Google adds Gemini-powered ads to AI search results

Google has introduced new Search advertising formats built around its Gemini artificial intelligence models, extending ads into AI-generated search experiences and product recommendations.

The update includes two ad formats for AI Mode in Search, a shopping ad product that generates tailored explanations for items, and a chat-based lead tool designed to answer users' questions inside an advert.

These formats are intended to appear when people ask more detailed or conversational questions while researching products and services. Google is testing Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers in AI Mode, where search results include more AI-generated guidance.

Conversational Discovery ads are designed to answer a user's specific query with creative tailored to that question. Highlighted Answers will allow ads to appear within a list of recommendations produced in AI Mode, if Google judges them highly relevant and of sufficient quality.

In both formats, an independent AI explainer will sit alongside the advertiser's creative. Generated by Gemini, it evaluates and synthesises information about a product or service and presents that context within the ad, while the placement remains labelled as sponsored content.

Search changes

Google is also bringing similar ideas into the main Search product. One of the new formats, AI-powered Shopping ads, is aimed at higher-consideration purchases such as household appliances and electronics.

Under that system, a search for a product such as an espresso machine would prompt Gemini to select what Google considers the most relevant items and generate a custom explanation for why a product may suit the user. That moves the ad unit beyond a standard product listing by adding AI-generated guidance at the point of search.

A second format, called Business Agent for Leads, places a chat function inside the ad rather than a conventional lead form. The tool will answer questions using information drawn from a company's website, allowing prospective customers to ask follow-up questions before deciding whether to make contact.

The company's example focused on higher education, with a student researching universities able to click a chat button and receive immediate responses. The approach reflects a wider shift in search advertising, as static links and forms are adapted for more interactive, AI-led interfaces.

Offers pilot

Google is also widening the scope of its Direct Offers pilot, which has been running since January 2026 with brands including Chewy, Gap and L'Oreal. The programme is designed to surface promotions as consumers explore products in AI-assisted shopping journeys.

One planned addition is promotion bundling. Advertisers will be able to upload multiple kinds of promotions, including discounts, giveaways and local coupons, and set rules around eligible products. Gemini will then assemble an offer, such as a product bundle, based on the search context.

Another change is native checkout for merchants that use Universal Commerce Protocol, or UCP. Google said this would give users a quicker way to claim promotions without being pushed through a more fragmented purchase process.

The company is also expanding the offers programme into travel. Travel groups including Booking and Expedia will be able to place special offers within AI-assisted trip-planning responses.

The new ad formats show how Google is trying to adapt its core advertising business as search interfaces become more conversational and less dependent on traditional lists of blue links. It is trying to preserve commercial inventory inside AI-generated responses while giving advertisers more prominent placements during product research.

That strategy also raises questions about how users will distinguish between neutral recommendations and paid placements when both appear in AI-generated environments. Google said the formats will continue to be clearly labelled as sponsored, and that the AI explainer included in some ads is intended to provide transparency about the product or service being shown.

Google linked the rollout to other campaign tools already on the market, including AI Max for Search, AI Max for Shopping campaigns and Performance Max, which it said advertisers should use as a foundation for adopting the new formats. It added that testing would continue as it builds out advertising for AI-led search experiences.