How Will AI Search Affect Paid Ads in 2026? What Marketers Need to Know
May 6th, 2026 by
This post was updated by Audrey Reynaud on 5/6/26 to reflect current best practices. It was originally published on 6/3/25.
Key Insights
- AI Overviews decrease paid ad performance. When an Overview appears, Google Ads CTR drops from 19.70% to 6.34%.
- Zero-click search is becoming part of the new norm. Over 80% of searches end without a website visit, elevating impression share, on-SERP visibility, and AI-referral traffic as essential metrics.
- AI search is changing how ads appear and qualify for visibility. Google AI Mode, Performance Max, Shopping campaigns, and AI Max for Search are shifting paid search toward more conversational, context-aware ad experiences.
- Paid search strategies must evolve beyond clicks alone. Smart bidding, first-party data, lower-funnel targeting, and diversified channels like YouTube, paid social, and CTV are becoming increasingly important as AI reshapes search behavior.
Ask any paid search specialist about AI search’s impact on paid ads, and you’ll see the same mix of excitement and anxiety.
The chat-style answers generated by Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) now dominate the top of many search results, condensing information from multiple web pages into conversational summaries that often appear before paid and organic listings.
Google AI Mode is also pushing search behavior further toward multi-step, conversational journeys where users refine questions and compare options without returning to traditional search results.
Yet, declaring PPC dead would be premature.
AI search is not eliminating paid media. It is changing how visibility works. AI Overviews, AI Mode, and conversational AI platforms like Microsoft Copilot are creating new ad placements, new attribution challenges, and new opportunities for brands that adapt early.
Google has also announced expanded eligibility for ads within AI Overviews and AI Mode through Performance Max, Shopping, broad match Search campaigns, and AI Max for Search.
This post unpacks how AI search is changing paid media performance, explores emerging AI PPC opportunities, and outlines strategies marketers can use to protect visibility and adapt their paid search strategy in 2026.
How Is Google AI Mode Changing Paid Search Ad Placement?
Google AI Mode is changing paid search by shifting some ad visibility into conversational, AI-powered search experiences where the user’s query may unfold across multiple follow-up prompts instead of one keyword.
Traditional Google Search campaigns were built around a relatively clear auction: a user typed a query, ads competed for placement, and marketers measured impressions, clicks, and conversions.
AI Mode complicates that flow.
Users can ask longer, more nuanced questions, refine the answer, compare options, and move closer to a decision without returning to a standard list of search results.
For advertisers, this means placement eligibility increasingly depends on whether Google’s systems understand the campaign’s intent signals, landing page relevance, product feed quality, creative assets, and conversion data. Performance Max, Shopping, broad match Search, and AI Max for Search are especially important because they give Google more signals to match ads to complex AI search journeys.
The practical takeaway: AI Mode rewards advertisers who provide the platform with more structured data, stronger assets, optimized content for AI search, and cleaner conversion signals. Campaigns built only around narrow, exact-match keyword coverage may miss emerging AI-driven demand, especially when users search conversationally or ask multi-step comparison questions.
What Are AI Overviews, and Why Do They Matter for Paid Search?
AI Overviews appear at the top of the SERP, absorb user attention, and compress the real estate available to paid ads.
An AIO is essentially Google’s “CliffsNotes” for a query. Google Gemini analyzes millions of pages, extracts key points, and presents a conversational answer with citations. Because the card can occupy the entire first viewport, especially on mobile, users often get what they need before scrolling.
Fewer impressions reach the positions where search ads typically run, driving immediate visibility loss and, in turn, lower CTR. In practice, that means campaigns relying on upper-funnel traffic or broad-match keywords feel the squeeze first, while tightly focused brand and product queries remain comparatively resilient.
How Does AI Impact Google Ads’ Performance in 2026?
For paid queries without AIOs, CTR dropped from 19.1% in June 2024 to 13.04% in September 2025, a 32% decline. CTR for paid queries with AIOs dropped from 19.70% to 6.34%, creating a seven-point gap between AIO and non-AIO paid results by September 2025.
Seer Interactive’s September 2025 AIO impact research study update found that AIOs are not the only factor reshaping paid search performance, but they are accelerating the decline. The study analyzed 3,119 informational and educational search terms across 42 client organizations, covering 25.1 million organic impressions and 1.1 million paid impressions from June 2024 through September 2025.
The citation effect matters, too. Seer found that when a brand was cited in the AI Overview, paid CTR was 91% higher than when the brand was not cited, based on Q3 2025 averages. That does not prove the citation caused the higher CTR, but it does suggest that brand authority, AIO visibility, and paid performance are increasingly connected.
How Is Microsoft Copilot Changing AI Search Advertising in 2026?
Microsoft is rapidly expanding advertising across Copilot’s conversational search ecosystem, positioning Copilot as a more context-aware AI search advertising platform rather than a traditional search engine with static ad placements.
Recent Microsoft updates introduced streamlined ad layouts that appear directly below Copilot’s organic AI-generated responses, along with a feature called “ad voice,” which creates a conversational bridge between the AI answer and the sponsored message. Instead of feeling disconnected from the search experience, these ads are designed to match the tone and context of the user’s ongoing conversation.
