Google is launching multiturn ads in AI Mode in the US, placing sponsored results inside the follow-up questions of an ongoing conversation. Ads in AI Mode can now be sold against the questions that come after the one that opened the conversation.
The Google announcement on 28 October gives the format one sentence: “To allow ads in follow-up queries in AI Mode, we are launching multiturn ads in the U.S.” It sets out no eligibility rules, controls or reporting specific to multiturn ads, and it does not say whether the format is a test. The same post took ads in AI Mode to ten countries outside the US, but multiturn ads are US only.
How a Conversation Becomes Ad Inventory
Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler announced multiturn ads on Alphabet’s third-quarter earnings call, alongside the international expansion. Search Engine Land illustrated the format with a shopper researching running shoes, who starts with a general question and then narrows it to cushioning, durability or a particular sport. Multiturn ads let an advertiser reach that shopper at each of those later steps.
the Google Ads help page on AI search ads confirms the placement without naming the format, saying ads can appear “including across follow-up questions in AI Mode”. It also says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are automatically eligible for AI Mode, with no new campaign or budget needed.
Google says AI Mode queries are on average three times longer than traditional searches, citing its Google AI Mode Report from May 2026, measured in the US. A conversation made of several such questions gives Google more of a user’s intent to match an ad against.
Match Type Decides Who Gets In
The targeting rules matter more in a conversation than in a single search. The help page says exact and phrase match keywords are eligible only when a query expresses direct commercial intent, and are not eligible for contextual matching on broader exploratory questions. AI Max for Search, broad match, Shopping campaigns and Performance Max are eligible for both.
Follow-up questions are often the longer, exploratory kind the help page describes. An account built on exact and phrase match therefore reaches fewer of them, while campaigns using Google’s AI targeting can be matched to the conversation as it develops. Google pitched keywordless ads in AI Mode to advertisers in August 2025, and the eligibility rules now point the same way.
Controls and Reporting Stay the Same
There is no separate switch. The help page says advertisers cannot opt out of AI Mode separately from Search, which leaves negative keywords, brand exclusions and asset pinning as the controls. Billing follows standard Search, with the same auction and no extra charge.
Performance is reported in aggregate within standard campaign and search terms reports. The help page describes no way to separate a click on a follow-up question from one on a first query.
Ads may also appear with AI explainers, short text written by Google’s Gemini models that the help page says advertisers “can’t manually write, edit, approve, or opt out of”. Explainers first appeared when Google began testing Conversational Discovery ads in May 2026, a separate move in which Gemini writes the ad creative itself. The help page does not say whether multiturn ads carry explainers.
OpenAI Is Selling the Same Moment
OpenAI pitches ChatGPT Ads on the same behaviour. Announcing an expansion to 89 countries on 21 October, it described a user planning meals for a first marathon who narrows the options through follow-up questions, with an ad for a grocery delivery service appearing in that conversation.
ChatGPT Ads run only on the Free and Go plans, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free. Advertisers buy them through technology partners or self-serve Ads Manager.
Google
OpenAIGoogle has not said when, or whether, multiturn ads will reach the ten markets added the same day.
Recap
What are multiturn ads in Google AI Mode?
Multiturn ads let sponsored results appear in the follow-up questions of an AI Mode conversation, not only against the first query. Google launched them in the US on 28 October 2026.
How do multiturn ads work?
Google’s help page says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are automatically eligible for AI Mode. AI Max for Search, broad match, Shopping and Performance Max can be matched to both the query and the AI response, while exact and phrase match keywords only serve on queries with direct commercial intent.
What changes for US advertisers?
Their ads can now appear further into AI Mode conversations, and there is no separate opt-out from AI Mode. Results are folded into standard campaign and search terms reports in aggregate.