AI Overview ads are the ad placements that appear inside Google's AI-generated search answers. Google calls these answers AI Overviews, and they're displayed on many search results pages. Instead of a separate ad block above or below the results, an AI Overview ad is shown right in the AI-written text—labeled as "Sponsored". This is a new way for advertisers to reach people during the consideration phase, when Google is summarizing options and recommendations.
Google determines which queries get an AI Overview, then selects ads that match the query's intent. The ad shows up within the overview, usually as a single listing. You might see it listed among the sources, or as a product suggestion card. The targeting uses the same auctions as standard Google Ads, but the placement is unique.
For advertisers, the shift is from getting clicks to getting visibility inside an answer. Users may not click at all if the AI answer satisfies them, but being the highlighted advertiser can still drive brand awareness and subsequent searches. The challenge is that clicks, if any, are expensive because the placement is prime real estate.
Ads inside LLMs (large language models) are sponsored messages served within a conversational interface. A prominent example is ChatGPT Ads, which groas supports. When you ask ChatGPT a question, it might respond with an answer and then show a relevant ad—either as a text recommendation, a product card, or a suggested next query. The ad's targeting is based on the conversation's context, not just keywords.
Search ads are based on a query. LLM ads are based on a conversation. That means intent is inferred from the exchange, and the ad can be more nuanced. It also means measurement is different: there's no straightforward search term report. You have to track via the LLM's own platform, or through groas's reporting.
Early LLM ads have lower competition. If you can test now, you might find cheaper placements and a more engaged audience. But you need a system that can manage multiple LLM platforms without spreading your team thin. groas's AI agent runs campaigns across Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads around the clock, so you don't have to.
We get asked about the official status of ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The honest answer: we don't have a verified source to quote here, so we won't repeat secondhand claims. What we can tell you is that AI search placements are an area of active development, and the practical approach is to make sure your campaigns are structured to appear wherever search is heading.
AI Mode is a conversational search experience where users can ask follow-up questions. Ads in that context are designed to fit the conversation, not interrupt it. The exact formats are still evolving, so it's too early to lock in a playbook.
How you approach AI search ads depends on how your accounts are managed. groas draws the line at $25k/month in ad spend.
Below $25k/mo in ad spend, groas is fully managed and hands-off. A dedicated account manager and our optimization engine run everything for you, and you don't touch a dashboard. That means you don't have to worry about manually testing AI Overview ads or LLM placements—our engine handles that as part of your campaign management.
Above $25k/mo, you have choices. Some clients still want fully managed; others want software access to see under the hood; some want their own team running the day-to-day with our engine and a strategist behind them. If you have software access, you can experiment with AI-specific campaigns, but the engine and strategist will still keep performance stable.
AI search ads are an evolving area. Whether you're fully managed or have direct access, the key is to have an execution layer that can adapt quickly. groas's engine is built to do exactly that across Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads.
groas is not a tool that gives you another dashboard. It's an AI agent that executes every campaign action, from bidding to creative to landing page personalization, across Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads. Our engine is trained on $500B+ in profitable ad spend. So when AI Overviews and AI Mode ads change the rules, we adapt your campaigns faster than a human team ever could.
If you want to see how groas would handle your Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads, start a 7-day free trial.
AI overview ads are the sponsored placements that appear inside Google's AI-generated search summaries. They're part of Google Ads and can be served alongside the organic AI answer.
Ads inside LLMs are sponsored messages that appear in conversational AI responses, such as ChatGPT. They're targeted based on the context of the conversation, and they're managed through platforms like ChatGPT Ads.
We can't confirm an official Google statement in this article. What we can say is that AI search placements are an evolving area, and groas is built to help you adapt across Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads.
groas manages Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads autonomously, using AI agents that optimize bids, budgets, and landing pages for each new format. You can hand off the complexity and still see the results.
