car buyers with tech they’ll be familiar with from non-automotive marketplaces.
“Some people spot cars they like in the wild, on a driveway or in a social media post but cannot necessarily search for it because they do not know what it is.”
The tool is intended to reduce the number of search steps between a buyer seeing a vehicle and finding similar cars available from dealers.
Orthgiess said: “We’re now able to put those buyers in touch with dealers selling the models they’re interested in a seamless process. If you can snap it, you can search for it.”
Cazoo expects the feature to expose dealer stock to customers at the point when their interest in a particular model is highest.
“For dealers this means buyers are seeing relevant stock faster and viewing listings at the moment their interest is highest,” Orthgiess added.
“We expect these sessions to convert into more vehicle page views, leading to more enquiries landing with dealers.”
The launch forms part of Cazoo’s “Honestly, Finally” campaign, which focuses on reducing friction and increasing transparency during the online car search process.
Swipe-based car search also updated
Cazoo has also updated its “swipe to discover” app function, which allows customers to browse vehicles and build a shortlist.
The revised version is designed to return results more quickly and allow buyers to move through advertised cars faster.
Cazoo was the UK’s most downloaded car marketplace app during the second quarter of 2026, according to data from digital intelligence provider Sensor Tower.
The app recorded 412,527 downloads during the quarter.
Cazoo also retained first place during July for a third consecutive month, recording 166,167 downloads. This was 49% more than the second most downloaded automotive marketplace app.
Find out more from Cazoo during Automotive Management’s Innovation Week
AM Innovation Week runs from September 21 to 25 to examine which technologies are delivering measurable results for dealerships.
Across five days, AM will examine how innovation can reduce costs, improve conversion, strengthen customer retention and create new revenue, while also questioning when technology adds unnecessary expense and complexity.