Ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode: Where They Show Up and How to Track Them

When AI Overviews launched, they carried no ads. Google now places ads inside AI Overviews and AI Mode, has started showing ads in AI Mode follow-up questions, and is testing AI summaries inside regular search ads. Bing shows ads at the top of its own AI Mode.

For advertisers, these are new placements. For anyone collecting SERP data, they are new things to parse and new reasons a page looks different from last month. They are one of several changes in our timeline of SERP changes. This guide covers where the ads appear, when each change happened, and how to track them.

How ads moved into AI answers

• 2024: AI Overviews on mobile. Google first showed ads in AI Overviews on mobile in the US.
• May 2025: desktop and AI Mode tests. At Google Marketing Live, Google expanded AI Overview ads to desktop in the US, announced English expansion to more countries later in 2025, and began testing ads in AI Mode.
• October 28, 2026: AI Mode ads go international. Google announced ads in AI Mode for Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore, with Brazil, Mexico, and the UK planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. It also announced multiturn ads in the US, which appear in AI Mode follow-up questions.
• November 2026: multiturn ads live. Search Engine Roundtable saw sponsored ads in several follow-up answers within a single AI Mode session.

Where Google ads can appear today

Google's Ads Help page describes two kinds of placement:

• Within AI Overviews and AI Mode, in English, in the US, Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore, plus Indonesia for AI Overviews. Pakistan is limited to text ads.
• Above or below AI Overviews, in all 200+ countries where AI Overviews run.

Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and AI Max campaigns are eligible. The ads carry a "Sponsored" label. Advertisers can't opt out of AI Overviews or AI Mode separately from their other search placements.

Two more changes to watch

AI summaries inside search ads. In November 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google is testing AI summaries above grouped sponsored results and under individual ads on mobile. This is a test in regular search ads, separate from AI Overviews.

Brand AI Overviews in the side column. On November 2, 2026, Google moved AI Overviews for many brand queries to the right column on desktop. That changes what sits at the top of the page for brand searches.

Bing AI Mode ads

Bing renamed Copilot Search to AI Mode. Search Engine Roundtable reports that Bing AI Mode shows regular search ads and shopping ads at the top of its results, plus ads in follow-ups, with sponsored labels that are easy to miss.

What this means for SERP data

Ads inside AI answers break assumptions that older SERP tools rely on:

• Ads aren't only at the top and bottom anymore. An ad can sit inside an AI answer, or several turns into an AI Mode conversation.
• Labels are subtle. A parser has to tell a sponsored card inside an AI answer from an organic citation. Counting a sponsored card as a citation inflates AI visibility numbers.
• Follow-ups need separate collection. Multiturn ads only appear after a follow-up question, so a single query never shows them.
• Layouts change by query type. Brand queries now put the AI Overview in the side column on desktop, which changes where everything else sits.

When you evaluate a SERP data source for ad tracking, check three things on a sample of queries:

1. Does it label sponsored results inside AI Overviews and AI Mode separately from citations?
2. Does it capture ads above and below AI Overviews with their positions?
3. Can you get the raw HTML to confirm what the parser saw?

With PrismCrawl, ads in a Google Search response come back as results with type set to ad, as described in the Google Ads API reference. Set html: true to keep the raw page for auditing. For research on advertisers rather than placements, the Google Ads Transparency API returns the ads an advertiser is running. To track the organic side of AI answers, see tracking AI Overview and AI Mode citations.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google show ads in AI Overviews?

Yes. Ads within AI Overviews are available in English in the US, Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore. Ads above or below AI Overviews can appear in all 200+ countries where AI Overviews run.

Are there ads in Google AI Mode?

Yes. Google began testing ads in AI Mode in the US in May 2025. On October 28, 2026, it announced AI Mode ads in more countries and multiturn ads in the US, which appear in follow-up questions.

What are multiturn ads in AI Mode?

Multiturn ads are ads that appear in AI Mode follow-up answers, after the first question in a conversation. Google announced them for the US on October 28, 2026, and Search Engine Roundtable saw them live in November 2026.

Can advertisers opt out of ads in AI Overviews?

No. According to Google's Ads Help documentation, advertisers can't opt out of AI Overviews or AI Mode separately. Eligible Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and AI Max campaigns can serve there.

Does Bing show ads in AI Mode?

Yes. Search Engine Roundtable reports that Bing AI Mode, formerly Copilot Search, shows search and shopping ads at the top of its results and in follow-ups.