You cannot target a slot inside Google’s AI Overviews. Google’s own help page says you can’t target that placement and you can’t opt out of it. What you can do is make the campaigns you already run eligible for ads in AI Overviews, and for most B2B accounts that means changing how you match the long, research-style questions you have probably been excluding for years.
This post sets out what Google says is on sale as of September 24, 2026, the date we checked every fact below against Google’s own help pages and announcements. It covers where these ads run, which campaign types qualify, what you give up in control and reporting, where AI Mode stands, and what all of it means for a B2B search budget.
Above, below and inside: three placements with different rules
Google’s help page on ads and AI Overviews describes three positions. Ads are eligible to show above, below or within an AI Overview on Search. The third is the one with different rules.
Above and below the AI Overview, Google says ads are eligible in all 200+ markets where AI Overviews are available. Existing text, shopping, local and app ads from Search, Shopping, Performance Max and App campaigns can serve there, and Google says they serve following the existing auction ranking system and signals.
Inside the AI Overview, the rules are narrower. Google considers both the search and the content of the AI Overview itself, and the ad must be relevant to what the overview says, not only to the query. That second test is what makes this placement different. Your ad is matched to an answer, not just to a keyword.
Where ads inside AI Overviews run, as of September 2026
Data table
| Placement | markets or countries |
|---|---|
| Above or below an AI Overview | 200 |
| Inside an AI Overview (English) | 12 |
The in-answer placement is still limited by language and country. According to Google’s help page, ads in AI Overviews are available in English, on mobile and desktop, in 12 countries: Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and the US.
For a US-based B2B team that is good news. The US is on the list, and so is Canada. For anyone planning Europe, it is a different picture. All 12 countries are outside Europe. A campaign aimed at Germany, France or the UK sits outside the list for the placement inside the answer. What stays open is the positions above and below, wherever AI Overviews show in that market.
Google has widened the list before. Its own 2025 recap says ads in AI Overviews launched in the US the year before, then expanded to desktop and more countries in 2025. So check the page again before you plan a quarter around it. The list is a snapshot, not a promise.
One more limit matters for B2B. Google says it currently does not show ads in AI Overviews for sensitive verticals, and its list names adult, alcohol, gambling, finance, healthcare and politics, “and more”. If you sell into banking or healthcare, whether your product falls inside those categories is Google’s call. Treat it as something to test in your own account, not something to assume either way.
Which campaign types are eligible
Here is how Google’s help page maps campaign types to the three placements today.
| Campaign type | Above or below an AI Overview | Inside an AI Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Yes | Yes, text ads, when matched by broad match, AI Max or Dynamic Search Ads |
| Performance Max | Yes | Yes, text and shopping ads |
| Shopping | Yes | Yes, shopping ads |
App campaigns can serve above and below an AI Overview. For the placement inside it, Google currently names text and shopping ads from Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns.
For most B2B advertisers only two rows matter: Search and Performance Max. Shopping only comes into it if you sell from a product feed.
Every row is a campaign type you already run. Google says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns that can win the auction and fit both the query and the overview are automatically eligible. There is nothing to sign up for.
Why an exact-match B2B account rarely qualifies
This is the part that changes how a B2B account is built. Google says AI Overviews trigger on complex, answer-seeking queries, and that advertisers are less likely to be targeting such keywords. To match ads to those searches, Google requires AI-powered targeting: broad match on Search, the keywordless targeting in AI Max for Search, Performance Max, Shopping campaigns or Dynamic Search Ads.
Think about how most B2B search accounts are set up. Exact and phrase match on a tight list of category terms. Long questions pushed into the negative list, because a search like “how do we cut false positives in our SOC without hiring” can just as easily come from a student as from a buyer. Those long questions are the kind of complex search that Google says produces an AI Overview.
So the account that was built to save money on research queries is the account that will not be matched to them. That is not an argument for switching everything to broad match. It is a trade to make on purpose, in one campaign, with a budget you can afford to learn with and strong conversion signals behind it.
Two dates matter here. Google said in June 2026 that campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting will be upgraded to AI Max automatically from September 2026. Dynamic Search Ads follow later, with the sunset and auto-upgrade now starting in February 2027. If you still run Dynamic Search Ads as your catch-all for long queries, plan that move now rather than inheriting it.
What you give up: targeting, opt-out and a separate report
Three answers on Google’s own help page are worth reading slowly, because they decide how you manage this.
Placement targeting is off the table. Google says you can’t directly target ad placements in AI Overviews. You bid on the search, and Google decides where the ad goes.
You cannot opt out. If your campaigns are eligible, your ads can appear inside AI Overviews. There is no setting that keeps them out while leaving the rest of the campaign running.
