- In Germany, ads can appear above and below AI Overviews. According to Google, ads inside the overview are currently available only in English, in twelve countries.
- You can't book or exclude this placement specifically. Google requires AI-powered targeting, such as broad match, AI Max, or Performance Max.
- In our sample from October 11, 2026, each of three searches looked different: one had four ads above the overview, one an overview without ads, and one no overview at all.
- For “wärmepumpe kosten” (heat pump costs), only one of the overview's eight sources also ranked among the top nine organic results.
- Google Ads counts ads around the overview as top ads. There is no dedicated report for them.
Many search results are now topped by an AI-generated summary from Google: AI Overviews (in German, “Übersicht mit KI”). For advertisers, this raises two questions: where do your ads appear, and how does your website get into the overview?
We answer both as of October 2026, based on three searches we ran on October 11, 2026.
Three searches, three different results pages
We ran three search terms on desktop for Germany. Search volumes come from the Google Ads Keyword Planner.
| Search term | Searches per month | AI Overview | Ads | Overview sources also in the organic results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| wärmepumpe kosten | 40.500 | yes, below the ads | 4 text ads above the overview | 1 of 8 |
| photovoltaik kosten | 1.300 | yes, at the very top | none | 5 out of 5 |
| steuerberater münchen | 4.400 | no, map pack with 3 firms | none | n/a |
Our own analysis of Google data via DataForSEO, retrieved October 11, 2026, first results page. Search results vary by time, location, and device.
Three takeaways:
- Whether an overview appears depends on the query. For a local tax firm search, Google showed the map pack and no overview.
- Only one search showed ads. For “wärmepumpe kosten,” four text ads appeared above the overview; for “photovoltaik kosten” (solar panel costs), none.
- The overview's sources aren't always the top results. For “photovoltaik kosten,” all five sources came from the organic results. For “wärmepumpe kosten,” only one of the eight sources also ranked among the top nine organic results.
We check this for your specific search terms before aligning budget or content around it.
In Germany, ads appear above and below the overview
According to Google Ads Help, there are three ad positions around an AI Overview. As of October 2026:
| Position | Available | Campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| above the overview | in all markets with AI Overviews, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) | Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and App campaigns |
| below the overview | as above | as above |
| inside the overview | English only, in Australia, India, Indonesia, Canada, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and the US | Text and Shopping ads from Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns |
According to Google, it doesn't show ads in AI Overviews for adult, alcohol, gambling, finance, health, or political content.
Beyond the overviews, Google's AI Mode, a dedicated area of Search for in-depth questions, has also been available in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since October 8, 2025. Learn more in our article on Google AI Mode for advertisers.
Your campaigns need AI-powered targeting
According to Google, you can't target a campaign specifically at AI Overviews, nor can you exclude the placement. To match an ad to both the search and the answer, Google requires AI-powered targeting:
- Broad match in Search campaigns
- keywordless targeting via AI Max for Search
- Performance Max and Shopping campaigns
- dynamic search ads
Google also recommends Smart Bidding. In our clients' accounts, we pair broad targeting with three fundamentals:
- Profit as the goal: We feed margins, contribution margins, or order values into the account, so the bidding strategy optimizes for your profit.
- Exclusions: We exclude search terms and placements that cost money without selling anything, in Performance Max as well.
- Product data: For online shops, we write titles that match how people search and add material, size, and intended use to the feed. Learn more on our data feed management page.
Classic SEO is how your website gets into the overview
Google selects sources for AI Overviews and AI Mode using its standard ranking and quality systems, as stated in its July 2026 guide. The guide also says:
- AI features in Search don't require special markup or a file such as llms.txt. Structured data remains useful for rich results.
- Content doesn't need to be split into small chunks.
- Google treats building separate pages for every variation of a question, in an attempt to influence rankings or AI answers, as spam.
That's why we build pages for our clients that answer their customers' questions with their own expertise, data, and examples. And we fix whatever keeps Google from reading and evaluating those pages, from load times to indexing. Learn more on our SEO page.
We measure impact by profit per campaign
Google Ads counts ads around AI Overviews as top ads. According to Google, there is no dedicated report for this placement. On the organic side, Google points to a performance report for generative AI features in Search Console.
We evaluate campaigns by their costs and the resulting inquiries or sales. Where margin data is available, we also factor in contribution margin. Every week, we shift the budget to where it generates the most profit. How we set up campaigns is shown on our Google Ads page.
