AI can find the part. Make sure it can show the part fits.
For parts manufacturers, distributors, parts stores and online sellers. Drivers and shops are starting to ask AI assistants for a part by vehicle, and whether they can get it today. Lehvel keeps your parts, their fitment and your store availability accurate and current, with the source on every answer, so the assistant gets the right part and sends the buyer to you.
Two questions in every parts search
“2021 F-150, 3.5 EcoBoost, front pads and rotors, ceramic if you have it, and I need them today.” An AI assistant has to answer two things before it can help: what the part is, and what it fits. Then a third: who has it now.
| Compared | What AI needs to know | Where it usually lives today |
|---|---|---|
| The part | Brand, part number, part type | Your catalog, PIES data, product pages |
| Attributes | Ceramic or semi-metallic, finish, dimensions | PIES attributes, spec sheets |
| Fitment | Year, make, model, engine, submodel, position, quantity | Your ACES applications, through your catalog provider or SEMA Data |
| Conditions | “Excludes heavy-duty payload package” | Application notes, often free text |
| Replacement | What replaced the number on the old box | Supersession and interchange data |
| Today | Which store or hub has it now | Your store and inventory systems, rarely the website |
Your fitment data already exists
The aftermarket solved fitment encoding years ago. ACES carries what a part fits and PIES carries what it is, and your catalog provider, SEMA Data or your own team keeps them current for marketplaces and catalogs. Lehvel reads those as sources. It doesn't replace them and doesn't build fitment of its own.
What gets lost is everything after the file. Product pages show a vehicle selector a crawler can't use. Structured data on the web can't express an application at all. The note that says “excludes heavy-duty brakes” gets dropped or reworded. Fitment sits in the catalog and stock sits in the store system, and nothing ties the two together for an assistant. And nobody checks what ChatGPT says about your part numbers.
A fit is stated, with its source
“The manufacturer lists this part for…” Not “this will fit.” The answer carries the position, the quantity, the conditions word for word, and which file and date it came from.
Resolve the vehicle first. When applications split on engine, drive or brake package and the buyer hasn't said, the assistant asks, or asks for the VIN. It never picks one.
Unknown is not “doesn't fit.” If the part isn't listed for that vehicle, the answer is that it isn't listed, with a way to ask. A guess from a product title is never a fit.
One request, five steps
Here's what that F-150 request needs. For your parts and your store to be the answer, five things have to be true.
| Compared | The assistant's job | What has to be true about your business |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Find front pads and rotors for the truck | AI can reach your parts and their applications, not only a vehicle selector |
| Understand | Pin down the truck | Your applications name engine, drive and brake package where they differ, so the assistant knows what to ask |
| Qualify | Check ceramic, and which store has a set today | Friction material is a stated attribute; store stock carries the time it was read |
| Contact | Find the store | Your store locations and hours are published and agree with Google |
| Act | Send a request to the store | It reaches a person with the parts and the vehicle. It's a request, not a reservation |
What Lehvel does
Your parts, read from your data. Brand, part number, part type and attributes from your PIES data and pages; fitment from your ACES applications, with the version and date. Every fact keeps where it came from. We call it Product Truth.
Fitment answers that carry their source. Position, quantity, conditions word for word, and the file they came from. A vehicle that isn't resolved gets a question, not a guess.
Store availability with a time on it. Same-day stock answered only from a current reading. An old one becomes “call the store.”
A check on what AI actually says. We ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity whether your part numbers fit specific vehicles, including ones they aren't listed for, and compare the answers with your applications.
A controlled way to ask. One action: a parts request with the vehicle that reaches a store or your sales desk. It never reserves stock, takes payment or guarantees a fit.
What's live and what isn't
Live today. Websites, search presence, checks of what the major AI assistants say about a business, and one managed record of the business behind it.
Building. The part and fitment record read from your ACES and PIES data, fitment answers with their source, store availability, and one request that lands with your team. We want one parts brand or seller to build it with first.
Not on the table yet. Reservations, payment, price quotes or anything that promises a fit through an AI assistant.
We can't promise that any assistant will recommend your parts. We can make sure that when one asks what fits, it gets your own answer, with its source.
Find out where you stand
Check My Business shows what AI assistants say about your business today, where your website and listings disagree, and what to fix first. A person at Lehvel reviews the findings before they're sent. No credit card required.
Questions
Does Lehvel replace ACES, PIES or our catalog provider?
No. Those are the sources. Lehvel reads your ACES applications and PIES data as you or your provider publish them, and answers AI assistants from them with the source attached.
Will Lehvel guarantee that a part fits?
No. Only you, or a marketplace with its own program, can guarantee fit. Lehvel repeats what your applications say, word for word, and says where it came from.
Our applications have free-text notes. What happens to them?
They're kept exactly as written and returned with the fitment. If a note leaves the answer open, the assistant asks the buyer or sends them to you.
We sell performance parts. What about emissions legality?
Only what you publish. A CARB Executive Order number you state is returned with its source; if you haven't stated one, the assistant sends the buyer to you.
We're a distributor with stores. Can it say what's in stock today?
Yes, from a current reading of your stock by store. An old reading becomes “call the store,” and a missing one is never “out of stock.”
How do we see what AI says about our parts now?
Run Check My Business. It compares what ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity say with your own facts.
Check My BusinessWant to discuss your auto parts business with Lehvel?
Book a time with Lehvel and we’ll go through what your business actually needs.