Brands over time

Motorway
over time

Every year keeps its colour across every chart.│ ChatGPT, 30 Nov 2022

194 of Motorway's own blog posts, press releases and announcements, 2017 to 2026, measured sentence by sentence, 60 of them recovered from the Internet Archive. How the writing has moved over the years, how it compares with 6 other motoring brands, and what it sounds like in its own words.

Pages measured
194
Years covered
2017–26
Archived before ChatGPT
60
Blog · press
187 · 7

01 · Homepage

One capture a year

Motorway's homepage from 2017 to 2026, closest to 1 July, from the Internet Archive. Pick a year or press play. Each headline is quoted from its capture and links to the archived copy.

2026motorway.co.uk15 Jul 2026
Motorway homepage, 15 Jul 2026

Screenshot of Motorway’s homepage (motorway.co.uk) as archived by the Internet Archive on 15 Jul 2026. © Motorway or its licensors. Shown for comparison and review; not endorsed by Motorway.

Homepage

2026

“Sorry, we couldn’t load this page”

Page title

Sell My Car | Get Your Highest Offer | Quick & Easy

Open on the Internet Archive
  1. 2017Sell your car fast
  2. 2020The comparison site to sell your car
  3. 2022Sell your car the Motorway way£1,000* more wayhassle free wayfrom home way
  4. 2024The more money way to sell your car
  5. 2025Sell my car.
  6. 2026Sorry, we couldn’t load this page

8 captures. Screenshots are rendered from the archive and can pull in images archived later than the page itself; dates come from the capture. Years without a capture are greyed out in the strip.

02 · Measures by year

How the writing moved

Every year’s pages, averaged. Pick a measure. Hatched bars rest on fewer than 10 pages: context, not a finding. The page count sits under each year.

Sentence lengthAverage words per sentence.
8
16
24
Motoring avg 14.3
15.2
19.3
15.0
17.8
15.2
17.0
19.2
12.2
13.5
14.7
ChatGPT · Nov 2022
2015no pages
2016no pages
20178 pp
201811 pp
201914 pp
202012 pp
202116 pp
202218 pp
20238 pp
202469 pp
202517 pp
202621 pp
10 or more pagesFewer than 10 pages: context, not a findingSector averageChatGPT released
Show as a table
YearSentence lengthPages
201715.28
201819.311
201915.014
202017.812
202115.216
202217.018
202319.28
202412.269
202513.517
202614.721

Years with pages: 2017 (8), 2018 (11), 2019 (14), 2020 (12), 2021 (16), 2022 (18), 2023 (8), 2024 (69), 2025 (17), 2026 (21). Dates come from page metadata, structured data, the URL, or the month a page was first archived (a latest possible date).

03 · Before and after

2019 to Nov 2022 against 2024 to 2026

The same measures on 60 pages from before ChatGPT launched and 107 pages from 2024 on. A change here is a change in style. It does not show how any page was written: people used every one of these words and shapes long before 2022, and SGR-011 found most of the shift across brands was a trend already under way.

2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Sentence length down 20%

words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Sentence length down 20%. words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Sentence length16.212.9−3.3

Sentence rhythm down 7%

How much sentence length varies (standard deviation over mean). Higher reads less even.

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Sentence rhythm down 7%. How much sentence length varies (standard deviation over mean). Higher reads less even. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Sentence rhythm0.660.61−0.05

Contractions up 31%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Contractions up 31%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Contractions12.516.4+3.9

"You" up 25 pts

share of I/we/you

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

"You" up 25 pts. share of I/we/you. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
"You"46%71%+25%

"We" down 32 pts

share of I/we/you

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

"We" down 32 pts. share of I/we/you. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
"We"50%18%−32%

Questions up 94%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Questions up 94%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Questions4.18.0+3.9

Exclamations up 22%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Exclamations up 22%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Exclamations0.961.18+0.21

Long words up 3 pts

share of words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Long words up 3 pts. share of words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Long words23%25%+3%

Em dashes down 22%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Em dashes down 22%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Em dashes4.863.77−1.09

AI-associated words up 186%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

AI-associated words up 186%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
AI-associated words0.601.73+1.12

AI-era marketing words up 271%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

AI-era marketing words up 271%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
AI-era marketing words0.381.42+1.03

Quieter LLM-favoured words up 209%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Quieter LLM-favoured words up 209%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Quieter LLM-favoured words1.123.47+2.35

AI-associated sentence shapes down 23%

per 1,000 words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

AI-associated sentence shapes down 23%. per 1,000 words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
AI-associated sentence shapes0.280.22−0.07

Page length up 45%

words

  • 2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp
  • 2024 to 2026 · 107 pp

Source: SGR-011

Page length up 45%. words. Source: SGR-011
m2019 to Nov 2022 · 60 pp2024 to 2026 · 107 ppChange
Page length9341,353+420

Every chart is centred on its before value and shares one relative scale, so a longer bar means a bigger percentage change; the values themselves are in different units and do not compare. Before = 2019 to Nov 2022 (60 pages); after = 2024 to 2026 (107 pages). Method: SGR-011.

04 · Against its sector

Motorway among motoring brands

Each dot is one brand’s mean across all its measured pages; the tick is the sector average. Only brands with 10 or more measured pages are shown or counted. Select a dot to open that brand.

  1. Questions

    30% more than its sector

    6.0 against a sector average of 4.6; 2nd highest of 7.

