The AI Max Auto-Upgrade Is Under Way: A September Checklist for Search Campaigns

If you run Google Ads Search campaigns, some of them may have changed under you this month. Between September 1 and 30, 2026, Google is automatically upgrading Search campaigns that use the campaign-level broad match setting or automatically created assets to AI Max. The first eight days of September also brought confirmation of a small Google test that lets exact and phrase match keywords serve text ads in AI Mode, and the first sightings of Gemini-powered reporting dashboards.

The strategic argument for AI Max was covered in our piece on agentic advertising after Google Marketing Live 2026. This is the operational follow-up: which campaigns move, what to check before and after, how to keep a fair comparison, and how much weight the AI Mode test deserves.

What moves, and when

Google announced the change in April alongside the retirement of Dynamic Search Ads. In a June 11 update to that post, it pushed the DSA upgrade to February 2027 after advertiser feedback, but said campaigns using automatically created assets and the campaign-level broad match setting would “continue to be auto-upgraded starting in September 2026.” According to Google's Ads Developer Blog, creation of new campaign-level broad match and legacy automatically created assets was blocked on August 3, and campaigns are migrated in place using equivalent AI Max settings, with existing brand inclusions and exclusions preserved.

These defaults are Google's own. Its developer blog adds that final URL expansion is off after the September migration for both groups; confirm that in each upgraded campaign. Google's Help Center notes that final URL expansion requires text customization, which puts former automatically created assets campaigns one toggle away from it.

The audit, before and after the switch

Start with an inventory: every campaign using either setting, and whether it has already been upgraded. For anything still pending, export a baseline now, covering settings, search terms, landing pages, assets and conversions by campaign. Then work through six checks.

• Keyword prioritization. Google's Help Center says that when you disable the broad match campaign setting or move to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match keywords in prioritization. To keep that prioritization, Google says to add exact match copies of your keywords; converting broad to exact also works but removes historical keyword stats. For former broad match campaigns, decide this first.
• Search terms. Google suggests adding the Source column to the search terms report and filtering Match type for AI Max, but warns that this filter leaves out “Other search terms” and may show lower AI Max numbers. The keywords report adds total rows for AI Max expanded matches and landing page matches.
• Negative keywords. Google says negatives are respected with AI Max on. That makes your existing list the outer boundary of the expanded matching, so review it before new queries arrive, not after they have spent.
• Landing pages. Google says final URL expansion only sends traffic to query-relevant URLs themed to the ad group. The landing pages report shows which URLs AI Max selected. Use campaign-level URL exclusions for pages that should never take paid traffic, and ad group URL inclusions for relevant pages it misses.
• Brand controls. Inclusions and exclusions are meant to carry over. Confirm they did, campaign by campaign, especially where competitor or own-brand terms are handled separately.
• Assets. Where text customization is on, asset reports label AI-written text as Google AI. Read it and set text guidelines. Do not rely on pins for compliance: Google says pinning is not respected when text customization and final URL expansion are both on, or when URL inclusions are used.

The new AI Dashboards can speed this up. Search Engine Land reported on September 8 that they had started appearing in some accounts, turning text prompts into reports with, according to Google, “a real-time AI summary that explains the ‘why’ behind the data.” Use them to decide where to look, but check any explanation against the search terms and landing pages reports before changing a setting.

Keep a control, or September will grade itself

Google's Help Center says advertisers that activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS, citing Google internal data from 2025 for non-retail advertisers. That is a vendor-reported figure, and it is a reason to test, not a result for your account. A before-and-after read on a migrated campaign is weak evidence, because seasonal demand, budget changes and your own audit edits all land in the same weeks.

Google's built-in AI Max experiments split traffic and budget inside one campaign: a control share with AI Max off and a trial share with it on. The Help Center lists what blocks them: text customization enabled, Display network targeting, a portfolio bid strategy, a shared budget, bidding exploration or another active experiment. That rules out most former automatically created assets campaigns as they stand. The same limits, bar Display targeting, apply to custom experiments; the page does not say how auto-upgraded campaigns are treated.

The AI Mode test: note it, do not rebuild for it

On September 4, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google was serving ads from standard Search campaigns using exact and phrase match keywords in AI Mode. Anthony Higman of AdSquire spotted it first, and Google's Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, called it “a small experiment that recently kicked off.” Before this, Higman wrote, the only way to show there was through AI Max, Performance Max, or broad match with Smart Bidding.

Three limits matter. The test covers text ads only; Marvin points to AI Max and Performance Max for Search for newer formats such as Highlighted Answers. It applies only where Google judges intent to be explicit and direct. And, as Search Engine Land notes, Google has not said how broadly it is running or whether it will become permanent.

For account structure, read it conservatively. Do not dismantle AI Max campaigns or rebuild exact and phrase campaigns on the strength of an experiment. It does suggest a well-kept exact and phrase layer may have its own route into AI Mode, which supports running it alongside AI Max. Treat any shift in those campaigns' impressions this month as something to investigate, not to budget around.