Run this Google Ads audit before AI Max defaults take over

Google scheduled the AI Max auto-migration for Search campaigns with automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match to start on September 1, 2026. The audit is a timing problem: find the settings, save the search terms, then choose the toggles you can defend. Google delayed the automatic AI Max migration for Dynamic Search Ads to February 2027, while keeping the September 2026 automatic migration for campaigns using auto-generated assets or broad match set at the campaign level.

The default is the part to audit

When a campaign moves into AI Max, the setup is not blank. For an auto-upgraded campaign that had automatically created assets, the AI Max setup includes search term matching and text customization as default-on features. For an auto-upgraded campaign that had campaign-level broad match, the AI Max setup includes search term matching as a default-on feature. In either case, the account inherits a behavior you may not have chosen. The default matters because it changes what the system can do with your budget, not just what the ads look like.

Run the audit before the default applies

The audit is a short pass before the default takes over. Once AI Max is turned on, you can later switch it off or change specific AI Max settings, and the campaign's budget and bidding controls stay separate. Leave the account in a state you can defend.

• Flag Search campaigns with campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets.
• Export a clean search terms report for every Search campaign.
• Mark the default behavior for each flagged campaign.
• Turn off the legacy setting or enable AI Max with deliberate search term matching and text customization toggles.

The export gives you a record to compare later; the flagging keeps the work small; the marking prevents a surprise default; the decision keeps the choice yours.

The baseline is the part you will miss later

Before the migration, the search terms report is your cleanest record of the current mix. The Google Ads search term report can show AI Max-driven traffic along with the associated queries, headlines, and landing pages. That baseline is the one you will use to judge the change. The export comes first because you want a copy of the current state, not a guess about what the system will do next.

When you review the export, look for terms that are close to your offer but not exact, and terms that send traffic to a landing page that does not match the query. You do not need to label every term. You need enough context to judge whether the AI Max expansion is useful or noisy.

Use the export to separate terms that support your offer from terms that only look similar. A term can be close enough to be useful, or close enough to be a distraction. You want to know what the system is already doing before it does more.

Choose the toggle you can defend

The other toggles add flexibility. Text customization and final URL expansion are the toggles you may choose. If you do not understand a toggle, leave it off and watch the export before you turn it on.

Google's 2026 internal data for non-Retail advertisers found an average 7% lift in conversions or conversion value, with similar CPA/ROAS, in AI Max for Search campaigns when search-term matching, ad-text customization, and final-URL expansion were combined rather than search-term matching alone. Keep that number in mind when you choose toggles, not as a reason to turn everything on.

The trade-off is control versus coverage. If you want the lift, enable the toggles you can defend. If you do not, the audit gives you the chance to make the call before the default applies. The call is easier when the account is still stable and the export is fresh.