Ads in Google AI Search 2025: AI Overviews & AI Mode Guide for UAE Brands

Google Search is no longer just ten blue links. In 2025, AI Overviews and AI Mode now generate full answers at the top of the results page – and Google has started placing Search, Shopping and Performance Max ads directly inside these AI responses. For UAE businesses, this means your brand can appear inside the conversation itself, not only in the classic ad slots.

This guide explains how ads work in Google AI Search, which campaign types can show in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and the exact steps UAE brands should take to stay visible as search becomes more conversational, visual and AI-driven.

What Is Google AI Search? (AI Overviews & AI Mode)

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google’s results page for complex, multi-step questions. They pull information from multiple sources, add citations, and can include images, videos and now sponsored placements. In many markets they already appear on both mobile and desktop for a growing share of queries.

AI Mode is Google’s conversational search experience. Instead of typing short keywords, users ask full questions and follow-ups, and Google responds like a chat – powered by Gemini – while still connecting to the open web. Early data shows AI Mode queries are longer and more exploratory, which gives Google much richer intent signals to match content and ads.

For UAE brands this changes one fundamental rule: ranking on the classic results page is no longer enough. You now need a strategy for “AI surfaces” – AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Max for Search – where discovery and decision increasingly start.

Where Do Your Ads Show Inside AI Overviews & AI Mode?

You can’t create a separate “AI Search campaign” today. Instead, Google pulls ads for AI Overviews and AI Mode from your existing campaigns, based on relevance, intent and auction dynamics. Eligible surfaces include:

• Search campaigns – especially with Broad Match and Smart Bidding, which give Google more freedom to interpret intent.
• Performance Max campaigns – can serve Shopping and Search-like ads into AI Overviews and AI Mode when products or services match the conversation.
• Shopping / AI Max for Search (where available) – surface product feeds inside AI responses for commerce queries such as “best dental clinic payment plans in Dubai” or “luxury apartments near Dubai Marina”.

Ads can appear above, below or embedded around the AI answer, clearly labelled as “Sponsored”. Users may see them as a natural next step after reading the AI summary – which is why your creative and landing pages must match the intent of the AI response, not just the old keyword.

There is currently no opt-out and no separate targeting specifically for AI Overviews or AI Mode. If you run eligible campaigns and meet quality thresholds, your ads can enter these new auctions automatically. Your job as a UAE advertiser is to send Google clear signals: clean account structure, high-quality assets, accurate conversion tracking, and EN/AR relevance.

How AI Search Changes Your UAE Google Ads Strategy

In classic search, you built long keyword lists, tight ad groups and manual negatives. In AI Search, Google cares more about meaning, entities and context than exact queries. For UAE campaigns this means:

• Fewer, clearer campaigns – one campaign per major objective or product line (for example: “Dental Implants – Dubai Leads” or “Off-Plan Apartments – Dubai Marina”).
• Stronger first-party signals – conversion tracking, enhanced conversions and high-quality remarketing lists so the AI understands who converts.
• Broader keywords, richer creatives – Broad Match with Smart Bidding, but supported by benefit-driven headlines, EN/AR descriptions and strong value propositions.
• AI-ready landing pages – pages that explain benefits clearly, load fast on mobile and use structured data (schema) so AI Overviews can understand and cite your content.

UAE search behaviour is already multi-language and multi-device. When a user types a long mixed Arabic–English query into AI Mode, Google uses all context – location, language, history, device – to decide which brands appear in the AI summary and in ads. If your assets only cover English or don’t reflect local pricing, offers and payment plans, you will lose these new impressions to more localized competitors.

5 Steps to Make Your Campaigns AI-Ready in the UAE

1. Fix tracking before scaling. Ensure GA4, Google Ads conversion tracking and enhanced conversions are configured correctly. Broken tracking means you feed bad signals into AI and lose eligibility on the most valuable inventory.
2. Consolidate campaigns and upgrade bidding. Group similar products/services, use Broad Match with tROAS or tCPA, and let Google learn from more data instead of fragmenting budgets across many tiny campaigns.
3. Refresh EN/AR creatives for AI surfaces. Write headlines and descriptions that answer full questions, not only short keywords. Include clear benefit, location (Dubai / UAE) and proof (prices, offers, timeframes).
4. Strengthen your product feeds and business data. For ecommerce and lead-gen, keep feeds clean (titles, images, prices, availability) and use business data (location assets, call assets, structured snippets) so AI can understand and recommend you.
5. Align pages with AI Overviews. Add FAQ sections, comparison tables and clear explanatory content so AI Overviews can cite your site as a trusted source for complex questions in EN and AR.

Measuring Performance When Clicks Shift to AI

As AI Overviews and AI Mode take more space, some clicks move away from organic listings. You may see:

• Fewer organic clicks but stronger intent from users who still scroll down to results.
• New impression volume on Search and Performance Max from AI surfaces, reported inside normal campaign metrics, not as a separate placement (for now).
• Different query patterns in search terms – more long-tail, question-based and mixed-language queries.

To measure properly in the UAE, connect Google Ads, GA4 and CRM/WhatsApp data. Track not only clicks but also qualified leads, show-ups and closed revenue. AI surfaces may generate fewer sessions but higher-intent users, especially for clinics, real estate, high-ticket ecommerce and B2B.

Over time, expect Google to provide more reporting around AI Overviews and AI Mode. Until then, watch the combined impact on branded search volume, assisted conversions and multi-channel paths instead of obsessing over one single metric.

30-Day Action Plan for UAE Marketers

1. Audit your live Search, Performance Max and Shopping campaigns. Remove clutter, fix tracking, and document your real KPIs (leads, revenue, ROAS).
2. Update at least one key campaign to “AI-ready”. Broad Match, Smart Bidding, refreshed EN/AR creative, and landing pages aligned with the questions AI Overviews already show for your niche.
3. Add structured data and video to priority pages. Use schema (FAQ, Product, Service, Video) and embed educational videos so Google understands and can feature your content in AI surfaces.
4. Monitor search terms & queries weekly. Identify new AI-style queries (long, conversational) and fold insights back into your content, ads and offers.
5. Align teams on AI Search. Get marketing, sales and management to understand that AI Overviews & AI Mode are not a “feature” – they are the new front page of Google for many UAE users.

Work with Vista by Lara

Vista by Lara designs AI-ready Google Ads systems for UAE businesses – from clean tracking and EN/AR search structures to Performance Max, AI Max for Search and AI Search SEO. The goal is simple: stop wasting budget, appear where AI Overviews and AI Mode are shaping decisions, and convert more of the right users into booked calls, visits and sales.

Final call to action

For a professional AI Search campaign setup or audit in the UAE:

Vista by Lara – Noble Business winner 2025 — Business Innovation.

Website: vistabylara.com

WhatsApp: +971507994292