Can Advertisers Target Ads Exclusively to Google's AI Mode?

No. Google Ads does not let advertisers target ad placements exclusively to AI Mode or AI Overviews, and there's no way to opt a campaign out of showing in them separately from regular Search — eligible campaigns are automatically considered for both surfaces.

What Google Has Actually Said

• Google's own Ads Help documentation states that advertisers can't directly target ad placements inside AI Overviews, and the same restriction applies to AI Mode.
• When Search Engine Land asked Google directly whether advertisers could opt out of AI Overview ads, Google's answer was a flat "No."
• Google has also confirmed it currently offers no segmented reporting for these placements, meaning advertisers can't see, inside their own account, which conversions or clicks came specifically from an AI Mode or AI Overview placement versus traditional Search.

How Eligibility Actually Works Instead

Rather than targeting, eligibility comes from campaign type and keyword match settings. Ads can appear inside AI Overviews and AI Mode responses only through broad match keywords or Google's keywordless targeting — exact and phrase match keywords can still trigger ads shown above or below an AI Overview, but they aren't eligible to appear inside the generated response itself, and they don't block broad match from doing so. Performance Max and AI Max for Search are the main vehicles for reaching inside the AI-generated response.

Don't Confuse This With the Publisher Opt-Out

Google separately added a Search Console control that lets website owners exclude their own site's content from being summarized inside AI Overviews and AI Mode — but that's a publisher control over organic content, not an advertiser control over ad placement. A publisher opting out stops their content from being surfaced or cited there; it has nothing to do with whether an advertiser's ads show up.

What This Means for Budget Planning

Because AI Mode can't be isolated as its own line item, advertisers can't run a true split test of Search with AI Mode against Search without it inside the same account, and can't shield a sensitive campaign from appearing there. If avoiding AI-generated placements matters for a brand, the lever that actually exists is match type — tightening toward phrase and exact match, and staying out of Performance Max and AI Max for Search, narrows, though doesn't eliminate, how often ads become eligible to appear inside these experiences.

Bottom Line

If a campaign runs broad match or is enrolled in Performance Max or AI Max for Search, assume it's already eligible to appear inside Google's AI Mode and AI Overviews. There's no separate toggle to turn that off, and Google has confirmed it has no plans to add one.

Sources: Google Ads Help documentation on ad placement in AI Overviews, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable; Search Engine Land's reporting on Google's direct "No" response regarding an AI Overview ads opt-out; coverage of Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode publisher opt-out control via Search Console.