How to set up an AI Search Max campaign.

01

Create a New Search Campaign

Log into your Google Ads account, then:

• Click the + New Campaign button
• Select "Create a campaign without a goal's guidance"
• Choose the Search campaign type

Set your conversion goal — at the bottom of the setup page, choose a relevant conversion action. For example, "Submit lead forms" tracks when users complete a contact or inquiry form on your website. Then set your destination URL.

02

Name Your Campaign

Choose a campaign name that clearly reflects your offer and audience. Adding the date makes tracking easier over time — for example: AI Search Max – SEO – Jul 2026.

03

Campaign Settings

Bidding — keep the default option of Conversions, especially if you're tracking form submissions or purchases. Don't enable "New customers only" unless you're specifically targeting first-time buyers.

Networks — uncheck "Search partners" and "Display Network." This ensures your ads only show on Google Search, giving you more control over traffic quality.

04

Location & Language

Set your target location — under Location Options, select "Presence: people in or regularly in your targeted locations." Avoid "Presence or Interest," which may include users outside your target region.

Set your language — English, for most UK campaigns.

05

Audience Segments

Select relevant audience segments based on your offer — for example, Technology and Business Professionals for a B2B service. Use Observation mode to gather insights without limiting reach. If you're running a remarketing campaign, switch to Targeting instead.

06

Ad Schedule & Other Settings

Optionally:

• Set custom ad schedules (e.g. weekdays only)
• Choose a campaign start and end date
• Leave ad rotation on "Optimise," which lets Google show the best-performing ads more often

07

Enable AI Search Max

This is where the magic begins. AI Search Max helps you generate headlines, descriptions, and even keywords based on your website content, your landing page copy, and past ad performance.

Enable AI Search Max by toggling it on.

08

Customise AI Input and Exclusions

AI Search Max will auto-generate ads using your website's content. To keep control:

URL exclusions — exclude pages you don't want your ads to drive traffic to, such as contact pages, case studies, or blog articles (if not part of your ad strategy). For eCommerce, consider also excluding checkout and cart pages, terms and conditions, and customer login pages.

Your own branded terms — especially if you already rank highly organically — and competitor brand names, to avoid accidental bidding on irrelevant queries. This helps focus your budget on non-branded, high-intent commercial terms.

09

Review and Refine Ad Copy

AI will now generate keywords, headlines, and descriptions.

10

Add Assets

To maximise ad visibility, add as many extensions as possible — these increase your ad's size on the SERP and improve CTR:

11

Set Your Budget

Google will suggest a budget, but you don't have to follow it. You can start as low as £5/day just to gather data, then scale up once the campaign is performing well.

12

Publish and Monitor

Click Publish — your campaign goes live once approved by Google. You can then view your campaign and see your first ad group created under the campaign structure.