Search Term Reports for AI Max: What to Read and What to Add as Negatives

In an AI Max campaign, review four things each week. Check the search terms AI Max added, the landing pages it chose, the headlines it wrote and the negatives you need. Google's reports show each of these, as long as you know which view and column to open.

This guide gives you that routine, using the names Google uses in its help pages. It is part of our AI ads hub and was checked against Google's documentation on 9 November 2026.

Before your first review

Give the campaign time. Google's AI Max reporting page says "you should wait at least 2 weeks after enabling AI Max for a new or existing Search campaign before making changes, like adding negative keywords."

Google calls this a ramp-up period. You can still read the reports during it. Just hold off on large edits unless something is clearly wrong, such as an off-brand headline or a broken page.

The weekly review, step by step

1. Search terms: what AI Max added

Open the search terms report from the Campaigns menu. Then do two things the reporting page names.

• Filter "Match type" for "AI Max." These are the terms AI Max matched beyond your keywords.
• Add the "Source" column. Google's AI Max page says it shows "if the match is because of broad match expansion or keywordless matching."

One caution from Google: "When filtering for match type = "AI Max" the search terms report may show lower numbers for AI Max. This filter doesn't consider "Other search terms"." So the filtered view is not a full total.

Ask of each term: would a buyer search this? Is it a job seeker, a student or a competitor's customer? Is it a service you do not offer?

2. Search terms and ad combinations: what people saw

From the search terms dropdown, choose "Search terms and ad combinations (formerly known as Search terms and landing pages from AI Max)." Google says this view lists the search terms "and shows the headlines, landing pages, campaigns, and ad groups that made up the full customer ad journey."

This is the most useful view in AI Max. Read the headline next to each search. Then open the landing page and check that it answers the search.

3. Keywords report: how much AI Max contributed

Scroll to the bottom of the keywords report. Google describes two aggregate rows there.

• "Total: AI Max expanded matches" is traffic from broad match keywords created by AI Max, based on your keywords.
• "Total: AI Max landing page matches" is traffic from searches that matched because of your landing pages or assets, outside your keywords.

Compare these rows with your keyword traffic week by week. If AI Max matches grow while conversions do not, look harder at those terms.

4. Landing pages report: where AI Max sent people

Final URL expansion can send visitors to pages you did not pick. In the landing pages report, Google says the "Selected by" column indicates "if the URL was selected by AI Max."

Look for pages that should never receive paid traffic. Examples include careers pages, old blog posts, login pages and thank-you pages. Our guide to landing pages for Google Ads covers what a good one needs.

5. Asset report: what AI Max wrote

In the ad-level asset report, Google says text from text customization is marked "Google AI" in the "Added by" column. Read every new headline and description.

Remove anything inaccurate, off-brand or not allowed in your industry. Google's reporting page says you remove an asset by selecting its status icon and choosing "Remove." It also says bulk removal of Google customized text is not available in Google Ads itself, but is available "when using the Google Ads API and Google Ads Editor."

What to add as negatives, and how

The reporting page says you can act from the report itself. "Check the box next to the search term or landing page you wish to exclude, then select Add as negative keyword or Add as negative URL."

Add a negative when a term is clearly wrong for your business, not just when it has not converted yet. A term with three clicks and no sale may still be a good one.

Watch these points from Google's negative keywords page:

• Negatives "don't match to close variants," so add singular, plural and synonym versions yourself.
• Negative broad match is the default type. It blocks a search only when the search "contains all your negative keyword terms."
• Your ad might still show on a search longer than 16 words if the negative term comes after the 16th word.

Google's AI Max FAQ confirms that "negative keywords will be respected even with AI Max turned on."

URL exclusions for pages, not searches

If the problem is the page, not the search, use a URL exclusion. Google's URL exclusions page says these require both text customization and Final URL expansion to be on.

Rules need care. The page says "URL contains" "relies on consecutive tokens rather than partial substring matching." Its example: a rule for "auto" will not exclude a URL containing "automation."

It also says underscores are not treated as separators, and an exclusion for "FAQ" "doesn't block "/faqs" or "/FAQ11"." Test each rule against real URLs from your landing pages report.

What the report cannot tell you

It cannot tell you which terms came from AI Mode or AI Overviews. Google's AI surfaces page says those queries "are included in aggregate in your search terms report."

It also hides some terms. Google's search terms report page says terms without enough query activity "are omitted from the search terms report in order to keep with our standards on data privacy."

A simple weekly log

Keep a short log so changes are traceable. One row per week is enough.

The example row is illustrative, not data from a real account. For a wider monthly routine, see our Google Ads monthly maintenance checklist.

Next step

Set a 30-minute weekly slot for this review and keep the log. If you want someone to run it with you, see our paid search management.

Frequently asked questions