Microsoft has also expanded contextual conversation ads, meaning ad targeting can now consider the entire conversational session instead of only the user’s most recent query. This allows Copilot to serve more relevant sponsored content as users refine questions, compare products, or move deeper into the decision-making process.
According to Microsoft, ads shown within Copilot experiences are already outperforming traditional search ads, generating 69% higher click-through rates (CTR) and 76% higher conversion rates. While these numbers are still early-stage and platform-reported, they reinforce a larger industry trend. AI search advertising is shifting toward more personalized, conversational, and context-aware ad experiences.
Are AI Overviews Reducing Web Traffic and Ad Clicks?
By satisfying informational intent on-page, AI Overviews have cut organic visits by 61% and paid visits by 68% since mid-2024.
A Bounteous analysis revealed that sites targeting informational-type queries (think “average HVAC install cost” or “symptoms of low iron”) lost up to two-thirds of traffic once AIOs rolled out. Because AI search platforms resolve a user’s curiosity instantly, many never click another result. Paid ads suffer collateral damage, particularly for queries without commercial intent.
Brands that once depended on broadly educational content to seed future conversions must now find new ways (first-party data, remarketing from social, and answer-engine optimization) to keep their funnels full.
What Are Zero-Click Searches?
Zero‑click searches occur when search engines satisfy user intent on the results page itself, leaving no need to visit another site.
Featured snippets, knowledge panels, local packs, and now AI Overviews all deliver answers instantly, so the original search queries end right there.
According to LLMrefs, more than 80% of searches now end without a user clicking on a website, proving that user behavior has tilted toward on‑SERP consumption.
For marketers, this shift clouds traditional metrics. Impressions may vanish before ads load, and click‑through rate tells only part of the story. Tracking impression share, on‑SERP visibility, and emerging “AI referral” traffic offers a truer view of campaign performance in a world where many journeys now begin and end on Google itself. Learn how Search Influence can help you optimize content for AI search.
How Do AI Overviews Affect Paid Ads Differently Than Organic Listings?
AI Overviews diminish paid impressions more than organic visibility because only organic citations appear inside the answer card.
When Gemini selects content for an Overview, it lists source links at the bottom of the snapshot. That gives SEO teams at least a branding breadcrumb, even if clicks decline. Paid ads, however, receive no such cameo; they’re simply shoved below the fold. The double hit, fewer impressions, and zero on-card mentions force advertisers to squeeze more profit from every click.
It also nudges CPC upward as marketers bid aggressively for shrinking inventory.
Collaboration between PPC and search marketers becomes indispensable. Organic can still score brand impressions, while paid must double down on high-intent keywords that AIOs rarely answer outright.
What Should Marketers Do to Adapt Paid Search Campaigns for AI Search?
Advertisers can reclaim lost clicks by combining AI-driven creative, intent-rich targeting, and smart bidding tuned for AI-powered search.
First, embrace AI as a creative partner. AI-powered tools like Performance Max, ChatGPT, and Gemini can spin adaptive headlines that mirror the conversational phrasing users now type, or voice search, into Google. Feeding first-party CRM segments back into Google Ads sharpens audience models so the algorithm boosts bids only for prospects who resemble real buyers. Smart bidding strategies, such as Target CPA or Target ROAS, then respond in milliseconds if an Overview slashes available impressions.
Next, pivot budgets toward bottom-of-funnel phrases — “same-day crown dentist near me,” “buy carbon-fiber pickleball paddle,” “cloud ERP demo pricing.” These commercial-ready searches still require a click, making them less vulnerable to AIO cannibalization.
Finally, test longer, question-style keywords. Broad match combined with responsive search ads (RSAs) can capture AI-driven, voice-style queries like “Who installs tankless water heaters in Austin on weekends?”
It’s also worth noting that campaigns will be eligible to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode when using Performance Max, Shopping, or broad match Search, including the new AI Max for Search.
Marketers leveraging these campaign types should monitor announcements from Google Ads to understand when and how this feature rolls out to their accounts.
This conversational SEO/PPC crossover ensures visibility as search behavior evolves.
Will AI Referral Traffic Replace Traditional Clicks?
AI referral traffic is still embryonic but poised to become a measurable channel worth monitoring in GA4.
Dig into GA4 source/medium reports, and you might notice entries such as gemini.google.com or chat.openai.com. Creating a custom channel group for any URL or host containing “ai” or “overview” lets marketers benchmark engagement metrics, time on site, scroll depth, and assisted conversions for these visits.
Early numbers suggest that AI referral users consume content quickly and frequently navigate to deeper pages, perhaps because they arrive already primed by the answer box.
Tracking micro-conversions (PDF downloads, click-to-call events) will help quantify the true value of this emergent audience as volumes grow.
How Will the Paid Search Industry Evolve in Response to AI?
Paid search is shifting toward data-heavy automation, diversified media mixes, and AI-enhanced creative storytelling.
