AI Max is switched on inside a Search campaign in a few clicks. Doing it properly means knowing what each feature does, which settings are on by default, and where the controls live. This guide walks through the whole setup, step by step.

This guide is the setup companion to my earlier piece on the checks to run first: Before You Turn On Google AI Max: Check Lead Quality and Landing Pages.

This post is a researched guide, not a personal account. Every step and claim comes from Google’s own AI Max documentation, linked in the Sources section at the end. Where Google quotes a performance figure, it is labelled as Google’s claim. Nothing here is presented as hands-on experience.

1. What AI Max is, and what it is not

AI Max is not a new campaign type. It is an optimisation layer that sits inside a standard Google Search campaign. When you turn it on, Google groups its features into two areas: search term matching and asset optimisation. You keep your existing campaign structure, keywords, bids and budget. AI Max adds automation on top of them.

Google’s own summary of the benefit: advertisers that activate AI Max in Search campaigns “will typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS.” That figure comes from Google’s internal data from 2025 for non-retail advertisers, so treat it as the vendor’s claim, not a guarantee for your account. Your result depends on your market, budget, tracking and starting setup.

One more thing worth knowing before the steps: Google notes that AI Max will not be effective if a campaign is limited by budget. If your campaigns regularly hit their daily budget early in the day, fix that first or your results will be hard to read.

2. The features inside AI Max

Search term matching. This expands beyond your existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology. Google can learn from your keywords, your ad text and your landing pages when deciding which searches to match. It is on by default when you enable AI Max, and you can toggle it off at campaign or ad group level.

Asset optimisation. This is a panel of two campaign-level settings:

• Text customization (formerly “automatically created assets”): Google uses text from your existing ads, landing page copy and assets, plus generative AI, to create customised ad copy for each search.
• Final URL expansion: Google can send traffic to the most relevant URL on your domain, not just the URL you set on the ad. This setting requires text customization to be on; turning text customization off also turns Final URL expansion off.

Both are enabled by default when you opt in to AI Max.

Controls that come with it. AI Max adds controls that previously required keyword work:

• Locations of interest: reach customers based on their geographical intent, even in keywordless matches.
• Brand controls: brand inclusions specify the exact brands your ads can be associated with; brand exclusions prevent your ads appearing alongside brands you want to avoid.
• URL inclusions: include specific URLs that Final URL expansion did not capture.
• URL exclusions: exclude specific URLs from serving as landing pages.

Reporting additions. AI Max adds a new “AI Max” match type in the search terms report, a source column showing whether a match came from AI Max, a combined view of search term, headlines and URLs, new “AI Max” summary rows in the keywords report, a “Selected by” column in the landing pages report, and asset-level performance for AI Max assets.

3. Three things to check before you start

1. Conversion tracking. AI Max optimises towards your conversion goals, so confirm your conversion actions are recording the right outcomes before you switch it on. Automation pointed at the wrong signal just gets you the wrong thing faster.

2. Tracking templates. If your campaign uses a tracking template, check it works with dynamic landing pages. Google flags three problem cases: a static URL in the template with no {lpurl} tag, unusual forms of the {lpurl} tag that can cause 404 errors, and any setup where the dynamic landing page breaks your tracking parameters. Using the standard {lpurl} tag ensures AI Max can use dynamic landing pages correctly.

3. Pinned assets. If you pin headlines or descriptions in your responsive search ads, know this: when Final URL expansion chooses a different, more relevant URL, pinned assets are not used. If legal or brand reasons require exact pinning, that changes how you should configure asset optimisation.

4. Turn on AI Max in a new Search campaign

For a new campaign, the steps are short:

1. In Google Ads, go to the Create button and select Campaign.
2. Choose your objective and select Search as the campaign type.
3. The option to optimise your campaign with AI Max is selected by default during construction.
4. Select the specific AI Max features you want to use, or keep the defaults.

Because it is on by default, the real decision for a new campaign is whether to keep it on and which features to leave enabled, not how to find the toggle.

5. Turn on AI Max in an existing Search campaign

For one campaign:

1. Select the Search campaign you want to update.
2. Select Campaign settings, then select AI Max in the section menu.
3. Toggle to opt in to AI Max settings.
4. Select the specific AI Max features you want to use in the campaign.
5. Ad group level settings can be applied after AI Max is enabled at campaign level.

For several campaigns at once:

1. Select at least one campaign using the checkboxes.
2. Select Edit to bring up the two AI Max options.
3. Choose the changes you want to make, then select Apply.

6. Set search term matching at ad group level

Once AI Max is on for the campaign, you can control search term matching per ad group:

1. Select your ad group in the Google Ads section menu.
2. Select Search term matching.
3. Toggle the options on or off for that ad group.

This is useful when one ad group needs tighter control than the rest of the campaign, for example a brand ad group where you do not want expansion.

7. Configure asset optimisation

To review the two asset optimisation settings:

1. Select the Search campaign you want to update.
2. Select AI Max in the section menu, and make sure the AI Max toggle is on.
3. Text customization is enabled by default.
4. Final URL expansion is enabled by default.

