Google Ads
AI Max search terms report: how to read it and what to negate
The AI Max report shows the headline and landing page used for each query. Where it lives, the new columns, why you never add views together, and what to negate.
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The AI Max search terms report is a view inside the Google Ads search terms report that shows, for each query, which headline and which landing page your ad used. Google Ads Help calls it "Search terms and ad combinations," formerly "Search terms and landing pages from AI Max." Alongside it you get an AI Max match type, a Source column and AI Max total rows in the keywords report. Together they tell you what to negate and which copy to rewrite.
Since Search campaigns moved to AI Max in September 2026, the classic search terms report no longer tells the whole story. A query can now come in without a keyword, the headline may have been written by Google and the landing page picked by Google. This view puts all three on one row.
Where each piece lives
| Where | What it shows | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Search terms report, ad combinations view | Query, headline and landing page served together | Seeing the message a searcher actually read |
| Match type column, AI Max value | Queries that came in through AI Max expansion | Separating new traffic from your own keywords |
| Source column, which you add to the default view | Whether the query came from your keyword, broad match expansion or keywordless matching | Knowing where the spend came from |
| Keywords report, total rows at the bottom | Totals for AI Max expanded matches and landing page matches | Sizing AI Max inside the campaign |
| Landing pages report, Selected by column | Whether AI Max picked the page | Spotting pages that should never get ad traffic |
| Asset report, expanded final URL assets tab | Copy and page combinations from URL expansion | Reading generated text, labeled Google AI |
The Source column is not in the default view. Without it, AI Max traffic blends into everything else and you only get half the picture.
New columns that may not be in your account yet
On October 8, 2026, advertisers reported four new AI Max columns in Google Ads: brand inclusions, locations of interest, commission and optimized targeting. The report came from a screenshot a PPC practitioner shared. Google has not published a rollout note, so treat these as something that may not have reached your account.
The features behind the first two already exist. Brand inclusions come from brand lists applied in the AI Max panel. Locations of interest are set at the ad group level and have their own view in the Google Ads API, by country, region and city. What is new is seeing them as columns next to your search terms. If they show up, use them to answer two questions: how much spend went to queries naming other brands, and how much went to queries about places you do not serve.
Never add the views together
The Google Ads API documentation is blunt: never sum metrics from the ad combinations view and the regular search terms view. Many terms appear in both, so adding them double-counts spend.
The report total will also never match the campaign total. Low-volume terms are dropped for privacy, but their clicks still land in the campaign total. In small accounts that slice can be large. It is not a reporting bug and it is not a reason to distrust the rest.
How to negate from the report
The mechanics have not changed: select the term or the page and add it as a negative keyword or a negative URL. What changes is the judgment, because you now see the whole combination.
| What you see on the row | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Off-market query, spend, no conversions | Expansion went too far | Phrase or exact negative |
| Good query, wrong page | URL expansion picked poorly | URL exclusion, not a negative keyword |
| Good query, good page, weak headline | The generated copy does not sell | Rewrite the ad |
| Query with a competitor's brand | Came in through broad or keywordless matching | Brand exclusion in the AI Max brand list |
| Query naming a city you do not serve | Locations of interest or expansion | Negate the city and review the ad group |
Negate what is clearly irrelevant, not what simply has not converted yet. On low volume, one week without a conversion says very little. The full routine is in Google Ads search terms.
How to rewrite your ads from what the report shows
The ad combinations view is the first time you can see, query by query, which headline Google chose. Use it like this:
- Filter the combinations with the most spend over the last four weeks.
- Read the headline that served on each. If Google wrote it, the asset report marks it as Google AI.
- If the generated headline converts well, write your own version of it, with your offer and your voice, and add it as your asset.
- If it promises something you do not deliver, remove the asset. For bulk removal, Google Ads Help points to Editor or the API, since the UI cannot remove Google-customized text in bulk.
- If the page is wrong, exclude the URL and check the following week whether the combination changed.
Change one thing per ad group at a time. Swapping copy, pages and negatives on the same day makes it impossible to know what worked. Quality Score reacts slowly to all of this; Google Ads Quality Score explains which parts of it the copy and the page actually move.
Your next step
Today, open the search terms report on one migrated campaign, add the Source column and switch to the ad combinations view. In 20 minutes you will know how much spend came from expansion and which headlines Google is writing for you. To handle the reading and the negatives in one conversation across several accounts, see negative keywords with AI and the plans: from US$ 31.20 a month on the annual plan, with the first 7 days for US$ 2.99.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the AI Max search terms report?
Inside the Google Ads search terms report, in the view selector above the table. The search terms and ad combinations view shows the query, headline and landing page that served together.
Can I add the ad combinations view to the regular search terms view?
No. The two overlap because many terms show up in both. Google's own documentation says never to sum metrics across these views.
Why doesn't the report total match the campaign total?
Low-volume search terms are left out for privacy, but their clicks still count in the campaign total. The gap is expected.
Do the locations of interest and brand inclusions columns show up in every account?
Not necessarily. They were spotted in accounts in October 2026 without an official rollout note from Google. If yours does not have them yet, check the column picker again later.