Ads Inside AI Answers: How Google Serves Ads in AI Overviews

Ads in AI Overviews run in English in 12 countries, including the US, and advertisers cannot target them, opt out of them or see them in a separate report. That is what Google’s help page says as of October 2026. Ads can also show above and below AI Overviews in more than 200 markets.

This is the fifth post in our Marketing in the AI Age series. It covers the three places an ad can appear around an AI Overview, which campaigns qualify, what you control, how the placement shows up in reports, where AI Mode stands, and what Google has said about Ad Grants. It is written for agencies running Google Ads for nonprofits, associations and colleges.

The short version: an ad inside an AI Overview is a side effect of broad match, AI Max and Performance Max. You cannot buy the placement on its own or switch it off. It reports as a top ad, mixed in with every other top ad. Ads in AI Mode are still described by Google as a test. Google’s help pages say nothing about Ad Grants accounts and AI Overviews, so do not plan around it either way.

Three places an ad can appear around an AI Overview

Google’s help page on ads and AI Overviews separates two cases. Ads can show above or below the AI Overview. Ads can also show inside it.

Google says ads above and below the AI Overview serve "following the existing auction ranking system and signals." That is ordinary search advertising. The rest of this post is about the third row.

Where ads in AI Overviews are available

Google’s help page gives the list: "Ads in AI Overviews are currently available in English on mobile and desktop devices in the following countries: Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, and US."

The UK, the EU countries and Japan are not on it. A college recruiting in the UK can still show above or below the AI Overview there, but not inside it.

The rollout took more than a year. In May 2025, Google’s Ads & Commerce blog said Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews would expand to desktop in the US, and later to select English-language countries. Google’s 2025 highlights page says the format started in the US in 2024 and expanded to desktop and more countries in 2025.

Check the help page before you tell a client their market qualifies.

Which campaigns qualify for ads in AI Overviews

Three campaign types can serve inside an AI Overview: Search, Shopping and Performance Max. Only text ads and Shopping ads qualify. App campaigns can appear above or below the AI Overview but not inside it.

Match type matters more than campaign type. Google’s best practices section says AI Overviews show on complex, answer-seeking queries that advertisers rarely bid on. For that reason, Google says it requires AI-powered targeting, such as broad match on Search or the keywordless targeting in AI Max.

In practice, a Search campaign built only on exact and phrase match is unlikely to show inside AI Overviews. A campaign on broad match, or one using AI Max search term matching, can. Performance Max campaigns are eligible. Google also recommends Smart Bidding.

That ties this placement to the choice covered in our post on AI Max for Search. Turning on broad match or AI Max opens the door to ads in AI Overviews.

How Google decides an ad shows inside the answer

Google’s help page describes three conditions. The search has to show an AI Overview. Google has to detect commercial intent. And the ad has to be relevant to both the search and the content of the AI Overview.

The help page’s example is a search for "why is my pool green and how do I clean it." The AI Overview suggests testing the water and cleaning the pool. Google reads commercial intent from the search plus the answer, and can show ads for pool vacuum cleaners.

For our readers, picture a search like "how do I renew a teaching license in Ohio." An AI Overview might list the steps and mention continuing education hours. An association that sells approved courses could then be eligible, if its ads and landing pages match that content.

Some categories are excluded. Google says it does not show ads in AI Overviews "for sensitive verticals like adult, alcohol, gambling, finance, healthcare, politics, and more." Health systems and credit unions should expect few or no placements inside the answer. Their ads can still run above and below it.

What advertisers control

Very little that is specific to this placement. Google’s FAQ answers the two common questions directly. Can you target ads to serve only inside AI Overviews? No. Can you opt out? "No, you can’t opt out of serving ads in AI Overviews."

So the controls are the ones you already have:

• Match type and AI Max. Exact and phrase match make an inside placement unlikely. Broad match and AI Max make it possible.
• Campaign type. Search, Shopping and Performance Max qualify. App campaigns do not serve inside the answer.
• Ad and landing page content. Google matches the ad to the answer’s content. Specific pages about programs, courses and fees give it more to match.
• Shopping feeds. For organizations selling books, merchandise or event tickets through Shopping, Google asks for current product details, pricing and images.

