Ads turned up in new places inside AI answers, according to Search Engine Roundtable. Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google's Multiturn ads appear live in AI Mode follow-up answers, with sponsored units showing in the third and fourth follow-up queries. The same outlet reported search and shopping ads atop Bing AI Mode results. And OpenAI began replacing max bid caps in ChatGPT ads with average Target CPA and Target CPC. For commerce teams, the common thread is that paid placements are moving deeper into conversational answers while the controls and reporting advertisers use to price and judge them are getting thinner.
Where the new placements sit
Google set this up in an October 28 blog post by Shashi Thakur, VP and GM of Google Search Ads, which expanded AI Mode ads to 10 more countries and stated: "To allow ads in follow-up queries in AI Mode, we are launching multiturn ads in the U.S." The Keyword reports that the post gave the format one sentence and that existing campaigns are eligible automatically, with no separate opt-out. Google's help page on ads in AI Overviews is direct about limits: "No, you can't directly target ad placements in the AI overviews," advertisers cannot opt out, and Google Ads "currently doesn't offer segmented reporting" for those ads. BCC Interactive reports that Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed in June that AI Overview and AI Mode ads are reported with other top-of-page ads, and that Google is still deciding what reporting should look like. None of the sources reviewed for this piece say whether follow-up ad impressions are reported apart from first-query ones.
Microsoft's side is less documented. The Bing report rests on screenshots from Sachin Patel and testing by Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Roundtable's executive editor, not on a Microsoft announcement. Schwartz wrote that the "sponsored" labels were so muted that "at first I didn't notice they were ads." Even the product name is unsettled: one post calls it Bing AI Mode, formerly Copilot Search, while another Search Engine Roundtable report says the Copilot Search box was renamed AI Overviews. Microsoft's help documentation on ads in Copilot says "Microsoft Advertising does not currently support specific metrics for ads served in Copilot" and that any ad that can serve on Bing can also serve in Copilot.
Bids become averages
Search Engine Journal, citing an OpenAI help document, reported that new ChatGPT conversion campaigns get Target CPA from November 9 and click campaigns can use Target CPC. Legacy max-bid values sent through the API count as average targets from November 18, and Max Bid and Max CPC stop applying to all campaigns on January 1, 2027. OpenAI's own example: $400 in spend and 10 purchases is a $40 actual CPA, and a $20 target does not mean the system can deliver purchases at $20. Search Engine Journal also noted OpenAI removed earlier wording describing a second-price auction.
Microsoft moved first. From October 1, Max CPC is no longer available on new non-portfolio Microsoft campaigns, though Microsoft Ads Liaison Navah Hopkins said target impression share, eCPC and portfolio strategies keep the option. Sources disagree on scope: Search Engine Journal includes Target CPA and Target ROAS, while ALM Corp lists only the Maximize strategies. PPC Land notes Microsoft had already removed standalone Target CPA and Target ROAS for new campaigns in August 2025, which may explain the gap.
What the numbers show, and what they do not
Alphabet's Q3 filing gave the clearest signal. Search revenue rose 12% to $63.35 billion while paid clicks grew 8%, down from 13%, and CPCs rose 4%. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler named currency as the largest factor in queries outgrowing revenue, then said AI Mode growth "had an impact because of the lower monetization we were seeing in AI Mode," while arguing those queries are incremental and upper-funnel. Google's only published ad metric for AI Mode is that click-through rates are similar for sponsored and organic product listings, based on two weeks of internal data.
Other figures come from the platforms. Microsoft says AI Max produced at least 8% more conversions than control campaigns across 44 advertiser-run tests. VP of Monetization Benji Shomair, who ranked advertiser value third behind user trust and user value, said OpenAI has onboarded more than 50 ad tech, measurement and agency partners. The one third-party number in the research points the other way: PPC Land reports that in Lunio's Google search dataset, AI Max accounted for 68% of invalid clicks detected. The research found no independent click or conversion data for ads in Google AI Mode, Bing AI Mode or ChatGPT, though that search was not exhaustive.
Automation and the verification question
The placement shift arrives alongside more automation. Amazon's Ads Agent lets advertisers set objectives while Amazon handles targeting and allocation, and Amazon says beta tests showed up to 67% higher long-term return on ad spend. In the same week, the FTC's unredacted complaint alleged Amazon added hidden ad surcharges of up to 250% during major sales events, worth $87 million in the 2022 holiday season, according to the FTC. Amazon disputes the allegations, and Digiday notes the case concerns Sponsored Products, not the new AI tools, but says it sharpens questions about verifying automated fees. Google is testing AI-written summaries above and inside mobile search ads and added write tools to its Ads MCP server, on by default. Amazon has not said whether ads will appear in Alexa for Shopping text conversations, part of the wider contest over retailer agent access.
What would settle the open questions is concrete: segmented reporting for AI placements from Google and Microsoft, published auction mechanics from OpenAI, and independent holdout tests run by advertisers or measurement partners.