The fight for visibility in the crowded search engine results pages (SERPs) is real. Businesses have long relied on paid and organic methods to drive traffic, conversions and reach on search engines.
But the rise of AI-powered search has changed how we get found online for good. We’ve already seen huge changes in the search landscape, with many asking: Is SEO officially dead? Our latest article says otherwise: search is evolving – and you either get on board, or let AI threaten your visibility even more.
In this article, we turn the spotlight on PPC (Google Ads) and how AI has impacted it, along with our top tips and predictions for the future of advertising.
How is AI impacting Google Ads and PPC?
AI is impacting the paid search landscape in multiple ways, including changes in consumer behaviour around the context and journey of their search queries, new SERP layouts that push paid results down the page and greater competition for capturing a user’s attention.
We break down some of the biggest changes below:
The user journey is changing
Historically, users searched multiple times before purchasing. Someone researching for an agency might search:
- “Best B2B marketing agency”
- “Top Leeds Google Ads agencies”
- “Pricing for e-commerce SEO services”
Each of these search queries created multiple ad opportunities across the sales funnel. Today, that journey is being compressed. You can now turn to your best pals – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude or Gemini – just once and get shortlisted brands, company breakdowns, pros and cons, suggested pricing and links to the best providers. Just one prompt can now replace several search queries.
For PPC, that means:
- Fewer high-intent searches
- Lower search volume in top and mid-funnel keywords
- Reduced keyword breadth (Long-tail keywords collapse)
Google Ads was originally built on the assumption that users do research gradually and click multiple ads before converting. AI has changed that pattern in a single prompt.
LLMs are choosing for the user
With AI doing all the research, it can also recommend brands to the user. This means users don’t need to search on Google, see ads or click through – and you can’t bid your way into AI responses like you once did with Google Ads – not yet anyway.
To get found in LLMs or even Google’s AI Overview, you need to have authoritative content, sound reviews, structured data and brand sentiment. We expect to see that the way you write your ad copy will change to appear more native to context-based searches.
AI Overviews are pushing paid results down the page
Google’s AI Overviews often summarise an answer before ads or blue links appear. For the user, this is more convenient. For brands, it’s a visibility problem.
With the AIO ranking first, ads are pushed further down, losing visibility and lowering click-through rate (CTR). In fact, recent studies (2025) have shown that when AIOs are present for informational queries, paid CTRs drop from 19.7% to 6.34%.
You’re not going to get that traffic back. That’s why, with AI, KPIs are shifting from clicks and traffic to share of voice in AI citations and assisted conversions. Appearing in AIO will help you appear in key queries that ads may never reach. Research shows that landing a spot there can earn you 35% more organic and 91% more paid clicks than those who are not cited. It’s not worth ignoring.
Google is reshaping ad inventory to compensate
Google can’t afford for advertisers to see falling clicks and decide that paid search no longer works. So in 2024–2025, they’ve done two things:
1. Expanded where Google can show ads
PMax and AI Max campaigns now serve across:
- Search
- YouTube
- Display
- Maps
- Gmail
- Discovery surfaces
- AI-powered placements
This artificially maintains volume even as search demand falls.
2. Reduced visibility into where conversions actually came from
You can now see ‘conversions, ‘new customers’, and ‘search themes’ on Google Ads, but not necessarily which placements drove them, what queries they came from, and how many were brand vs non-brand.
This is why some advertisers feel like Google Ads volume is “holding up” – while actual high-intent search traffic is shrinking underneath.
AI is redistributing demand across platforms
Paid search no longer owns the top of the funnel. Now:
- Early research happens on AI tools, not just search
- Product research moves to AI tools
- Brand discovery dilutes across search, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
- Evaluation happens inside LLM reasoning
- Purchase often happens directly on brand websites
That means there are fewer traditional search impressions, with users entering the buying journey in different places, leading to more disjointed paths to purchase.
Using only PPC may miss users who never reached Google in the first place. This is going to be particularly prevalent in younger audiences, who naturally turn to platforms like TikTok and ChatGPT for online searches.
6 ways to optimise your Google Ads for AI search
AI isn’t just changing how people search – it’s changing how they decide. As search journeys shorten and PPC placements become more competitive, businesses need to rethink how they earn attention and visibility online.
Here are our top tips your brand should consider now:
- Re-evaluate your existing KPIs: AI is decreasing clicks, so rather than focusing on clicks and traffic, keep your eye on the KPIs that matter. For example, the return on ad spend (ROAS) and cost per acquisition (CPA).
- Review your top-of-the-funnel keywords: Paying for informational keywords is likely eating up your budget. It’s time to focus your attention on high-intent, transactional keywords, which you can gather through first-party data.
- Strengthen your online presence: If AI is deciding who is recommended in a query response, you need to give it a reason to back your brand. That means having great reviews, authoritative SEO content, effective schema markup and a visible presence across multiple channels. PPC wins will increasingly depend on brand authority, not just spend.
- Adapt your landing pages to users’ knowledge: Users who click through from an AI-powered search may have already compared prices, features and competitors before they even land on your site. Your job is to remove any more effort. Provide a clear value proposition, fast page experiences and simplified calls-to-action. Don’t assume eight touchpoints when AI has compressed them into one.
- Prepare for more conversational search: As AI search becomes more conversational, your ad messaging needs to fit naturally into comparison and advisory contexts. Focus on evidence-driven messaging: proof points, reviews, results, pricing clarity and benefits users can understand in seconds. The more your brand “sounds like the right pick,” the more AI will treat it like one.
- Go beyond Google Ads: Google Search isn’t your only channel for reach. Consider experimenting with newer ad platforms like TikTok or Reddit.
The future of Google Ads: Our top 3 predictions
1. Paid placements will appear in AI Overviews
Google won’t let AI Overviews take away revenue from paid search. That’s why, in 2025, Google expanded Ads in AIO for the US only. This is yet to roll out to other English-speaking countries, but once it’s in place, we expect to see AIOs having:
- Sponsored suggestions
- Paid provider placements
- Promoted product cards
- Promoted products ranked inside the AI answers
- Dynamic bidding for “AI recommendation spots”
2. Conversational ads will become a new ad format
Soon, ads will appear inside LLM conversations.
For example, a user asks: “What’s the best accounting software for freelancers?” A conversational ad may appear as: “Based on what freelancers like you choose, Xero is a top option. Sponsored.”
This will be:
- Dynamic
- Contextual
- Priced on relevance, not keywords
- Optimised for comparison scenarios
What does this mean for you? By advertising in LLMs, you have a mid-funnel opportunity to influence those in the midst of complex decision-making before buying.
3. Google will expand AI-powered marketplaces
For commercial queries, Google will mimic Amazon and Booking.com:
- Lists of recommended providers
- Some organically chosen
- Some paid
- All shown inside AI-generated answers
If someone asks for “best running shoes for flat feet,” an AI-generated list might include:
- 3 organic recommendations
- 2 sponsored slots
- Direct shopping integrations
This approach moves from the traditional ‘search and compare yourself’ to ‘AI finds the best options for you.’ If this happens, it’s competition for AI visibility, not keywords.
Get your brand seen in AI
As AI reshapes search, visibility is no longer guaranteed by spend alone. Our SEO, AEO and paid media strategies help businesses build authority, align paid and organic efforts and adapt to AI so your brand stays top of mind – and top of results.
