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Research30 Oct 2026By Visibian Research

Google's AI Mode ads spread beyond the US: what brands can do

On 28 October Google took ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries and began showing them on follow-up questions in the US. What a brand can do now.

On 28 October Google said ads in AI Mode, the chat-style tab in Google Search, now run in 10 more countries. Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned before the end of the year. In the US, ads can now also appear when someone asks a follow-up question in the same conversation. Google calls these multiturn ads (Google, 28 October).

Figure 1Where ads in AI Mode run

1Since May 2025

  • United States

10From 28 October 2026

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • India
  • Kenya
  • Malaysia
  • New Zealand
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • the Philippines
  • Singapore

3Planned before the end of 2026

  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • United Kingdom
Ads run in English. In Pakistan only text ads show. Sources: Google, 28 October, and Google Ads Help, checked 29 October 2026.

Every ad is labelled "Sponsored". Text ads and Shopping ads can both appear inside the answer.

What a brand can do now

  1. Look at the answers your buyers see. In each of these countries where you sell, ask AI Mode the questions your buyers ask. Note whose ads appear beside the answer, and whether the answer itself names you. In the US, ask a follow-up question too, since ads can now appear there as well.
  2. If you advertise on Google, check your existing campaigns. Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can already show in AI Mode, with no new campaign and no separate budget (Google Ads Help). Look at which of your ads now run there, and in which countries.
  3. Keep your product data complete. Google says AI Mode's shopping answers are built on its Shopping Graph, the product data behind Google Shopping (Google). Google Merchant Center is where you give Google that data yourself: prices, stock, shipping and pictures.
  4. See how often your pages show in AI Mode. Search Console's generative AI report counts how often links to your site appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode. It is open to every site since 31 August 2026 (Search Console Help).
  5. Report ads and answers apart. An ad is paid for and sits beside the answer. Being named in the answer is earned, not bought.

Google started testing ads in AI Mode in the US in May 2025. ChatGPT shows ads on its Free and Go plans in 89 countries. Perplexity says it dropped its ads in February, and Anthropic says Claude will stay ad-free. The big changes since 2022 are in our AI search timeline.