Remember the dependency: Final URL expansion needs text customization. If you turn off text customization, Final URL expansion turns off with it. Google recommends running both together, since Final URL expansion relies on generated ad copy matching the landing page it selects.

8. Add URL exclusions

If there are pages Google should never send paid traffic to (a privacy policy, a thank-you page, an outdated offer), exclude them:

1. Select the Search campaign you want to update.
2. Scroll down to the AI Max section and select it to expand the section.
3. Make sure the AI Max toggle is on. AI Max must be enabled to use URL exclusion.
4. Under Final URL expansion, select Add URL exclusions.
5. In the slider panel, list the URLs you want to exclude in the URLs tab, then select Add. To exclude by pattern instead of listing pages one by one, use the Rules tab to add custom rules, then select Add.
6. Select Apply to close the panel, then Save in the AI Max section.

9. Add URL inclusions

URL inclusions work the other way: they add URLs Final URL expansion did not capture on its own. If you enable both URL inclusions and Final URL expansion, note that Google may still select a more relevant URL, and pinned assets are not used when that happens.

1. Select the relevant campaign and go to Ad groups.
2. Scroll down to AI Max and select Add URL inclusions.
3. Select Save after adding the URLs.

You can also provide a page feed of URLs for the campaign to use. Page feeds complement Google’s automated understanding of your site. To target specific feed URLs, use custom labels for ad-group-level inclusions with Final URL expansion turned off.

10. Set brand controls

Brand inclusions tell Google the exact brands your ads may be associated with:

1. Select Campaign settings.
2. Select AI Max in the section menu.
3. Scroll down to AI Max and select Brand inclusions.
4. Add your brand lists, then select Save.

Brand exclusions work in the opposite direction, keeping your ads away from brands you do not want to appear alongside. If you sell one brand and never want to match competitor terms, this is the control to set before launch, not after.

11. Where to monitor AI Max after launch

Google added several reporting views for AI Max. The ones worth checking weekly:

• Search terms report: look for the “AI Max” match type and the source column, which shows whether a match came from AI Max. The combined view shows the search term alongside the headlines and URLs used, so you can see the full journey a customer took.
• Keywords report: new summary rows show total AI Max contributions.
• Landing pages report: the “Selected by” column shows which landing pages AI Max chose and how they perform.
• Asset report: performance metrics for AI Max-generated assets.

The habit that matters: review search terms and selected landing pages against actual outcomes, not just click and conversion counts. If irrelevant searches or pages keep appearing, tighten exclusions and brand controls rather than switching the whole layer off.

12. Upgrading Dynamic Search Ads campaigns

If you run Dynamic Search Ads, Google shows an upgrade path to AI Max:

1. Under the Settings tab, select the checkbox next to the campaigns you want to edit.
2. In the Dynamic Search Ads settings panel, you will see a callout to upgrade to AI Max. Select Upgrade.
3. Select Upgrade in the dialog box to confirm.

If you are inside a specific dynamic ad group, you will find the same callout there. Note that turning on Final URL expansion is part of the targeting change in the upgrade.

13. How to turn AI Max off

1. Select the Settings tab, then select the checkbox next to the campaigns you want to edit.
2. Select AI Max.
3. To disable AI Max, toggle to opt out of all AI Max settings.

One detail worth knowing: if you re-enable AI Max later, it turns the same features back on as they were previously set. Also note that when you turn off the broad match campaign setting or move to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match keywords in reporting.

14. Settings that change when you adopt AI Max

Google notes that campaigns with certain features already on will see those settings upgraded into AI Max: broad match campaign settings, brand settings, and text customization (the former automatically created assets). After AI Max is activated for a campaign, those settings are fully upgraded and managed through the AI Max panel.

There are also dependencies between the controls: AI Max must be enabled at campaign level before ad group settings apply; URL exclusion rules need asset optimisation enabled; and URL inclusion rules need search term matching plus both asset optimisation settings on. If a control looks unavailable, check the dependency first.

15. Frequently asked questions

Is AI Max a new campaign type? No. It is an optimisation layer you activate inside existing Search campaigns.

How is AI Max different from Performance Max? Both use Google AI, but AI Max is a suite of features for Search campaigns specifically. It keeps you inside the Search campaign structure and adds its matching, creative and control features there.

What happens to my existing settings when I upgrade? Features already on before adopting AI Max, specifically broad match campaign settings, brand settings and text customization, are upgraded into AI Max and managed there afterwards.

Will AI Max work if my campaign is limited by budget? Google says it will not be effective in that case. Sort out budget headroom first.

Do I lose control of where my ads land? Not entirely. Final URL expansion can change the landing page, but URL exclusions, URL inclusions, page feeds and brand controls let you draw the boundaries. Pinned assets are the exception: they are not used when a more relevant URL is chosen.

Sources

• About AI Max for Search campaigns (Google Ads Help)
• How AI Max for Search campaigns works (Google Ads Help)
• Set up AI Max for Search campaigns (Google Ads Help)
• About Final URL expansion (Google Ads Help)
• About text customization (Google Ads Help)