AI Max and the search terms report: what you finally get to see
The main complaint about AI Max was that you could not see what the ad showed against and with which copy. The report that ties it together is now in the interface. What it shows, where to find it and what to watch in it.
- The report ties a search term to the headlines and landing pages that served against it, so the whole customer journey can be traced.
- You find it in the search terms report under a dropdown; the default is the landing page view. AI Max traffic is isolated through the match type column.
- Google’s help also says the filter may show lower numbers than expected and that it does not consider "other search terms".
When AI Max for Search campaigns arrived, the main objection was not that it widens matching. It was that you could not see inside. The query, the ad copy and the landing page could only be traced separately, so there was no way to say which combination produced a particular sale.
Now the interface has a view that ties it together. It is called Search terms and ad combinations and it was previously called Search terms and landing pages from AI Max. What AI Max does in general is covered in the article on AI Max for Search campaigns; this one is about the report.
What the report shows
According to Google’s help, it lists the search terms that triggered your ads and shows the headlines, landing pages, campaigns and ad groups that made up the full customer ad journey.
In practice that means questions you previously could only guess at are now answerable:
- Which queries the ad served against and with which headline.
- Which landing page that sent traffic to.
- Whether the combination came from AI Max expanded matching or from the pages and URLs you supplied.
Where to find it
- Open the search terms report under Campaigns.
- Above the table, switch the dropdown to Search terms and ad combinations.
- The default is the landing page view. You switch between views in the top-right corner.
- To see only AI Max traffic, add the source column and filter the match type column for AI Max.
Two limits the help states itself. The AI Max match type filter may show lower numbers than you expect, and it does not consider the "other search terms" item. So the report is not a complete picture of all traffic and cannot be used for an exact reconciliation of spend.
What to watch in it
The report is only useful if somebody reads it with a specific question. These three are worth going through regularly.
Queries that do not belong to your field
Expanded matching occasionally reaches somewhere you would not expect. The report shows which queries those are, and a negative list can be built from them. How to do that systematically is in the article on negative keywords.
Headlines you cannot afford
When copy is filled in by automation, a claim can appear that is a problem in your field. In healthcare, finance or legal services that is not cosmetic. The report shows which headline actually served, so it can be caught before a complaint does it for you.
Landing pages that should not be there
A page you do not want on paid traffic can end up in an ad: an old article, a category page with nothing in stock, a thank-you page. This is the quickest finding, because scanning the list of URLs is enough.
What to avoid
The most common mistake is acting immediately. Google’s help recommends waiting at least two weeks after enabling AI Max before making changes such as adding negative keywords. There is logic to it: on a small amount of data every deviation is noise, and cutting queries after a few days can remove things that would have worked.
The second mistake is reading the report as a performance view. It shows the path, not the return. Budget decisions need numbers from your own order source, and what actually came on top is best answered by an incrementality test.
What to take from this
The report does not give back control over who sees the ad. It does give back the ability to look afterwards at what happened, and with automated campaigns that is the difference between "we trust it" and "we checked it".
In practice: go through it once a fortnight, look at off-topic queries, at headlines and at landing pages, and act only once there is enough data. Leave the rest running.
Common questions
Is the report available in every account?
Google’s help describes it as part of the search terms report, but with interface news it holds that rollouts are gradual and it may not be everywhere at once. Before building a process on it, check whether you actually see it in the dropdown above the table in your account. If it is not there yet, there is nothing to do but wait; the report cannot be requested or switched on.
Can the report tell me how much AI Max expanded matching spent?
Not reliably. The help itself warns that the AI Max match type filter may show lower numbers than you expect and that it does not consider the "other search terms" item. So the report is good for seeing what happened and with which copy, but not as a basis for an exact reconciliation of spend. For splitting spend by channel and match type, use the ordinary campaign reports.
How quickly should I act on what the report shows?
More slowly than you will want to. Google’s help recommends waiting at least two weeks after enabling AI Max before making changes, such as adding negative keywords. The exception is findings that are not about performance but about risk: a headline with a claim you cannot make in your field, or a landing page that does not belong on paid traffic. Handle those immediately, regardless of data volume.
- About reporting in AI Max for Search campaigns, Google Ads HelpGoogle documentation on the report, where it sits in the interface, how to filter AI Max traffic and the limits Google states itself. It describes the product as of this article’s revision date and Google changes it without notice.