Ads in AI Mode: should your business care yet?

Ads in AI Mode are live in the US, but Google hasn't confirmed them for UK accounts, so the short answer for most UK businesses is: prepare now, don't panic, and don't rebuild your account around it.

The questions are fair, though. In May, Google reported that AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling every quarter ( Search Engine Land ). That's a lot of people typing long, detailed questions into a box that doesn't look like the search results page you built your campaigns for.

Here's what ads in AI Mode actually are, what's live and where, what it means for lead gen and e-commerce, and what we'd do this month.

What are ads in AI Mode?

Ads in AI Mode are Google Search ads that appear inside a conversation with Google's AI, rather than in a list of results.

AI Mode lets people ask detailed questions and refine them with follow-ups. Someone choosing running shoes can describe their training plans, budget, terrain and fit in one go, and Google builds an answer from that. Google first described the ads as appearing below, and integrated into, those answers.

Three names get mixed up, so here they are side by side:

• AI Mode — the conversational search experience. Affects searchers.
• AI Overviews — AI-written summaries at the top of standard results. Affects searchers.
• AI Max — a set of targeting and creative features inside a Search campaign. Affects advertisers.

There's no separate AI Mode campaign in Google Ads, and switching on AI Max doesn't let you pick AI Mode placements ( Search Engine Land ). Ads come from campaigns you already run.

The queries are different too. Google reported in October 2025 that AI Mode questions were nearly three times longer than traditional searches, which is why a keyword list alone struggles to describe what someone is really asking for.

What's live in the UK right now?

AI Mode itself is live in the UK, but ads inside it haven't rolled out to UK advertisers, as far as recent industry coverage shows. Google hasn't given a UK date.

AI Mode reached the UK in July 2025, and ads in it are live in the US, with Google saying more countries are coming ( BlackFire Marketing , 28 September 2026). Google's help page lists the countries where ads can appear inside AI Overviews, and the UK was missing from it at the time of Search Engine Land's 9 October write-up. That page covers AI Overviews, not AI Mode, so treat it as a clue rather than a verdict. Check the market, and your account, before you promise a client anything.

The machinery that will serve those ads is already in UK accounts, though. From 1 September 2026, Google began automatically upgrading Search campaigns that use campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets to AI Max, a change that applies to Google Ads accounts globally. Dynamic Search Ads follow later, with automatic migration moved to February 2027 ( PPC Land ).

Which campaigns are eligible?

Google's original May 2025 announcement named Performance Max, Shopping and Search campaigns using broad match, including AI Max for Search. At Google Marketing Live 2026, Google recommended AI Max for Search, AI Max for Shopping (documented as a beta) and Performance Max for its newer AI-powered formats, and said Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers can't be reached through legacy Search setups ( Search Engine Land , PPC Land ). In September, Google also began a small experiment serving text ads from exact and phrase match campaigns in AI Mode, where the user shows clear, direct intent.

Eligibility means an ad can serve. It doesn't mean it will appear in every AI response.

Which formats is Google testing?

Most of what Google has announced is still a test or pilot:

• Existing text and Shopping ads — ads from eligible campaigns within AI Mode responses. Testing.
• Conversational Discovery ads — Gemini tailors the creative to the user's question. Testing.
• Highlighted Answers — sponsored businesses appear within recommendation lists. Testing.
• Direct Offers — relevant promotions appear during shopping conversations. Pilot, select US retailers.

Source: Search Engine Land , 9 October 2026. An announcement doesn't mean a format is available in every account or country.

The newest development landed on 16 October. Google began testing ads in AI Mode for people who connect their apps through its opt-in Personal Intelligence feature, using that context to help personalise the ads. Google hasn't announced new advertiser controls or targeting for it ( Search Engine Land ).

What does it mean for lead gen and e-commerce?

Both need the same groundwork (tracking, landing pages, product data), but the risks differ by account type.

Lead generation: quality over volume

In AI Mode, someone can describe a problem, refine their requirements and compare suppliers inside one conversation, so your ad may appear while they're still working out what they need. That's earlier in the journey than a typical keyword click, which makes lead quality the thing to watch.

Optimising to a submitted form alone can hide a rise in enquiries your sales team can't use. Where you have qualified-lead or sales data, feed it back into the account ( Search Engine Land ).

Your landing pages matter more too. Google says text customisation can generate assets from your domain, landing page, existing ads and keywords, so a service page that says little beyond "bespoke solutions" gives the system very little to work with.