You cannot see the results separately. Google says it currently doesn’t offer segmented reporting for ads that show within AI Overviews, and it reports them as Top Ads. In your reports, the ads that ran inside an AI answer sit in the Top Ads numbers with nothing to set them apart.
For a B2B team this makes the search terms report the main instrument. Watch it for the long, question-shaped searches that start converting after you open up matching. Then follow those leads into the CRM to see whether they become pipeline, because the Google Ads interface will not tell you which of them came from inside an answer.
Ads in AI Mode: still a test, and a different set of formats
Ads in AI Mode have a different status. Google’s 2025 recap says it is testing ads in AI Mode in the US, where ads may appear below and integrated into AI Mode responses. Its Google Marketing Live 2025 roundup describes those tests as available in English in the US.
On May 20, 2026, Google announced two new AI Mode formats that it is testing, both built with Gemini. Conversational Discovery ads build creative that answers a person’s specific question. Highlighted Answers let a relevant ad appear inside a list of recommendations that AI Mode gives. Google says both will feature what it calls an independent AI explainer next to the advertiser’s creative, and both will be labeled “Sponsored”.
The same announcement matters more for lead generation. Google said that in the coming months it will bring a Business Agent for Leads to Search: instead of a static form, a person clicks “Chat” and gets answers based on your website. For a B2B company that lives on demo requests, that is the format to watch. Until it is in your account, it is an announcement, not something you can buy.
Google’s advice for all of these formats is the same: build on AI Max for Search, AI Max for Shopping and Performance Max. For a B2B advertiser that points back to the matching decision above, not to a new line in the budget.
If you are comparing this with ads inside other AI assistants, we covered how advertising on ChatGPT works separately. The buying model is different enough that the two should be planned on their own terms.
What this means for a B2B search budget
You cannot give AI Overviews their own budget line, because you cannot target the placement on its own. What you can decide is how much of your search budget runs on matching that makes you eligible. A sensible order for most B2B accounts looks like this.
First, check your markets. If your buyers search in English in the US or Canada, the in-answer placement can reach them, provided your campaigns qualify. If your growth markets are the UK or the EU, plan on the positions above and below the overview wherever AI Overviews show there, which Google opens to existing Search, Shopping, Performance Max and App campaigns.
Second, check your vertical. Finance and healthcare sit on Google’s sensitive list, so a company selling into those markets should not build a plan around ads inside AI Overviews until its own tests show them serving.
Third, open one campaign to broad match or AI Max on your core category, keep brand and competitor terms in their own tightly controlled campaigns, and feed it conversion data that reflects qualified pipeline rather than raw form fills. Broad matching without a good signal just spends faster.
Fourth, measure the result by search term and by pipeline, since the interface will not break it out for you. This is also where a managed Google Ads program earns its keep: someone has to read those terms every week and cut what does not convert.
And keep the organic side in view. The same AI Overview that carries an ad also cites web pages, and those citations are earned, not bought. Our explainer on SEO, AEO and GEO covers how pages get cited in AI answers. For most B2B companies the citation will do more for trust than the ad, and the two work best together.
FAQ
What are ads in AI Overviews?
They are Google search and shopping ads that appear inside an AI Overview, matched to both the search and the content of the overview. Google also shows ads above and below AI Overviews, which serve through its existing auction.
Where are ads in AI Overviews available?
As of September 24, 2026, Google lists English on mobile and desktop in 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, India and Singapore. Ads above and below AI Overviews are eligible in all 200+ markets where AI Overviews run.
Can I target or opt out of ads in AI Overviews?
No to both. Google says you can’t directly target the placement and you can’t opt out of it. Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns that win the auction and fit both the query and the overview are eligible automatically.
Do I need broad match to show ads in AI Overviews?
Not broad match specifically, but some form of AI-powered targeting. Google names broad match, the keywordless targeting in AI Max for Search, Performance Max, Shopping campaigns and Dynamic Search Ads as the ways it matches ads to these longer queries.
Can I see how my ads perform inside AI Overviews?
Not separately. Google currently offers no segmented reporting for ads within AI Overviews and counts them as Top Ads, so use the search terms report and your CRM to judge them.
Are ads in AI Mode available to all advertisers?
Google describes ads in AI Mode as a test, which its announcements place in English in the US. In May 2026 it announced two new test formats for AI Mode, Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers.
COSEOM Team
COSEOM is a multilingual B2B growth agency. Since 2008 the COSEOM team has run international SEO, generative engine optimization, paid media and demand generation programs for B2B software and technology companies across their target markets. We publish our research, playbooks and product guides here. More about COSEOM
