- AI Max is not a separate campaign type but a set of AI features for existing Search campaigns: search term matching, text customization and final URL expansion.
- At launch, Google cited 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, rising to 27% for campaigns using mostly exact and phrase match keywords.
- Since September 2026, Google has been automatically upgrading campaigns that use automatically created assets and broad match keywords to AI Max at the campaign level. Dynamic Search Ads follow from February 2027.
- AI Max optimizes for the conversions you report. Whether more conversions mean more profit depends on your conversion values.
With AI Max, Google bundles several AI features for Google Ads into a single setting. AI Max is not a new campaign type but an extension of existing Search campaigns: you switch the features on in the campaign, and your keywords, ads and bid strategy stay in place.
Since its launch in May 2025, AI Max has gone from add-on to default. Since September 2026, Google has been upgrading older settings to it automatically. In this article, we explain what AI Max does, how to control it and what to watch so that more conversions also mean more profit.
AI Max adds three features to your Search campaigns
At its core, AI Max has three components, plus new controls and reports:
- Search term matching: The AI identifies relevant queries beyond the keywords you have added.
- Text customization: Google generates headlines and descriptions tailored to each search query.
- Final URL expansion: AI Max sends users to the page that best matches their search.
Search term matching finds queries beyond your keywords
Using broad match and keywordless matching, AI Max reaches queries your keywords did not cover before. The AI learns from your existing keywords, ad copy and landing pages. Google describes this as a shift from matching search terms to understanding the intent behind them.
Search term matching is switched on and off at the ad group level. Important for existing accounts: with AI Max, broad match keywords are no longer prioritized like exact match keywords. To keep your current prioritization, add copies of your most important keywords as exact match.
Text customization writes ads tailored to the query
The feature was previously called “automatically created assets”. Google generates ad copy from your existing ads, assets and landing page content. This copy can go live before anyone has reviewed it.
That's why reviewing generated copy is part of ongoing account management. You can remove unsuitable assets and use text guidelines to tell the AI which wording to avoid.
Final URL expansion picks the right landing page
If an ad links to your home page, AI Max can recognize that a product page is a better fit for a specific search and send the user straight there. The feature requires text customization and is controlled at the campaign level.
URL exclusions let you define pages that should never be used as landing pages, such as careers, legal notice or service pages.
New controls keep automation on track
To keep the AI from drifting off course, Google provides dedicated levers:
- Brand controls: Brand inclusions and exclusions determine which brands your ads can appear alongside.
- Locations of interest: At the ad group level, you control which regions mentioned in a query can trigger your ads.
- URL controls: URL inclusions and exclusions define which pages can receive traffic.
Reporting shows what AI Max contributes to your results
In the search terms report, “AI Max” appears as its own keyword type, showing whether a search term was triggered by a broad match keyword or without a keyword. One view combines search term, served headline and landing page. The landing page report shows which pages AI Max selected, and the asset report shows how the generated copy performs.
This lets you see what share of costs and results AI Max accounts for. Run this analysis regularly: it is the only way to tell whether the additional reach pays off.
Google promises more conversions on the same budget
At launch, Google cited its own test results: advertisers who activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS. For campaigns that had mainly used exact and phrase match keywords, the uplift was 27%.
In 2026, Google added another figure: campaigns using all three features achieve, on average, 7% more conversions or conversion value than campaigns using search term matching alone, at a similar CPA or ROAS. Both are Google's own numbers. Only your own test shows whether they hold in your account.
What counts as a conversion is decisive here. AI Max finds additional search queries that match your goals. If your account only reports form submissions or revenue, the AI steers toward form submissions or revenue. Conversion values tied to margin help align bid optimization with economically relevant inquiries and sales. We describe how to set this up in our article on conversion tracking.
Since September 2026, Google has been upgrading older settings to AI Max automatically
In April 2026, Google announced it would fold three older settings into AI Max. The current status:
| Previous setting | Upgrade to AI Max | Active after upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Automatically created assets | automatically from September 2026 | Search term matching and text customization |
| Broad match keywords at campaign level | automatically from September 2026 | Search term matching |
| Dynamic Search Ads | automatically from February 2027 | all three features; existing URL settings are retained |
Dynamic Search Ads were originally also scheduled for September 2026. In June 2026, Google pushed this part back to February 2027. After the upgrade, dynamic ad groups become standard ad groups.
What this means for you: check which campaigns have already been upgraded and which features are now active. If you'd rather prepare the upgrade yourself, use the tools Google provides in the account and decide in advance which landing pages and brands should stay excluded.
AI Max connects your ads to AI search
Google is turning search into a conversation. AI Overviews, AI-generated summaries with sources, now sit above the classic results, and in AI Mode users can ask follow-up questions and run complex research. Both are available in Germany.
AI Max is Google's answer to how ads can keep pace in this new search. Queries are getting longer and more conversational, and almost no advertiser can add every phrasing as a keyword. Keywordless matching is designed to serve ads wherever the intent fits, even if no keyword matches exactly.
Ads can appear above, below and within AI Overviews. For placement inside the summary, Google recommends AI-powered targeting: broad match or keywordless matching via AI Max, Performance Max or Shopping. Google currently serves ads within AI Overviews only in English and in selected countries; according to Google Help, Germany is not yet among them. This placement cannot be booked or excluded on its own.
Organic visibility in AI answers follows different rules. We explain how companies get mentioned there in our article on Generative Engine Optimization.
AI Max pays off most for accounts with reliable data
AI Max is a particularly good fit for advertisers with:
- Large accounts: If you manage many ad groups, keywords and landing pages, keywordless matching adds reach without you having to maintain every variation yourself.
- Clear ROAS or CPA targets: Google recommends using AI Max with Smart Bidding. The more accurately your targets and conversion values reflect your economics, the better the AI allocates budget.
- Clean conversion data: The AI learns from your conversions. Without reliable tracking, it finds more queries, but not necessarily more customers.
- Many products or services with dedicated pages: Final URL expansion delivers when there is a matching landing page for every intent.
AI Max is less suited to campaigns that are already budget-limited; Google itself notes that AI Max has little impact there. For heavily regulated offerings where every phrase needs approval, use text customization only with clear text guidelines and close oversight.
We roll out AI Max under control, with a test
AI Max is more than just another feature for the future of Google Ads. Google is bringing search and advertising closer together and handing more decisions to the AI. For advertisers, the work shifts from managing individual keywords to defining the inputs the AI learns from.
That shapes our approach:
- Data first: We check that conversion tracking is complete and that conversion values reflect profit contribution.
- Set guardrails: We define brand, location and URL controls and text guidelines before launch.
- Launch as an experiment: We first run AI Max as an experiment against the existing campaign to measure its impact cleanly.
- Review search terms continuously: We exclude anything that doesn't fit your business.
Conclusion: AI Max delivers reach; your account has to turn it into profit
Since 2026, AI Max has been the new default for most Search campaigns. Its features can tap demand that keywords alone could not reach, and Google backs this up with its own figures.
Whether that becomes profit depends on your inputs: conversion values, exclusions and regular search term reviews. Keep these foundations in shape, and the AI works toward the right goal.