Our own accounts show why both points matter. In April, a multi-site dental group's account delivered around 200 conversions at £9.38 each from exact match keywords, against around 73 at £20.06 each from broad match. AI Max widens matching in that same direction, so watch cost per conversion as it expands.

The page matters just as much as the match type. On a private healthcare clinic's account this summer, paid clicks were identical in July and August (407 each), but conversions fell from 16 to 3 after a landing page change. We put the previous page back into testing in September, and the account's conversion rate in the first week was 2.35%, against 0.74% in August. Those are small numbers, so we're reading it as direction rather than proof.

E-commerce: feeds, offers and margin

Product data is your main lever. In January, Google announced extra Merchant Center attributes for conversational discovery across AI Mode, Gemini and Business Agent, covering things like answers to common product questions, compatible accessories and substitutes, starting with a small group of retailers ( Search Engine Land ). Titles still count, but shoppers will ask whether a sofa fits a small living room or arrives before Christmas.

Direct Offers add a margin question. Google started with a pilot among select US retailers, and a beta Direct offer asset is now appearing in Google Ads that serves only on AI Max or text customisation campaigns, with Google's AI deciding when the offer shows ( Search Engine Land ). Decide in advance which products can afford a discount, because more sales in Google Ads can still leave the business with less profit than expected.

Measurement: the awkward bit

Google doesn't report AI Mode performance separately, so you can't say AI Mode delivered a result. AI Max reporting shows expanded and keywordless matches, headlines, landing pages and asset performance, but that describes the campaign, not the placement.

If a campaign improves after you switch on AI Max, the cause could be extra matching, a different landing page, new creative or a mix of all three. Judge results against CRM outcomes and new customers, not platform conversions alone, and run a properly designed incrementality test where the account has the scale for one ( Search Engine Land ).

So, should you care yet?

Care enough to get the account ready, but not enough to change your strategy around a placement you can't yet target, measure or (in the UK) buy.

There are two reasons not to ignore it. Once ads reach the UK, there's no separate opt-out for eligible campaigns, and the scale could be real: a July SE Ranking study found text ads in 29.45% of AI Mode responses across 50,032 US commercial keywords, excluding product carousels ( Search Engine Land ). That's US data, so treat it as an upper marker rather than a UK forecast.

There are also good reasons not to rebuild anything yet. UK ads in AI Mode haven't been confirmed, there's no AI Mode reporting, and most of the new formats are still tests. Here's how we'd sort accounts today:

• Tracking is shaky, or you only count raw form fills. Fix this first, because everything else depends on it.
• Feed or landing pages are thin. Improve them before testing, as the system builds ads from them.
• Already on Performance Max, Shopping, broad match or AI Max. You're eligible by default, so take a performance baseline now.
• Solid data, reasonable budget, clear commercial question. Run a controlled AI Max experiment against your existing campaign.
• Exact and phrase match campaigns that already perform. Leave them alone, though Google is testing AI Mode for them too.

That last row rests on a small Google experiment, so don't build a plan on it.

AI Max experiments let you compare an existing Search campaign with a version using the new features. Define the commercial question first, such as finding more qualified enquiries at an acceptable cost, then judge the extra search terms, destinations and outcomes against it ( Search Engine Land ).

What to do this month

Six jobs, in this order, and none of them need UK ads in AI Mode to be live.

1. Check what changed in September. Look in your change history for Search campaigns moved onto AI Max, and note the dates so you can compare before and after.
2. Take a baseline. Export 90 days of performance by campaign: cost per conversion, conversion rate and, most importantly, lead quality or revenue. When AI Mode ads do arrive, you'll want to know what moved.
3. Review your AI Max controls. Check brand exclusions, locations of interest, URL inclusions and exclusions, and the settings for search term matching, text customisation and Final URL Expansion. Pinned ad copy isn't respected with certain asset optimisation and URL inclusion settings, so if a message has to appear, avoid Final URL Expansion and URL inclusions ( Google's AI Max FAQ, via Search Engine Land ).
4. Read search terms weekly for a month. AI Max widens where you show. Add negatives quickly, and keep brand terms out of non-brand campaigns if AI Max starts picking them up.
5. Fix the data and the pages. Import offline conversions or use enhanced conversions for leads so Google learns which clicks became customers. Then make your landing pages specific about who you serve and what you do, and exclude pages that make poor destinations for acquisition traffic.
6. E-commerce only: clean the feed and pick your offer products. Check Merchant Center data is accurate and complete, and decide which products have the margin to carry a promotion before Google's AI decides for you.