  2. Em dashes

    20% more than its sector

    4.16 against a sector average of 3.48; 2nd highest of 7.

  3. "We"

    13% more than its sector

    33% against a sector average of 29%; 2nd highest of 7.

Sentence length3rd highest of 7
Motorway 14.6
12.916.6
Contractions3rd lowest of 7
Motorway 14.8
11.922.6
"You"3rd lowest of 7
Motorway 59%
56%73%
"We"2nd highest of 7
Motorway 33%
22%34%
Questions2nd highest of 7
Motorway 6.0
2.98.0
Long words3rd highest of 7
Motorway 24%
18%26%
Em dashes2nd highest of 7
Motorway 4.16
1.745.19
AI-associated words2nd highest of 7
Motorway 1.30
0.381.81
Exclamations2nd highest of 7
Motorway 1.09
0.211.61
Page lengthMid-table, 4th of 7
Motorway 1,126
7535,102

Pages measured: Halfords 22 · Kwik Fit 170 · RAC 193 · cinch 311 · Arnold Clark 141 · carwow 320 · Motorway 194. Measures and method: SGR-010; this sector and its brands were added by Brands over time, measured exactly as the studies measured theirs. Sector averages and ranks cover every brand in the sector on this site.

05 · Vocabulary

Words Motorway uses more than its peers

The words this brand reaches for more often than the rest of its sector. This is subject matter more than voice.

sell62.7 vs 8.9
selling36.3 vs 2.3
car359.1 vs 195.6
dealer22.7 vs 1.5
dealers30.7 vs 6.4
buying28.7 vs 6.3
value36.9 vs 10.1
sellers14.6 vs 0.4
price57.8 vs 23.2
vehicle82.1 vs 38.7
platform11.7 vs 1.6
buyer9.4 vs 0.7
valuation11.5 vs 1.7
MotorwaySector peers

Uses per 10,000 words, ranked by weighted log-odds (Monroe et al. 2008) across 194 pages. Checked for product names and page furniture.

06 · In its own words

What it sounded like

Openings of real pages, quoted word for word, oldest first. Each links to the page, or to the Internet Archive’s copy when it has gone.

20174 Jul · Blog
“We’re solving this problem by giving you a one-stop shop to compare instant offers on your car from the UK’s best online car buyers. Compare price, car drop-off and collection arrangements, fees and payment details in seconds, then find the best deal for you.”
Motorway - The UK's Car Selling Comparison Site
202123 Apr · Blog
“Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace for used cars, today reveals its revenues have more than tripled in size in a year as it plays a key role in the digital transformation of the auto trade industry.”
Motorway generates £2m in used car sales a day
202620 Jan · Blog
“Selling with Motorway is easy, as we instantly connect you to our network of verified dealers, ready to bid on your car. But behind every car bought on Motorway is a real person – and actually, quite a lot of them.”
Learn More About The Dealers On Motorway

07 · Every page

All 195 pages, by year

The full list behind every number above, with links to the live page or the archived copy. 194 count towards the measures; the rest were not measured (1 under 150 words of text). Pages with no reliable date count in the overall numbers but in no year.

202621 pages
202517 pages
202469 pages
20238 pages
202218 pages
202116 pages
202012 pages
201914 pages
201811 pages
20178 pages
Not measured1 page

08 · Method

How this was measured

The pages

Motorway's own blog posts, press releases and announcements, fetched from the live site in 2026 and from the Internet Archive for 2015 to November 2022. Homepages are shown as captures; product and help pages are not measured.

The measures

Code counts from ScriptGrain’s writing instruments: sentence length and rhythm, contractions, pronouns, punctuation, long words, and three published lists of AI-associated words. No AI model reads or judges any page.

What it cannot say

These measures describe style. They cannot tell who or what wrote a page, and nothing here says or implies that any brand used AI to write.

Sample sizes

Every number carries its page count. Years under 10 pages, and before-and-after comparisons with under 10 pages on a side, are shown as context only.

Sentence length
Average words per sentence.
Sentence rhythm
How much sentence length varies (standard deviation over mean). Higher reads less even.
Contractions
Contractions (we're, you'll, it's) per 1,000 words. A rough gauge of how conversational the writing is.
"You"
Share of I/we/you pronouns that are "you": how much the writing addresses the reader.
"We"
Share of I/we/you pronouns that are "we": how much the writing talks about the organisation.
Questions
Question marks per 1,000 words.
Exclamations
Exclamation marks per 1,000 words.
Long words
Share of words with seven or more letters.
Em dashes
Em dashes per 1,000 words.
AI-associated words
Words from SGR-007's three AI-associated lists, per 1,000 words. These are style markers that people used long before ChatGPT; a higher rate says nothing about who or what wrote the page.
AI-era marketing words
Marketing words that became more common in AI-era copy (seamless, elevate, unlock...), per 1,000 words. A style measure only.
Quieter LLM-favoured words
Everyday words language models are known to over-use, per 1,000 words. A style measure only.
AI-associated sentence shapes
Sentence patterns such as "not just X, but Y", found by ScriptGrain's cliche checker, per 1,000 words. A style measure only.
Page length
Average words per page.

Studies: SGR-009: Do brands in the same sector sound the same? · SGR-010: How UK brands write · SGR-011: Did brand writing change after ChatGPT?.