Google ads are now inside AI Mode in Australia. What should you do?

The short answer

On 28 October 2026, Google announced it is scaling ads in AI Mode to Australia and nine other countries. If you already run Google Search, Shopping or Performance Max campaigns, your ads can now appear inside AI Mode answers, marked “Sponsored”, without you creating anything new. There’s no separate switch to turn it off, so the job now is to check your settings, your tracking and your landing pages.

Below we explain what has changed, how ads get matched to AI answers, what you can still control, and what we’d do this week if it were our budget.

What actually changed

AI Mode is the chat-style tab in Google Search that gives a written answer with links, and lets people ask follow-up questions. It launched in Australia in October 2025, and plenty of people now use it for the kinds of questions that used to take three or four searches: “best way to fix a leaking shower without retiling”, or “which accountant in Box Hill handles small business tax”.

Until last week, ads inside AI Mode were mainly a US feature. In its official announcement, Google said it is now scaling ads in AI Mode to Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore, with Brazil, Mexico and the UK planned next. Ads are labelled “Sponsored”.

Google also launched “multiturn” ads in the US, which can appear on follow-up questions later in an AI Mode conversation. At the time of writing, that part is US only.

Which campaigns are eligible

According to Google’s help documentation, as reported in detail by PPC Land, you don’t need a new campaign or a separate budget. Existing campaigns are eligible automatically:

• Search campaigns (text ads)
• Shopping campaigns (product ads)
• Performance Max campaigns

Google is also testing other formats, such as local inventory ads. For now, the help page lists English as the supported language, which covers Australian advertisers.

How Google decides when to show your ad

This is the part worth understanding, because it changes how your keywords behave.

There are two ways an ad can be matched in AI Mode:

• Direct intent. The question itself is commercial, like “emergency electrician Footscray”. Your ad is matched to the question, much like a normal search.
• Context. The question isn’t obviously commercial, but the AI answer leads somewhere commercial. Someone asks why their hot water keeps running cold, the answer suggests the system may need replacing, and an ad for hot water installation can appear. Here Google matches the ad to both the question and the answer.

Which keywords qualify for which matters:

• Broad match, AI Max, Shopping and Performance Max can show for both direct and context matches.
• Exact match and phrase match keywords can only show for direct intent questions.

In plain English: if your account runs mostly on broad match or Performance Max, expect to appear in more AI conversations, including some you never imagined. If you lean on exact and phrase match, you’ll mostly see your ads on questions that already look like your keywords.

What you can’t control (yet)

A few things will frustrate tidy advertisers:

• No opt out. You can’t remove AI Mode placements from a Search campaign, and you can’t target AI Mode on its own.
• Mixed reporting. Impressions, clicks, conversions and cost from AI Mode are folded into your normal campaign reports, and the help page doesn’t describe a separate segment for AI Mode performance. The questions that triggered your ads show up in the search terms report only in aggregate.
• Google’s words around your ad. Google can show short AI explanations near ads, and advertisers can’t write, edit or opt out of them.

Things move quickly here, so these may change. For now, assume AI Mode traffic is mixed in with your normal search traffic and plan your measurement around that.

What you can still control

The good news is that the controls you already have still apply, and they matter more now:

• Negative keywords. They still block irrelevant matches, so they’re your main defence against odd context matches.
• Brand exclusions. If you use broad match or Performance Max, you can stop ads showing on searches for brands you don’t want to appear against.
• Pinned headlines and descriptions. If certain wording must always show, like a licence number or a service area, pin it.
• Locations and schedules. Ads still follow the suburbs and hours you set.
• Budget. Your daily budget is still the cap. AI Mode doesn’t add a new bill on top.

Six things to do this week

None of this needs panic. It does deserve an hour.

• Check which campaign types you run. If you have broad match or Performance Max, you’re the most likely to see new AI Mode traffic.
• Read your search terms report. Look for longer, question-style searches appearing in the coming weeks. That’s a good hint AI Mode traffic is arriving.
• Tighten your negative keywords. Add terms for jobs, DIY, free, and services you don’t offer, so context matching doesn’t spend money on curious people.
• Make sure every enquiry is tracked. Calls, forms and bookings should all count as conversions. With AI Mode mixed into normal reporting, real enquiries are the only reliable way to judge whether it’s working.
• Send ads to the right pages. Someone arriving from an AI conversation has already read a summary. They want the specific answer, the price range, and a way to book. A focused service page beats your homepage every time.
• Watch cost per enquiry for a month. Compare it with the month before. If it moves noticeably and your search terms look strange, that’s your signal to adjust.

What it means for your organic results

Ads inside AI answers take up space that free results used to have. Google says click-through rates are similar for sponsored and organic product listings in AI Mode, based on its own US data, but small businesses will want to see their own numbers before relying on that.

The practical lesson is that paid and organic now share the same AI answer. Being one of the businesses the AI mentions for free is still the most valuable spot, and ads are a way to appear when you aren’t. Our guide on getting mentioned in AI search covers the organic side, and SEO vs Google Ads explains how to split effort between the two.

Should this change your budget?

Probably not straight away. Your daily budget still sets the ceiling, and Google is simply finding more places to spend it. What changes is where the clicks come from, so give it four to six weeks of clean data before you decide whether to spend more or less.

If you’re setting a budget from scratch, our guide to what a Melbourne small business should spend on Google Ads walks through the maths using the enquiries you actually need.

Quick checklist

• Your Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns may already show in AI Mode
• Broad match and Performance Max reach the most AI conversations
• You can’t opt out, so negative keywords and brand exclusions matter more
• Track calls, forms and bookings as conversions
• Send ads to focused service pages, not your homepage
• Judge it on cost per enquiry after a month, not on impressions

Want a second pair of eyes?

Changes like this are easy to miss when you’re busy running a business. Our digital marketing team can review your Google Ads account, tighten keywords and tracking for AI Mode, and make sure your landing pages are ready for people arriving with a question already half answered. If you’d like to start with your website, our free website check shows how it scores in about 30 seconds.

This article reflects Google’s announcement and help documentation as of 2 November 2026. Google is still testing formats and controls, so we’ll update it as things change.