AI Max on Google: The SEM Tool Blowing Up Your Tech Stack

AI Overviews are rewriting the SERP. What used to be a clean list of ads and links is now a dense, often chaotic block of generative answers. Ads appear above, below, and—surprise!—inside the Overview. Now imagine… your brand is nowhere to be seen. Yikes.

Thanks to AI Overviews and the rise of zero-click search, that nightmare is becoming routine. Across our client base, we’re seeing the same challenges emerge: impressions up, clicks down, and visibility harder to earn and easier to lose.

At ROI·DNA, we’ve already built a full-funnel, AI-optimized strategy across SEM, SEO, and generative engine optimization, or GEO (yes, that’s a thing now). But staying ahead means staying curious, especially when Google rolls out something new.

Enter AI Max: Google’s latest SEM beta designed to get your ads inside AI Overviews and the chat-style AI Mode. Is it a silver bullet? No. Your core SEM strategy—solid keywords that align with assets and landing pages, and smart bidding strategies—is still doing the heavy lifting. However, zero-click behavior is accelerating, with click-through rates falling by up to 30% in some categories, including B2B software (Bain & Company). Google is clearly positioning AI Max as its newest ad format strategy to counter the issue.

The Hype vs. Reality of AI Max

Google is framing AI Max as the next evolution of paid search—smarter, more contextual, more “in tune” with how people search today. But let’s not forget: Performance Max was pitched as the same kind of revolution, and many marketers (us included) are still fighting its lack of transparency and quality control.

While Google claims AI Max can deliver up to 14% more conversions at similar CPA—or 27% gains for exact/phrase-heavy campaigns, these claims are very “results not typical.” Google’s betas often come with performance volatility, including irrelevant traffic, lower conversion quality, and a general loss of control without careful oversight.

So, is it all hype or worth testing? Let’s break it down.

How AI Overviews Flip the Script for B2B SEM

AI Overviews shift the goalposts in two critical ways:

Search isn’t just SERPs anymore. Research happens inside AI-generated summaries, not just in the list of links below. If your SEM strategy doesn’t win there, you risk vanishing from the buyer journey altogether.
Answers now act like solutions. AI Overviews favor content that solves a problem. Your ads can’t feel bolted on—they need to position your brand as part of the answer.

AI Overviews are far from perfect. They can misinterpret intent, cite thin sources, miss obvious brands, and straight up get things wrong. Lest we forget, Google’s favorite caveat is, “AI responses may include mistakes.” But there is no denying, if you can land inside them, your visibility jumps to the front of the line, and you start shaping how your audience thinks before they even reach your site.

So What Does AI Max Actually Do?

AI Max doesn’t replace your SEM strategy, it layers on top of it. Instead of relying on rigid keywords, it “listens” to user queries and Google’s own AI summaries, then decides when (and where) to drop your ad in.

Here’s the stripped-down version of what it offers—and where we see cracks:

Intent-based matching. Looks beyond keywords to query phrasing and AI context. But early testing shows relevancy gaps, especially with competitor terms Google interprets as “similar.”
Dynamic ad copy. Auto-tests multiple headlines and descriptions. That’s great for scale, but it also means losing some control of messaging.
Flexible landing pages. Google decides the “best” spot on your site for the click. Guardrails like URL inclusions are critical, or you risk traffic bleeding into irrelevant or non-localized pages.
Some control, not full control. You can still manage negatives, assets, and exclusions. But don’t confuse that with the precision of traditional campaigns.

Bottom line: to make it really work, you need to plug in the data that matters most.

A Little Pilot Goes a Long Way

Before fully committing to any beta or folding it into our standard playbook, we look for performance signals that are both scalable and repeatable for our clients — things like clear conversion lift, transparency, consistency in controls, and reliable benchmarks. That said, we have a beta testing playbook for AI Max to help get this rolling.

Our Playbook:

Control the parameters. Start small, test a single campaign or product line to understand AI Max’s performance without overcommitting budget or introducing potential performance dips to your broader strategy. Evaluate the impact before you scale up.
Audit key settings. Don’t just rely on the out-of-the-box setup. There are key campaign-level settings that need a closer look, such as text customization, final URL expansion, and brand inclusions/exclusions. One setting to pay extra attention to is URL inclusions. They’re essential for keeping campaigns in a controlled environment, especially for in-language efforts. Without that guardrail, Google can easily pull in other languages or unintended pages.
- If you want to get granular control at the ad group level, many of the same settings are available, but in addition, there are search term matching and locations of interest.
Wire up your CRM for offline tracking. Every MQL, SQL, and opportunity gets imported into Google Ads so AI Max-enabled search campaigns can spot which signals are leading to pipeline. The fresher your CRM feed (updated lead scores, won/lost outcomes, deal value), the smarter AI Max’s intent matching becomes. Over time, you’ll see it stop chasing low-value clicks and start zeroing in on contacts ready to move.
- Ensure that you are optimizing to the lowest funnel CRM conversion event signals that have enough volume to meet the threshold of at least 15 conversions in the last 30 days. The more volume we have over this threshold is a bonus, so AI has more data to stay up to date on what counts as a “win.”
Launch your pilot campaign. Allocate a modest budget (around 5 percent of your search spend) to your AI Max experiment. Keep a close eye on irrelevant queries and ad performance. Adjust negative keyword lists, asset exclusions, and URL exclusions as early warning signs of waste.
Analyze results and scale thoughtfully. In the first 2–4 weeks, focus on early signals like CTR, CPC, engagement quality, and conversion rates to MQLs. As campaigns run longer, layer in mid-funnel metrics such as cost per SQL and sales acceptance. True pipeline and revenue impact will take more time — typically several months in B2B buying cycles — but the asset report can still give you immediate insight into which headlines, landing pages, and creative are performing best. Apply those learnings back into both AI Max and your standard campaigns.

TL;DR: AI Max = Cautious Optimism

AI Overviews aren’t going away—and if your ads aren’t showing up in them, someone else’s are. Google is clearly betting big on this new SERP experience, and AI Max doesn’t seem like it will be going anywhere anytime soon.

It’s still early days but some of our initial tests have given us pause and even more reason to test and measure with rigor. AI Max cannot be adopted blindly. We’re leaning in with structured pilots — testing within defined parameters, auditing results at the CRM level, and holding performance to the standards that matter for revenue impact.

The key is disciplined experimentation. Following steps from our playbook can help you build clear hypotheses, control the environment, and let real data guide your next moves. Testing with intention is how a beta becomes a reliable path to success. For more on how AI is reshaping search — and what it means for both SEM and SEO — see our post on Semantic Search: The Next Leap in Search Intelligence.