Google’s page does not say how negative keywords, brand exclusions or URL exclusions work inside an AI Overview.

How ads in AI Overviews show up in your reports

Not on their own. Google’s FAQ says ads in AI Overviews "are reported as Top Ads." It also says: "Google Ads currently doesn’t offer segmented reporting when ads show within Search AI Overviews."

So an impression inside an AI Overview lands in the same bucket as any top ad. You cannot pull it out.

Google says it is "actively thinking about what the future of reporting looks like" and will announce more later. As of October 2026, it has not.

Two partial signals help:

• Search terms report. Long, question-style search terms are the kind that trigger AI Overviews. A rise in those under broad match or AI Max suggests where the new traffic comes from. It does not prove the ad sat inside the answer.
• Search Console. The generative AI performance report shows organic impressions in AI features. It covers organic results only, not ads.

For client reporting, say plainly that Google does not separate this placement. Do not estimate it from top impression share.

What the click research says, and what it does not

The best-known measurement of AI Overviews and clicks comes from the Pew Research Center. Pew tracked 900 US adults through March 2025, covering 68,879 Google searches.

Pew found that "users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits." Without an AI summary, they clicked a result on 15% of visits. Links inside the summary were clicked on 1% of visits. Pew also found people ended their browsing session more often after a page with an AI summary: 26% against 16%.

Pew does show that fewer people click a regular result when an AI Overview appears. Whether an ad inside the answer earns conversions is a question for each account’s own data. Our AI marketing hub post covers what the organic drop means for nonprofit traffic.

Where AI Mode ads stand

AI Mode is Google’s separate, conversational search experience. Its ads are less settled.

In May 2025, Google’s Ads & Commerce blog said it was "starting to test ads in AI Mode." The same post said advertisers already using Performance Max, Shopping and Search campaigns with broad match, including AI Max, "will be eligible to have their ads appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode." Google’s 2025 highlights page still describes AI Mode ads as testing in the US.

At Google Marketing Live on May 20, 2026, Google’s Search ads post described two new AI Mode formats being tested. Conversational Discovery ads answer a person’s specific question. Highlighted Answers place ads inside AI-generated recommendation lists. Both are labeled "Sponsored." The post gives no dates, countries or eligibility rules.

We found no Google Ads help page listing AI Mode eligibility the way the AI Overviews page does. Until one exists, treat AI Mode ads as a US test with no published country list or reporting details.

Ads inside AI answers are not only a Google product. We covered the ChatGPT ads buying interface in September.

Ad Grants and ads in AI Overviews

Google has not said whether Ad Grants accounts can serve inside AI Overviews.

The AI Overviews help page does not mention Ad Grants. Google’s Ad Grants overview describes the program as up to $10,000 a month in Search ads shown on Google.com. The Ad Grants policy compliance guide covers keywords, click-through rate and conversion tracking, and does not mention AI Overviews or AI Mode.

So there is no stated rule in either direction. Ask your Google contact for a written answer before telling a nonprofit client their grant ads appear in AI answers. A later post in this series covers Ad Grants in 2026.

What to check in client accounts this month

• List which campaigns use broad match, AI Max or Performance Max. Those are the ones eligible for ads in AI Overviews.
• Check each client’s target countries against Google’s 12-country list.
• Flag clients in excluded categories, such as health and finance, so nobody expects an inside placement.
• Read the search terms report for long question-style queries, and add negative keywords where they do not fit.
• Tell clients in writing that Google does not report this placement separately.
• For Ad Grants clients, note that Google has made no statement either way.
• Recheck the help page each quarter. The country list and reporting both may change.

For the organic side of the same pages, our post on answer engine optimization covers what gets a site cited in AI answers.

Frequently Asked Questions