12:16 pm, July 15, 2026
CarGurus has launched a new AI-powered car shopping tool that it says will help dealers connect with more qualified buyers as the automotive marketplace celebrates 10 years in the UK.
The new feature, called Discover, allows shoppers to search for a vehicle by describing what they want in natural language rather than filtering by make, model or price.
The conversational AI tool then recommends suitable vehicles from dealers’ live stock listings, displaying pricing, deal ratings and CarGurus’ Instant Market Value (IMV) data before allowing buyers to contact the retailer.
Speaking on the Car Dealer Podcast, CarGurus president and chief operating officer Sam Zales said the technology was designed around the way consumers actually shop for cars.
‘Most people start their search not knowing exactly what vehicle they’re looking for,’ he said.
‘We’re finding a huge percentage of consumers who don’t know what they want conversationally coming down that AI stream and then at the end saying, “Now I am ready to contact that dealer and I’m more prepared for that purchase process and ready to go.”‘
Zales added that Discover had already proved successful in the United States before being introduced to Britain.
He explained: ‘We built this in the US. It’s become a phenomenal driver of consumer demand, where most people start their search not knowing exactly what vehicle they’re looking for.’
CarGurus says the system has been trained using more than a decade of UK market data, including real-time dealer listings, pricing information and millions of search signals from British consumers.
Unlike traditional search tools, Zales said Discover continues a conversation with buyers rather than simply applying filters.
‘What we built was truly the first conversational, context-aware AI capability,’ he said.
‘Every search starts with a different kind of prompt. 72% of our searches are coming in with unique identifiers from consumers.’
He added that the platform was already generating more qualified enquiries because shoppers were sharing information such as their budget before submitting a lead.
‘Most of our consumers coming in on Discover so far in the UK are sharing their budgets,’ he said. ‘That’s a more qualified lead.’
CarGurus research found that 76% of UK car buyers would consider using AI during the purchasing process, while around one in five had already used AI when buying or selling a vehicle.
The launch forms part of CarGurus’ 10th anniversary in the UK market.
Zales said: ‘Ten years ago, we entered the UK with a clear vision: car shoppers and dealers deserved more transparency, smarter tools and a platform genuinely built around their needs.
‘Since then, we have helped millions connect with dealers to navigate one of the biggest financial decisions they will make with more confidence.
‘We believe our product innovation momentum in the UK has never been stronger, with a clear focus on continuing to set the pace in the market through products and features built on AI-enabled personalisation and real-time market intelligence.’