Google has already infused Gemini into ad creation, offering dynamic headline suggestions pulled from landing pages, product feeds, and customer intent signals. As SERP space tightens, brands are funneling incremental dollars into programmatic native, connected TV, discovery campaigns, and AI paid advertising on social platforms like TikTok Pulse. Agencies that weave PPC, conversion rate optimization, and answer-engine optimization into one cohesive strategy will distance themselves from siloed competitors.
Meanwhile, the concept of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) (or AI SEO, as we like to call it) has gone from theory to practice. Expect PPC managers to partner with SEO leads on structured data, schema markup, and entity optimization designed to make both ads and citations algorithm-friendly.
How Can You Future-Proof Your Paid Search Strategy in an AI-Driven World?
To future-proof your paid search strategy in an AI-driven world, marry rapid experimentation with rich first-party data and a diversified channel mix so revenue stays resilient as generative SERP features evolve.
Start by adjusting bid strategies for AI-affected queries. Informational and educational searches that trigger AI Overviews are becoming less efficient from a paid search perspective, especially when AI-generated answers satisfy user intent before a click occurs. Instead of bidding aggressively across all upper-funnel terms, advertisers should prioritize stronger bids for high-intent, conversion-focused queries like “pricing,” “demo,” “apply,” “book,” or “near me” searches that still require user action.
Operate on rapid test–learn loops: Weekly experiments reveal performance swings long before quarterly reviews surface them. Push every offline conversion, call, CRM deal, and store visit into Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising so machine-learning models optimize for profit, not vanity clicks. Layer audience signals, such as lapsed customer reactivation or high-value upsell, to fine-tune bidding during low-impression windows caused by AI models.
Marketers should also build reporting systems that identify which campaigns are losing share to AI answers. Watch for declining CTR paired with stable or rising impressions, increased CPC without conversion-rate improvement, shrinking top impression share, and weaker engagement on informational landing pages tied to paid campaigns. Comparing “AIO present” versus “no AIO” query performance can help advertisers pinpoint where AI search visibility is cannibalizing traditional paid clicks.
Outside the SERP, pilot creator-led YouTube shorts, TikTok Spark Ads, and programmatic audio to hedge against further search volatility. These channels, amplified by AI-targeting capabilities, keep your message in market even when Google’s answer engines handle the top of the funnel.
Shift your KPIs beyond raw clicks. In the AI search era, maintaining visibility, share of voice, branded search growth, assisted conversions, and AI Overview citations may be more valuable indicators of long-term performance than traffic alone.
Finally, build dashboards that isolate artificial intelligence search impressions, CPC deltas, and AI-powered search marketing ROI so leadership sees both the risk and the enormous opportunity.
Higher Ed Spotlight
AI Overviews reduce top-funnel research traffic, yet high-intent education queries remain prime real estate for paid ads.
Prospective students may find tuition averages or admission timelines directly in an Overview, but searches like “AACSB-accredited online MBA with scholarships” or “fastest RN-to-BSN program near me” still demand a click. Higher ed institutions that refine keyword match types and clusters around modality, cohort start date, and location continue to generate qualified leads at competitive cost per inquiry (CPI).
Personalizing ad copy to speak to specific learner motivations, career advancement, salary potential, and schedule flexibility improves conversion rate even when impressions drop.
To see where AI-powered search has distorted your funnel, use our free Higher Ed CPI Worksheet.
AI Search PPC Strategy FAQs
Should I change my paid search strategy because of AI search?
Yes. AI search is reducing click-through rates on many informational queries, making some traditional PPC tactics less efficient. Advertisers should focus more on high-intent keywords, first-party audience data, smart bidding, and diversified channels like YouTube, paid social, and remarketing.
How does AI search affect PPC costs?
AI search can increase PPC inefficiency by lowering CTRs while CPCs remain competitive. As AI Overviews absorb more informational searches, advertisers often pay similar costs for fewer clicks, especially on upper-funnel keywords. Many marketers are shifting budget toward lower-funnel searches and stronger audience targeting to improve ROI.
Are AI Overviews stealing ad clicks?
In many cases, yes. AI Overviews answer informational queries directly on the SERP, reducing the need for users to click ads or organic listings. Seer Interactive found that paid CTR for queries with AI Overviews dropped from 19.70% to 6.34% between June 2024 and September 2025. Transactional and high-intent searches remain less affected because users still need to take action beyond the AI answer.
Learn More About Navigating AI-Powered Search With Search Influence
AI Overviews aren’t fading. They’re expanding.
But that doesn’t mean your paid media growth and ad relevance have to shrink.
The search marketers at Search Influence are already training AI tools to craft conversion-tested creatives, teaching smart-bidding algorithms to detect Overview-heavy SERPs, and visualizing AI referral paths inside GA4.
We blend AI-powered bidding, conversational keyword research, and cross-channel planning to turn generative search disruption into revenue.
From measuring AI search performance to optimizing your Performance Max campaign strategy, our team is here for you.
Talk to Search Influence about your paid search strategy for 2026.
