Shopping ads in Google AI Mode: how retailers get shown

Shopping ads can now appear inside Google AI Mode, labeled "Sponsored," within or next to the AI-generated answer and on follow-up questions. You do not create a separate AI Mode campaign: Google says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns take part automatically wherever ads in AI Mode are available. As of November 2026 that means the US and ten other markets, in English, with the UK planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.

This guide explains what AI Mode is, where Shopping ads show inside it, which campaigns are eligible, and what you can do to get your products shown.

What is Google AI Mode?

AI Mode is a conversational search experience inside Google Search. Instead of a page of links, it writes an answer, and people can keep asking follow-up questions. For shopping queries, Google says AI Mode brings together its Gemini AI models with the Shopping Graph, its dataset of more than 50 billion product listings, more than 2 billion of which are refreshed every hour (Google, May 20, 2025). Products appear in a browsable panel next to the answer and update as the shopper refines the question. For how this differs from the classic Shopping carousel, see our comparison of AI Mode vs. traditional product listings on Google.

The questions are longer than classic searches. In its October 28, 2026 announcement, Google said AI Mode queries are about three times longer than traditional searches on average (Google). A shopper might ask for "a waterproof hiking jacket under $200 that packs small" rather than type "hiking jacket."

How do Shopping ads appear in AI Mode?

According to Google Ads Help, ads can show directly within or alongside AI responses, in sections labeled "Sponsored." Text ads and Shopping ads are both eligible, and Google says it is experimenting with local inventory ads and vehicle ads. Paid placement does not influence the organic AI answer.

Three recent changes are worth knowing:

• Ads on follow-up questions. On October 28, 2026, Google launched "multiturn ads" in the US, which let ads appear on follow-up queries as a shopper keeps the conversation going (Google).
• Ads in product carousels (test). At the end of October 2026, Google was testing sponsored products mixed into AI Mode product carousels. A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Roundtable that "Shopping Ads can appear alongside organic visual search results within carousels for commercially relevant queries" and that "All sponsored listings are labeled as 'Sponsored'" (Search Engine Roundtable, Oct 29, 2026). Layouts may still change.
• Click-through rates. Google says click-through rates are already similar between sponsored and organic product list items in AI Mode, based on its US data from August 20 to September 3, 2026 (Google).

Which campaigns are eligible for AI Mode?

You cannot buy AI Mode on its own. Google matches ads to AI Mode in two ways: directly, when the question itself shows buying intent, and contextually, when buying intent appears during a longer or exploratory conversation. Which campaigns can use each depends on how they target:

Source: Google Ads Help, as of November 2026. No new campaign or budget is needed. The flip side is that you cannot target AI Mode alone or opt out of it separately from Search. Your controls are the usual ones: negative keywords and brand exclusions.

Where are ads in AI Mode available?

As of November 2026, Google lists these countries for ads within AI Mode, in English: the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan (text ads only), the Philippines and Singapore (Google Ads Help).

The UK is not live yet. Google says it plans to expand to more locales, including Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom, in the fourth quarter of 2026 (Google). If you sell in several countries, check the help page before planning around it, since the list is changing.

How do you get your products shown in AI Mode?

Ads in AI Mode still go through the normal Google Ads auction, and Shopping ads are built from your Google Merchant Center (Merchant Center after this) product data. So the work is the same work that helps Shopping ads everywhere, with more weight on product detail because the questions are longer. A practical checklist:

1. Run Shopping or Performance Max. These campaigns are eligible for both direct and contextual matching, so they can show on exploratory questions, not only on clear product searches.
2. Keep Merchant Center data in line with your site. Google's AI Mode ads page asks advertisers to "Ensure your Merchant Center product data matches your landing pages" (Google Ads Help). Price, availability and product details should agree. Our guide to Google Merchant Center account setup covers the settings to check first.
3. Write specific titles and descriptions. A shopper asking for a jacket "that packs small" needs to find that detail somewhere in your product data. Material, size, use case and compatibility belong in the feed, not only on the product page.
4. Add conversational attributes. Merchant Center has optional attributes that, in Google's words, help "AI systems and conversational agents better understand your products' specific nuances," across surfaces "like AI Mode in Search" (Google Merchant Center Help). They include question_and_answer, related_product, variant_option, item_group_title, document_link and popularity_rank. Google recommends sending them through a supplemental data source, and says they will not affect the approval status of your products.
5. Review your search terms. Watch for long, question-style queries, and add negative keywords where the intent does not fit your products.

The question_and_answer attribute is the clearest fit for AI Mode. Google says it is "primarily intended for use in conversational experiences such as AI mode in Google Search," and allows up to 30 questions per product, each question and answer up to 1,000 characters, with a 10,000-character total (Google Merchant Center Help). Use real questions customers ask, keep answers factual, and leave out prices and dates.

Writing these by hand for a large catalog takes time. Clarmix's conversational attributes tool audits these fields, plus product_highlight and product_detail, for each product in Merchant Center, generates them from your existing product data, Google Ads keywords and optional PDF, CSV or XML files, and sends them through a supplemental feed after you review them. For the organic side of the same question, see our guide to AI shopping visibility and your Merchant Center feed.

How do you measure Shopping ads in AI Mode?

There is no separate AI Mode report. Google says impressions, clicks, conversions and cost from AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in aggregate in your standard campaign reports and in the search terms report (Google Ads Help). Longer, conversational queries in your search terms are the best clue that AI Mode traffic is reaching you.

Keep expectations measured. On its Q3 2026 earnings call, Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler mentioned "the lower monetization we were seeing in AI Mode" compared with traditional search, while saying Google is scaling these ads (Search Engine Roundtable, Oct 29, 2026). Judge AI Mode by the same profit targets as the rest of your account; our guide to POAS vs ROAS explains how to measure profit rather than revenue.

Google is also adding checkout features to AI Mode shopping, starting with the agentic checkout it announced in May 2025 (Google). To prepare for that side, our guide to Google Universal Cart and UCP checkout covers what Merchant Center sellers need to set up.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate campaign for AI Mode?

No. Google says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns take part in AI Mode automatically through the auction, with no new campaigns or budgets required.

Can I opt out of ads in AI Mode?

Not separately from Search. You cannot target AI Mode alone or exclude it on its own. Negative keywords and brand exclusions are the controls Google lists for deciding when your ads serve.

Are Shopping ads in AI Mode available in the UK?

Not as of early November 2026. Google listed the United Kingdom among the locales it plans to add in the fourth quarter of 2026. Standard Search ads can already appear above or below AI Overviews in the UK, as in every country where AI Overviews run (Google Ads Help).

Do conversational attributes change how my Shopping ads rank?

Google does not say so. Its help pages describe conversational attributes as a way to help AI-driven surfaces such as AI Mode understand your products, and say they do not affect product approval. Because Shopping ads and organic product results both draw on your Merchant Center data, richer product information helps on both sides.

Is AI Mode the same as AI Overviews?

No. AI Overviews are AI summaries at the top of a normal results page; AI Mode is a separate, conversational experience. Ads can appear in both, and Google counts them together in your reports.

Sources

• Google Ads Help: About ads in AI-powered experiences in Google Search
• Google: Ads in AI Mode expand globally (October 28, 2026)
• Google: Shop with AI Mode (May 20, 2025)
• Google Merchant Center Help: How to use conversational attributes
• Google Merchant Center Help: Question and answer [question_and_answer]
• Search Engine Roundtable: Google AI Mode tests blending all products with sponsored products (October 29, 2026)
• Search Engine Roundtable: Ads in AI Mode earning less than traditional search ads (October 29, 2026)
• Clarmix: Conversational attributes

Cover photo by freestocks on Unsplash.