To give your Google Ads a chance to appear in AI Mode, use a campaign type Google has identified as eligible—but eligibility does not guarantee an impression. Google has named Performance Max, Shopping, and Search campaigns using broad match, including AI Max for Search. It has not published a complete, AI Mode-specific guide to targeting controls, market availability, reporting, or the data used to select ads.
What Google Ads in AI Mode are
Google describes ads in AI Mode as a test of new Search ad formats. Ads may appear below or integrated into AI Mode responses; Google says integrated ads will be clearly labeled. The formats are intended to provide product details and guidance in the context of a conversational response. Google has described verified product details and an independent AI explainer as parts of the experience. Google’s May 2026 announcement outlines these newer formats.
This is different from Google Ads promotional credits: the subject here is ad placements and offers shown in AI Mode, not credits for advertisers.
Which campaigns Google has said are eligible?
In its 2025 announcement, Google said existing Performance Max, Shopping, and Search campaigns with broad match—including AI Max for Search—were eligible to have ads appear in AI Mode and AI Overviews. Google described AI Mode ads as an early test in the US at that time. Treat this as Google’s published eligibility statement, not a permanent or exhaustive checklist: rollout and campaign eligibility can change. Google’s 2025 Search announcement gives the original qualification.
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| Campaign type | Google’s published AI Mode eligibility statement |
|---|---|
| Performance Max | Named as eligible in Google’s 2025 announcement; newer AI Mode formats are also described as powered by Performance Max. 2025 announcement; May 2026 announcement. |
| Shopping | Named as eligible in Google’s 2025 announcement. 2025 announcement. |
| Search with broad match, including AI Max for Search | Named as eligible in Google’s 2025 announcement; newer AI Mode formats are described as powered by AI Max. 2025 announcement; May 2026 announcement. |
“Eligible” means a campaign may participate in the placement; it does not promise that an ad will serve. Google’s announcements do not provide a complete checklist of required settings, bidding strategies, keywords, exclusions, languages, or markets. They also do not establish a control to target AI Mode exclusively or force an ad into a particular answer. Build and manage the named campaign types according to their usual Google Ads requirements, but do not assume that a particular setting guarantees AI Mode placement.
Can you target ads only in AI Mode?
The announcements cited above do not establish an AI Mode-only targeting control. Nor do they spell out a placement-specific opt-out, exclusions, auction mechanics, or reporting. If you need to know whether your account has a current control, check the controls and reporting actually available in Google Ads; do not infer that an AI Overviews setting applies to AI Mode.
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AI Mode and AI Overviews have different documentation
AI Mode is the conversational Search experience; AI Overviews are a separate Search surface. Google’s help page for AI Overviews says those placements use the user’s query and Overview content, and names Search, Shopping, and Performance Max ads as eligible under specified conditions. It also says advertisers cannot directly target only AI Overviews, cannot opt out of appearing there, and do not receive segmented reporting for those placements. Those are AI Overviews rules, not confirmed AI Mode policy. Google Ads Help: About ads and AI Overviews.
| Question | AI Mode | AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | Conversational AI Mode responses. | AI-generated Overviews within Search. |
| Published eligibility | Google’s 2025 announcement names Performance Max, Shopping, and broad-match Search, including AI Max for Search. Source. | Google Ads Help identifies eligible Search, Shopping, and Performance Max ads under specified conditions. Source. |
| Placement controls | AI Mode-specific targeting, opt-out, and exclusions are not established in the cited announcements. | Google says advertisers cannot target only AI Overviews or opt out of appearing there. Source. |
| Segmented reporting | AI Mode-specific placement reporting is not established in the cited announcements. | Google says AI Overviews placements do not receive segmented reporting. Source. |
What does Google say about privacy and ad transparency?
Google’s general personalized-ad guidance says signed-in users can review and adjust topics used for personalized ads in Ads Settings, and can opt out of personalized ads. It also describes restrictions involving sensitive categories. This is general Google advertising guidance, not a detailed account of how AI Mode selects or ranks ads. Google Ads Help: About privacy and personalized ads.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchSeparately, on July 9, 2026, Google announced that a “How this ad was made” section in My Ad Center would be available globally from the ad menu or info icon on ads across Search, YouTube, and Discover. Google said it indicates whether an ad was created or edited with AI. That disclosure concerns ad creative; it is not a complete explanation of the user data or signals behind AI Mode ad selection. Google’s announcement on AI transparency in ads.
The cited AI Mode announcements do not detail AI Mode-specific data collection, retention, profiling, or personalized targeting. General Ads Settings and the creative-transparency label should not be treated as a full account of every signal used to choose an ad in a conversational response.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Google’s consumer survey does—and does not—show
Google reported that 75% of people said they made faster, more confident decisions using AI Mode in Search. The figure comes from an Ipsos Global Consumer Journeys survey commissioned in December 2025: an online survey of 13,189 adults aged 18 or older in selected countries, who had made a considered consumer-goods purchase in the prior week and used Google AI Overviews and/or AI Mode for shopping. It is self-reported survey data; it does not show that AI Mode ads caused faster or more confident decisions. Google’s May 20, 2026 announcement describes the result and survey scope.
Quick Recap
Practical takeaway for advertisers
- Use one of the campaign types Google has named as eligible if you want the possibility of AI Mode placements.
- Do not treat campaign eligibility as guaranteed delivery, or as proof that AI Mode can be targeted exclusively.
- Keep AI Mode and AI Overviews distinct when interpreting controls, eligibility, and reporting.
- Use Ads Settings and My Ad Center disclosures for the controls and transparency they describe, without assuming they explain all AI Mode ad-selection signals.
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