AI Max for Search: Everything you need to know
Google has been layering AI into Search campaigns for years through features like Smart Bidding, Responsive Search Ads, and Performance Max.
In May 2025, it announced the next step: AI Max.
The feature is now rolling out globally in beta and appearing in many advertiser accounts. (If you don’t see it yet, expect it soon.)
Here’s what it is, how it works, and what it means for your campaigns.
AI Max is a feature within your existing Search campaign that you can toggle on or off.
Enabling it provides targeting and creative enhancements in an automated way.
According to Google, AI Max:
Here’s how each works.
Search term matching helps you capture queries you’d otherwise miss through a mix of broad match and keywordless technology.
“Keywordless” refers to serving ads without relying on manually added keywords.
Instead, Google uses contextual, behavioral, and semantic data to decide when and to whom an ad should appear.
Its AI then learns from both keyword and keywordless matches, along with your creative assets and URLs, to help surface more relevant searches.
This is Google’s rebrand of “automatically created assets.”
The system can generate headlines and descriptions based on information from your landing page, other ads, and keywords.
I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this feature in the past, using it as a starting point but revising before sharing with clients.
Google now insists it has improved – like an old high school boyfriend promising “I’ve changed” – with clearer calls-to-action and sharper selling points.
These improvements are especially visible when paired with final URL expansion, although text customization can be enabled on its own.
This feature works much like Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs).
Google directs traffic to the most relevant URLs on your client’s site when it predicts better performance.
However, this can’t be enabled on its own – it must be paired with text customization.
Dig deeper: Google’s AI Max for Search: What 30 days of testing reveal
Finding AI Max takes a few steps, but it’s built into the normal Search campaign setup flow. Here’s how to get there:
One of the most requested improvements with Performance Max was better reporting.
AI Max addresses this from the start, offering several new reports to help track performance:
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
There are a few important caveats to keep in mind when enabling AI Max for Search:
When setting up a new Search campaign, Google notes that:
Google has also shared case studies from two early adopters:
Dig deeper: AI Max in action: What early case studies and a new analysis script reveal
The best approach is to test it.
Enable AI Max in one of your Search campaigns and track the performance changes directly.
Google Experiments makes this easy – select “campaign features and settings,” then choose “AI Max for Search campaigns.”
This splits traffic 50/50 between one campaign with AI Max enabled and one without, giving you a clear comparison.
Dig deeper: AI Max experiments arrive in Google Ads: Here’s how they work
Continue reading...
Google has been layering AI into Search campaigns for years through features like Smart Bidding, Responsive Search Ads, and Performance Max.
In May 2025, it announced the next step: AI Max.
The feature is now rolling out globally in beta and appearing in many advertiser accounts. (If you don’t see it yet, expect it soon.)
Here’s what it is, how it works, and what it means for your campaigns.
What is AI Max for Search?
AI Max is a feature within your existing Search campaign that you can toggle on or off.
Enabling it provides targeting and creative enhancements in an automated way.
According to Google, AI Max:
- Improves search term matching.
- Generates stronger text customization for headlines and descriptions.
- Enables final URL expansion to increase landing page relevance.
Here’s how each works.
Search term matching
Search term matching helps you capture queries you’d otherwise miss through a mix of broad match and keywordless technology.
“Keywordless” refers to serving ads without relying on manually added keywords.
Instead, Google uses contextual, behavioral, and semantic data to decide when and to whom an ad should appear.
Its AI then learns from both keyword and keywordless matches, along with your creative assets and URLs, to help surface more relevant searches.
Text customization
This is Google’s rebrand of “automatically created assets.”
The system can generate headlines and descriptions based on information from your landing page, other ads, and keywords.
I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this feature in the past, using it as a starting point but revising before sharing with clients.
Google now insists it has improved – like an old high school boyfriend promising “I’ve changed” – with clearer calls-to-action and sharper selling points.
These improvements are especially visible when paired with final URL expansion, although text customization can be enabled on its own.
Final URL expansion
This feature works much like Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs).
Google directs traffic to the most relevant URLs on your client’s site when it predicts better performance.
However, this can’t be enabled on its own – it must be paired with text customization.
Dig deeper: Google’s AI Max for Search: What 30 days of testing reveal
How can I find AI Max?
Finding AI Max takes a few steps, but it’s built into the normal Search campaign setup flow. Here’s how to get there:
- Select New campaign as if you are building a new campaign.
- Choose your objective.
- Select the relevant conversion goals for that objective.
- Choose Search as your campaign type.
- Select the ways you’d like to reach your goal.
- Name your campaign and click continue.
- Set your bidding preferences.
- Configure your campaign settings.
- At this point, you’ll see the option to enable AI Max for Search.
What will reporting look like?
One of the most requested improvements with Performance Max was better reporting.
AI Max addresses this from the start, offering several new reports to help track performance:
- Search terms report: Shows AI Max as a new match type for incremental search terms, along with a source column indicating whether the match came from broad match expansion or keywordless matching. A new view combines search terms, headlines, and URLs to give a full picture of the customer journey.
- Keywords report: Includes AI Max in the summary row so you can measure total contributions.
- Landing pages report: Highlights performance of AI Max-driven landing pages.
- Asset report: Shows performance of AI Max assets.
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Any quirks to be aware of?
There are a few important caveats to keep in mind when enabling AI Max for Search:
- API limitations: Activating or deactivating AI Max may cause errors for API requests that manage text customizations and brand settings, since AI Max is not yet available in the API or Editor. Be sure to alert your team before making changes.
- Final URL expansion defaults: This feature is enabled by default when you opt in to AI Max. You must manually uncheck the box if you want to turn it off.
- Pinned assets: If you’re using pinned assets in your Search campaign, be cautious. When final URL expansion is active, Google’s AI can override pinned assets if it identifies a more relevant URL.
Are there any early results to share?
When setting up a new Search campaign, Google notes that:
- “[A]dvertisers who activate AI Max in Search Campaigns will typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA / ROAS.”
Google has also shared case studies from two early adopters:
- L’Oréal: Recorded double the conversion rate and a 31% lower cost per conversion with AI Max enabled. By using search term matching, they unlocked conversions from net-new queries such as “what is the best cream for facial dark spots?”
- MyConnect: Generated 16% more leads while reducing cost per lead by 13%. They also saw a 30% lift in conversions from new queries surfaced by AI Max.
Dig deeper: AI Max in action: What early case studies and a new analysis script reveal
What should marketers do with AI Max?
The best approach is to test it.
Enable AI Max in one of your Search campaigns and track the performance changes directly.
Google Experiments makes this easy – select “campaign features and settings,” then choose “AI Max for Search campaigns.”
This splits traffic 50/50 between one campaign with AI Max enabled and one without, giving you a clear comparison.
Dig deeper: AI Max experiments arrive in Google Ads: Here’s how they work
Continue reading...