Updated Oct. 22, 2026, 2:53 a.m. ET: Adds the Search terms and ad combinations report for AI Max that Search Engine Land reported on Oct. 13.
Google Ads now lets advertisers see sample AI Max ad copy before they turn the feature on. Advertisers can generate up to 10 example headlines and descriptions from text customization without opting in first, Search Engine Land reported on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Common Thread Collective said Google completed the rollout on Oct. 7.
The process is short. An advertiser enters a final URL, Google’s AI analyzes the landing page, and sample assets appear in about 30 seconds. According to Google’s help page, the previews sit in the Asset optimization section when creating AI Max Search campaigns and when editing existing ones.
The samples are examples, not necessarily the exact headlines and descriptions Google will serve. Google says the feature covers all languages that text customization supports, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Dutch, and almost all standard business categories except adult content. If an advertiser has set text guidelines, such as words to exclude or themes to avoid, the preview filters the samples to match. Guidelines so strict that they block every asset trigger a prompt to loosen them.
Why advertisers wanted it
On Sept. 1, Google began automatically upgrading Search campaigns that used automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match to AI Max. Common Thread Collective, an ecommerce agency, wrote that the lack of a preview option “was the single most cited concern from advertisers reluctant to let AI generate their copy.” It estimated the check takes roughly two minutes per campaign and requires no budget or live traffic.
The agency’s advice is to judge the samples on specifics. Strong previews name products, differentiators or prices pulled from the landing page, while weak ones read as category-level copy that could fit any brand. If the copy is weak, it said, the fix is usually a better landing page rather than turning AI Max off.
Testing has shown why a preview helps. In a July test for Search Engine Land, Brad Geddes found that a B2B advertiser’s click-through rates jumped with text customization while conversion rates fell significantly, because the ads drew consumer searchers. The same test found AI-written assets did well in long-tail campaigns that got little human attention.
Google’s own figure is more upbeat. In its AI Max announcement, the company said campaigns using search term matching, text customization and final URL expansion together see an average of 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS than those using search term matching alone.
More reporting around AI Max
The preview arrived alongside other AI Max visibility updates. On Oct. 7, Search Engine Land reported new reporting columns for locations of interest, optimized targeting and brand inclusions. On Oct. 13, it reported that a Search terms and ad combinations report had started appearing in some accounts, showing the query, the headlines and descriptions shown, and the landing page together. Microsoft has been adding similar query-to-ad reporting, as WebProNews covered in its Microsoft Ads API update.
The preview does not replace monitoring. Search Engine Land advised advertisers to keep checking generated assets after enabling text customization, and Google’s AI Max help page says advertisers can remove any generated asset.
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