Google AI Mode is now showing ads on follow-up queries

Google AI Mode is Google's standalone conversational search surface. A user asks a question, gets an AI answer, then asks a follow-up, and so on. Until now, ads inside AI Mode appeared only on the first query in a session. That has changed.

Barry Schwartz, executive editor of Search Engine Roundtable, reports that ads are now showing on follow-up queries. He saw them in his own tests. He published screenshots and short videos of ads on the third and fourth follow-up questions in a session.

What Google said

Schwartz got a statement from Google. Google told Search Engine Roundtable: "Multiturn ads show up on responses to follow-up user queries as users engage in back-and-forth conversations with AI Mode."

Google also said: "Ads will be clearly labeled as 'Sponsored.' We'll continue testing new formats to ensure ads remain helpful and relevant."

Google announced the feature "a couple of weeks ago" by Schwartz's account. The test he ran is the first time he saw them live in the product.

What is now paid real estate

A user asking AI Mode five questions in a row used to see one query that could carry an ad. That was the first. Four were ad-free. Now all five can carry one.

The format Schwartz shows in his screenshots is the familiar sponsored text link. It sits inside the AI Mode answer. It is labeled Sponsored, as Google said it would be.

Schwartz does not report how often the ads show up on follow-ups, or which query types trigger them. Google's statement to him does not give either number.

What a search team does with this

For a team measuring AI search citations, the old test ran on one question: "does our page get cited on this query". The new test runs across a whole session. A user asks one head query, then two or three follow-ups about pricing, features or comparisons. Each follow-up now has a sponsored slot ahead of the organic citations.

Buyers typically know less on the head query and more on the follow-ups. The follow-ups are the slots closer to a decision, and are the slots a paid competitor will now sit in.

The other piece is that sponsored results inside AI Mode are served on the same page as the organic answer. The user does not move to a search result page to see them. An SEO dashboard that only measures ranking on the first query underreports the competitive picture for AI Mode.

Source

• Google AI Mode Multiturn Ads Are Live - Follow-Up Query Ads, Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Roundtable