[Auto Edition] Nested Case Study: Cadillac

Introduction

Simply by nesting its internal departments on Google, Dimmitt Cadillac of St. Petersburg added +203 driving directions in the first full month, and saw an increase of +1,898 over the next 10 months. By giving each department its own optimized profile, the dealership expanded visibility for high-intent searches — without reducing engagement on the main listing.

Client Background

Dimmitt Cadillac is a full-service dealership located in St. Petersburg, Florida, offering new and used vehicles, financing, service, parts, and more. With multiple departments competing for attention online, the dealership wanted a solution that ensured each department was easily discoverable in niche searches (e.g., “tires near me” and “oil change”), while maintaining strong performance on the main profile.

Objectives

• Increase high-intent search visibility for each department.
  
  
• Drive more in-store visits, as indicated by driving direction requests.
  
  
• Maintain engagement and traffic on the main dealership profile.
  
  
• Provide measurable, repeatable results for future campaigns.
  
  

Timeline

Baseline

Prior to implementing nested departments, the dealership’s driving directions came solely from the main listing. At that time, only the sales department had an active listing (some dealerships also maintain separate service and parts listings).

Driving Directions Metrics (Sales Department Only):

• Monthly Average: 350 driving directions

• Total Requests: 1,051 (from January 1 to March 31)

The Foot Traffic Report analysis confirmed relatively flat growth, with no major increases in intent-driven searches prior to nesting.

The Experiment

1. Nested Departments Setup – Separate Google Business Profiles were created for the Parts department, Tire Center, Oil Change Service, Brake Shop, Transmission Shop, and Auto Air Conditioning Repair, and we connected them under the main Dimmitt Cadillac of St. Petersburg listing.
   
   
2. Profile Optimization – Each department was created with optimized categories, business description, attributes/services, and more.
   
   
3. Content Updates – New photos and posts were added for each department to improve engagement and freshness.
   
   
4. Review Engagement – Responses to customer reviews enhanced trust signals and local search relevance.
   
   

The full setup was completed in just five days, making implementation fast and efficient.

Methodology

To measure the impact, we compared pre- and post-nesting metrics using:

• Driving direction requests as the primary KPI, indicating the most important metric, customers’ intent to visit.
  
  
• Foot Traffic Report data to visualize trends and total engagement.
  
  
• Department-level breakdowns ensured no interference to the main profile’s traffic.

Results

The nested profiles were created throughout April, and despite the majority of new profiles being created in the last few days, a noticeable lift in driving directions was already evident. The dealership gained an additional 139 directions in that fraction of a month, not including the substantial increase to the sales listing itself. In the first full month after implementing nested departments, driving directions increased significantly: building on the 392 directions from the existing sales profile, we observed:

• Tire Shop: +58 driving directions
  
  
• Auto Air: +56 driving directions
  
  
• Brake Shop: +65 driving directions
  
  
• Transmission: +31 driving directions
  
  
• Auto Parts: +57 driving directions
  
  
• Oil Change: +60 driving directions
  
  
  
  
• Overall: +327 driving directions across all newly created and nested departments
  
  • That is a 68% increase in the first full month.

• Expanded Driving Directions: Dimmitt Cadillac of St. Petersburg saw an additional +1898 driving directions between 4/1/25 and 1/30/26 from their new listings alone.
  
  
• Average Foot Traffic Increase: +35% across all locations

Each department captured additional searches, demonstrating that nested listings can expand visibility and engagement without affecting the main dealership profile.

Key Takeaways

• Nested departments significantly improve visibility for department-specific searches.
  
  
• Driving directions serve as a strong signal for potential in-store visits.
  
  
• Setup is fast, simple, and repeatable across multiple locations and industries.
  
  
• Main profile traffic remains intact while each department captures incremental reach.
  
  
• This enhanced performance will be retained, month after month.

Next Steps

• Want your locations nested? Our team can implement this across multiple industries.
  
  
  

Over the past decade, dbaPlatform has supported more than 200,000 locations worldwide. Recently, we’ve observed a potential disconnect between Google’s product and policy teams regarding what is permitted when it comes to nested departments. As a result, there is always a risk of suspended profiles and re-verifications, both with and without nested listings, as we’ve seen play out recently in the automotive industry.